For the longest time it was widely thought that most of the iron beds being produced back in the 1800’s, were coming out of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area. That thought was because the vast majority of steel production was also in Pittsburgh.
But more and more is coming to light that many of the iron beds on the market back then were also coming out of the Minneapolis Minnesota area.
Here is a decal we found on an iron bed. It’s from the Gangelhoff Brothers Iron Bed Co. What little I was able to research on them waa that the were in the business of selling a full line of iron beds back in the mid 1800’s.
One of the main reasons for their location being a popular one in producing iron beds, was the steel production which was also coming out of Minneapolis and the Mississippi river giving them an excellent way to ship their product south to the lower states.
The proliferation of iron beds is due largely to the manufactures ability to ship their iron beds. The Mississippi being one of the best trade routes back then.
I’ve come across other iron bed company decals from Chicago , Detroit and Cleveland. All of these cities had water way access. Letting us know the importance of distributing the iron beds they made or in getting the materials they needed to produce iron beds.
I hope you’ve found this blog informative . I invite you to revisit my website
to answer any and all questions you might have about antique iron beds.
I also invite you to take a look at the multiple “Before & After” photo’s on our company Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/ – %21/pages/Cathouse-Antique-Iron-Beds/126838177398