This is another ad in our series of Vulcan ads from the 1920’s, in this case appearing in the 5 December 1929 issue of Engineering News-Record. But this ad is a departure from the others in several respects.
- It’s not clear from the photos or ad copy what kind of hammer this actually is. The ad prominently features “Warrington-Vulcan,” which usually indicates a single-acting hammer like the #2, #1, #0, etc. However no known Warrington-Vulcan hammer combined a 5000 lb. ram with a 3.5′ stroke (the #1 has a 3′ stroke, it wasn’t until the 505 when a 5′ stroke version was produced.) It’s possible that it was a drop hammer, but that’s not a “Warrington-Vulcan” hammer. In either case, the stroke ensured that Vulcan could continue its claims of “punching action.”
- No matter what the hammer, not only did pile driving figure into this but also some demolition in the form of holes in the existing concrete.
- The company name appears no where on the ad except in the logo.
- Neither does Woodard Wight & Co., Vulcan’s New Orleans distributor. The only distributor listed was Harron, Rickard and McCone. Both of these organisations were active at the time; Harron, Rickard and McCone did a steady export business to the other side of the Pacific in places like Japan and the Philippines.
- The ENR issue was less than two months after the great stock market crash that signalled the start of the Great Depression. The country, the world and Vulcan were in for a rough ride, but Vulcan survived to became active during World War II.
vulcanhammer.info 