Daniel G. Chase

 

 

 

 

What does this pair of strange looking scissors and this candy have in common?

Daniel G. Chase was born on May 2, 1819. He was, among other things, an inventor.   Daniel came from a family of inventors.  He developed a tool called a “Shank-laster” which would make it easier for a shoemaker to pull the leather over a last – a wooden foot form that was used to shape the boot or shoe.  The paten was registered in November of 1859. You can see the actual patent on the right.

 

His talent of inventing also included the strange looking scissor pictured above.  If you look closely at the end of the scissor you will see that there is a round jagged object on one point and a razor blade like cutter on the other point.  This is a buttonhole cutter. The round point turns so you can adjust the length of the button hole and then bring the two points together cutting the fabric with the blade point.

The pivot part of the scissor reads, “D. G. Chase, Pat. Dec. 30, (18)69.  I have not been able to locate a copy of his patent with the patent office yet.  Perhaps it never got filed!  But that did not stop the production of this interesting little tool.  In 1872 he invented an “improvement in curtain-fixtures” with the registered  patent number 127,565.  Daniel Chase’s inventive talent did not stop with these useful hand tools and improvements.   Remember, he came from a creative and industrious family.  

Daniel had two brothers named Oliver and Silas.  Oliver had a pharmacy which in those days would use a lot of sugar to enhance the taste of medicine.  As part of his business he make lozenges from gum Arabic, peppermint and brown sugar.   In order to expedite his production in 1847 he invented the very first candy manufacturing machine in the United States.  It was called a Lozenge Cutter.  Then in 1850 Oliver invented a machine that would pulverize sugar. His candy business began to grow rapidly. He enlisted his brother, Silas joined him in this new candy manufacturing enterprise.  The two brothers formed the “Chase and Company”, which later became the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO Wafer.

It is said that Admiral Byrd took some of the Wafers to the South Pole and during the WWII the U.S. Government bought most of the company’s production for the troops. The company is still in operation today and may be the longest operating candy company in the country. I just bought my very own roll of candy wafers at the Cracker Barrel to enjoy!

  

Daniel G. Chase joined his brothers in their candy company.  According to the company history web page he invented the method of printing on candy hearts, which has become a standard during February’s Valentine season. Daniel became the head of the western division of the company in Chicago.  That part of the company was lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  He returned to Boston where the company continued until it moved to its new nearby location.