Knock, Knock...

It's always interesting where you end up when you go looking for something on the web. I was doing some background research on John Spargo, the author of several noted books on Bennington pottery, and I ended up on the site of the Antique Doorknob Collectors of America. Their website has many resources for folks who need to find authentic hardware for their home, or who want to take their doorknob "thing" one step further...

How did I end up there? Well, it seems that Bennington may or may not have made doorknobs in the 1850s, or they probably did, but since they look a lot like the ceramic knobs being made in other US manufactories at the time, it's almost impossible to tell what was made where.

We had a bit of a doorknob issue here at Foggygates last summer, when we tried to replace a few and found that the ones the previous owners had installed were imported from Europe at great expense... I'd just as soon replace them with authentic Victorian knobs at some point. I fact, I have a few boxes of old marble and brass knobs that I've been lugging around for ten years or more, waiting for the right house to install them in. There is an issue of making the old hardware fit the new doors, so it's a project for another day, because getting stuck in a room with a knob that just twirls around on you is not all that fun. Probably the Doorknob Collectors have some info about that...