Product Details
CompanyM. W. Savage Factories, Incorporated Certificate TypeCapital Stock Date IssuedApril 1, 1912CanceledNoPrinterGoesSignaturesHand signedApproximate Size11" (w) by 8 1/4" (h)ImagesShow the exact certificate you will receiveGuaranteed AuthenticYesAdditional DetailsSigned by Erle B. Savage
Historical Context
M.W. Savage Factories was one of the early mail-order houses. The Minneapolis firm was incorporated By Erle B. Savage in 1911 to consolidate all of his father's (Marion W. Savage) businesses. There were few furniture and machinery stores, so Savage decided to offer his goods to distant customers who mailed back orders.
By 1923 it had hundreds of thousands of customers and several hundred employees. Like its two primary competitors, Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Ward, M.W. Savage supplied not only furniture, but also machinery and all kinds of merchandise to farmers and homeowners by mail.
Like many “factories” of the era, M.W. Savage Factories Co. did not build any of their products - which included engines, plows, stoves, stopwatches and sewing machines. Instead, Savage contracted with established manufacturers like Northwestern Steel & Iron Works, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which manufactured cement mixer engines, among other things; Nelson Bros. Company of Saginaw, Michigan, and Gray Motor Company of Detroit.
The company capitalized on the Dan Patch brand, which was Marion's brainchild. Dan Patch was a noted American Standardbred pacer. At a time when harness racing was one of the largest sports in the nation, Dan Patch was a major celebrity. He was undefeated in open competition, and was so dominant on the racetrack that other owners eventually refused to enter their horses against him.
He ended his racing career performing time trials, and traveled extensively on exhibition, earning millions of dollars in purses, attendance gate receipts, and product endorsements. Dan Patch broke world speed records at least 14 times in the early 1900s. In 1905, he set a world's record for the fastest mile by a harness horse (1:551⁄4 – 1 minute, 55+1⁄4 seconds) that stood unmatched for over 30 years. Unofficially, Dan Patch broke this record in 1906 with a clocking of 1:55. He died on July 11, 1916. His owner, Marion Willis Savage, died just one day later.
The Dan Patch name was used to market tobacco products, coffee, oranges and wagons. Marion Savage also built the Dan Patch railroad, known as the Minneapolis, Rochester, and Dubuque Electric Traction Company.
Related Collections
