Do You Have Antiques In Your Hoboken Home?

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken has a history as a manufacturing center; the zipper was developed Hoboken at the Automatic Hook and Eye Company at southwest corner of Adams and Eleventh Streets, and the old Keuffel & Esser company, which manufactured slide rules and then tools during wartime, was turned into Clock Towers on Third Street.

Sometimes people can find remnants of the city's manufacturing past right in their homes, as did this Ottawa, Canada resident who wrote to a Canadian news outlet about her mahogany card table, which appeared to have been made in Hoboken in the 1920s.

"I own this Duncan Phyfe-type card table made by F.B.M. Co. Hoboken, N.J. – Ferguson Brothers Manufacturing Company, New Jersey," wrote a woman in Ottowa to the Community Press in Ontario. "The company existed from 1898 to 1953. I suspect this was made in the 1920s as it has a brass plate with their name and ‘4470’ on it. The top swivels 90 degrees, which reveals a little storage compartment underneath..."

John Sewell, fine art appraiser, responded in the column, "Ferguson was actually founded in New York City in 1878 and was a wholesale manufacturer. They relocated to Hoboken at the turn of the century and operated there until 1945 and continued operating in some form until 1953. They made a full line of furniture including cedar chests, fire screens and a variety of tables ... This style is typical of the American Federal era of 1810 to 1830. "

He valued the piece at $550. Read more here.

You find out more about Hoboken collectibles from the Hoboken Historical Museum, as well, IN fact, on July 21, they're holding a live event, "Every Object Tells A Story," in which Museum Collections Manager Rand Hoppe and Executive Director Bob Foster take a tour through some of the unusual objects in their collections: vintage photos, a neon sign, beer bottles, and more. Watch the presentation here at 7 p.m. that day.

Do you want to know more about Hoboken's history? Check out the Hoboken Historical Museum here.

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