The Band of the Round Oak Stove Co.

 

With all the trombones, trumpets, clarinets, and drums
this group looks like a typical concert band
that probably played a lot of marches
and maybe a few waltzes and polkas, too.

But actually they were into heavy metal. 

Closer examination of this large format 9½" x 7½" photo
revealed that though their uniforms were mostly alike
there were small difference in their cap badges.
This fellow, a clarinetist seated front and center,
had a name on his cap:
OUND OAK
and a very large patch on his shoulder
that looked like a face inset into a circular rosette.

His younger companion next to him 
had no cap badge but the patch
was more legible.
The first word was:
ROUND 

It was enough of a clue
to find the full name of the band's employer:
The Round Oak Stove Company
of Dowagiac, Michigan.

Round Oak Stove Company sign
Dowagiac, Michigan
Source: The Internets

The Round Oak Stove Company was established in 1871 by Philo D. Beckwith in Dowagiac, Michigan. Like many entrepreneurs of the 19th century, Beckwith started first by making an invention for his own use, a heating stove for a room at his foundry shop where he made agricultural tools and plow points. His design for a small cast-iron heating stove fueled by wood caught the attention of a Michigan railroad company that needed an efficient heater for its stations. Orders were placed and Beckwith's foundry was expanded. Soon his "railroad" stoves were adapted for coal to heat residential homes as "parlor" stoves which proved very popular with the public. This "Round Oak" parlor stove was embellished with ornamental features but still simple to operate, yet strictly for heating, not cooking. 

Beckwith chose Dowagiac as the site for his stove factory and as his company prospered so did his town. In the 1880s he helped fund civic projects, sponsored a baseball team,  and served as mayor. He is still remembered as "arguably the most important person in Dowagiac history" according to a brochure prepared by the Dowagiac Area History Museum.  

Philo D. Beckwith died in 1889 but his company continued operations under his son-in-law, Fred E. Lee. In the 1890s the Round Oak railroad stove was reworked into larger commercial and residential furnaces. By 1900 the company expanded with a line of cast-iron cooking ranges and then coal/wood/gas-fueled cooking ranges made from porcelain enameled steel. The factory in 1905 covered 15 acres and employed 600 men. Though the Round Oak stove design was imitated by many competitors, it became the largest and best selling brand of heating systems in America. 

Round Oak Stove Works
Dowagiac, Michigan
Source: The Internets

In this bird's eye view of the Round Oak Stove Works, the circular vignette at the top left is a picture of the Beckwith Memorial Theatre, which was built to order by P. D. Beckwith and completed in 1893 after his death. It had a seating capacity of 700 with a stage fly space large enough for thirty-six hanging drops that were capable of creating seventy-six different set combinations. At the time it was considered one of the finest theatres in America. It ceased presenting theatrical shows in 1928 and was demolished in 1966. 

Round Oak Stove
Source: The Internets

This example shows a Round Oak stove with its cylindrical firebox mounted on four clawfoot legs and topped with a decorative nickel plate finial. It was attached to a chimney by a smoke pipe exiting out the back of the stove.

7 September 1918
Saturday Evening Post

This Round Oak advertisement from 1918 for the Beckwith Company, as it was now called, features pictures and description of the Round Oak "Moistair" Heating System furnace; the "Chief" Boiler Iron Range; the Three-fuel Combination Range; and the Original Round Oak Square Base Heater. The company's slogan was: "Makers of Good Goods Only." 

At top right is a picture of Chief Doe-Wah-Jack, a fictional Indian who was created in the 1900s to be the Round Oak emblem used on the company's products and advertisements. The mascot's name was invented, supposedly, to help people unfamiliar with the pronunciation of Dowagiac. The town's name is actually derived from the Potawatomi word dewje'og meaning "fishing [near home] water".

     

Round Oak Stove
Source: The Internets

Round Oak stoves remain popular collectibles in the 21st century, displayed in homes even if not used as they were originally intended. This example shows off the stove's shapely curves accented with nickel plating. 

Round Oak Band, circa 1895
Source: The Internets

The Round Oak Stove Works had a company brass band in the 1890s, a time when most towns and many factories set up bands for self-promotion and maintain good employee morale. Often a band leader and, sometimes, talented instrumentalists were recruited from other places. They might be given regular employment in the factory while also playing in the band, or hired just occasionally for band events. 

 

Round Oak Concert Band, circa 1930s
Source: Dowagiac Area History Museum

In this more formal photo of the Round Oak Concert Band taken in the 1930s. the band's hats and uniforms are similar to those in my photo. Two men on the right show the same patch of Chief Doe-Wah-Jack. Both groups have 24 members but this band has two sousaphones, four saxophones, and a young female musician. The two clarinetists that I featured at the top of this story are pictured here standing on the left. So I expect it dates my photo to either the late 1920s or early 1930s.

At its peak in the mid 1910s, the Beckwith Co. employed 1200 people at the Rounds Oak Stove Works, while the population of Dowagiac was around 5,000 residents. After the First World War, the company struggled against rival stove companies that built factories in Dowagiac. The first was the Rudy Furnace Company which opened in 1915, followed by the Premier Furnace Co. in 1920, and Dowagiac Steel Furnace Co. in 1929. The Second World War added more stress even though Beckwith secured some government contracts. In 1946 the company discontinued production of stoves and in 1947, sold its remaining buildings to the Kaizer-Frazer Company to manufacture automobile engine parts. The Round Oak trademark name was sold to Peerless Furnace, which continued to make repair parts for Round Oak furnaces and stoves until its closure in 1965.

I was unable to find any newspaper reports of the Round Oak Concert Band's performances or events. I suspect that it played for parades, employee gatherings, and civic holidays. And surely every town band had to play for July 4th and, for a company band, maybe Labor Day, too. I assume that these men were all employees but its possible that some musicians worked outside of the Round Oak Stove Works. Perhaps one day I'll find a list of their names. 

But rather than the band, what I really wish I could hear is the sounds of the Round Oak Stove Works. The constant din of hammers, chains, and shovels clanging throughout the factory.  The roar of blast furnaces melting 120 tons of pig iron a day. The shouts of men coordinating their teammates as they pour molten iron into mold boxes. That's a kind of music we rarely hear in America anymore.

To better illustrate the Round Oak Stove Works

here is a British Pathé short film 

Casting In Iron (1940-1949)
which shows how the burner rings
for a gas cooker stove are made.
It's British but the process would have been
largely the same in Dowagiac, Michigan. 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where no good wheel goes unturned.