Handi question-what came first?

Perhaps the iron.
Ad from April 1934.

 

Hello @Anthony
My money was on the iron also.
Plus the iron in my pic predates the iron in the add, I just don't have proof of it.

 

Patent number on your iron was 1938.
Four years after the 1934 ad.



Date for trade mark was 1934.

 

@Anthony
That's odd, here I was thinking it predated Handi using brass name plates with the info being on tank and
the older looking handle, plus the locking knob to open it looks older.
I have seen 4 or 5 of this model over the years.
The start of WW2 may have something to do with my iron looking cheaper to make ??
Brass for bullets not name tags, cheap handles made in house on small wood lathe ??
All the ones I have seen had unpainted handles also,money saving.
A mate use to go into Handi for parts at Rocklea and he said he was a cranking old fart
as his health went down hill from Parkinson.
The hunt for info goes on.
Cheers Mark.

 

@Marko57

I also reckon the iron was first and the Handi Museum The Handi virtual museum - Timeline confirms that with

"1933, 23rd December. The company is commenced at Charlotte Street, Wilson House, City (Brisbane). The owner is Mr A .O. Hughes. Manufacture starts of the company's first product; the steaming irons."

Interestingly the following article from 1 Feb 1935 suggests they had been made for 18 months as at the date of the article.



The Handi irons I normally see are listed, (in say 1950 instructions) as Model 2 so perhaps your iron MIGHT BE a Model 1 but it certainly has some interesting features and as @Anthony has commented, is post 1938 patent. I wonder how the 1933/1934 iron differed if any from yours? Could yours be a really early 1938 model using up some parts from earlier; just a thought.

I am sure you have observed too that some of the Handi irons have odd features like various shapes in the handles and some with a thumb press button for right handed users. Your handle is certainly interesting as well as the securing button.

Thanks for posting this as it is helping with Handi research (or confusing me even more )

 

Thanks, @Sedgman.

I hadn’t made it to the Handi Museum yet for this discussion.

Cheers

Tony

 

@Sedgman

This is Handi-Works first model Iron.

 

Wow!
Very nice to see that line up. Interesting the odd tank too. The three darker handled irons are wonderful finds.
@Marko57 have pity on me; my Wish List will need it's own database soon!

PS I do see a lot of Handi irons around based on shape and I just ignore them. Now I will have to pay more attention and take a closer look.

 

@Sedgman

Howdy Lain
After 30 years of collecting I'm still finding odd models, Gloria spins me out and I think I have
maybe 7 different ones now.
The odd tank one in this lot is a Swift-Lite which has seen better days.

 

How can these be described as "All British"?

 

Well, David… back in the days of the British Empire (with all of those pink bits on the World map), pining for the “old country” was common in Australia. Some went so far as to say Australia was “British”.

Of course, reprobates like myself find that sentiment much worse than “quaint”.

Tony