Out picking this week I ran across something that caught my eye, a Speedo. Yeah, I know you were immediately thinking about the small undersized bathing suit. Well that is not the Speedo that I found but since I got your attention, I hope you will read on.

Herman Hugo Luebben was born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1826 and immigrated to the United States in 1853 arriving in New York.

He meet and married Aurilla Lucinda Culver 1856 and they began to raise a family. They had six children, Mary, Melchior, Hugo, Harrison, Jasper and Ummo. Melchior Lewis Luebben was born February 26, 1860 in Wisconsin.

The Luebben' s arrived in Sutton, Nebraska around 1890 and Melchior was a banker with The First National Bank of Sutton.

Melchior Lewis Luebben married Elva Mary MacCashland in 1897 and by 1900 Melchior was the Bank President of The First National Bank of Sutton and among the towns most elite.

Hugh or Hugo along with his sons, Melchior and Ummo patented and produced the first round hay baler. They had a lot of trouble with it as it had a low MTBF - Mean Time Between Failures and made many adjustments to the operations of it. Work on the Round Baler began in 1892 but was patented in 1903.

It seems as though Ummo Luebben provided  the inventive genius while Melchior was the financial arm of the enterprise. His financial aid might not have been all above board as there seemed to be questions about the baler and $79,000 which led to the closure of the bank in 1910. Melchior also spend 10 years in prision for the scandal. After his release from prison he moved to St. Louis.

Ummo was not impacted by the scandal and continued to work on the baler moving the operation to Lincoln in 1910 and in 1920 to Omaha. in 1939 Allis-Chalmers purchased the patent and started producing them eventually selling over 77,000 round balers.

.

After moving to St. Louis, Melchior, is listed as a manufacturer.   His first patent was issued on May 9, 1922 for a Knife Sharpener.

Oct 20, 1925 Melchior received a patented for the "Speedo Sharpener".(You were all wondering when I would get to the Speedo).

So this is my new Speedo Sharpener. Patent 1558194 was issued for this small knife sharpener.

It had a unique design in that there were two separate grinding wheels and a guide to put the correct edge on the blade.

This little sharpener along with a new "Speedo Opener" became a selling campaign for Melchior. It was listed in Popular Mechanics magazine.

You could sign up to sell the Speedo Products by sending in the coupons.

This was from a 1927 Popular Mechanics Magazine. Wow $265.00 a week would be a lot of money.

And just the can opener in a 1928 Popular Mechanics.

So this one is in pretty good condition and was a great little pick. It has entered the display case with several of the other hand operated grinders I have found.

There is a brass cap that covers the nut which holds the two individual wheels on.

So there you have the "Speedo Sharpener"

You have now seen my "Speedo"!

Well it is time to head out and see what I can located this week to share. You just never know where and what you are going to find and what part of History it will show.

Happy Patriot Picking!

---

John Moody
Site Administratorhttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
“Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.†Shaker Saying

Cool info John but the sight of you in a Speedo is more than my one eye can bear.

---

Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

John I always find stuff like this very interesting. The history and the growth of human invention.

Awesome post! I'm surprised there are so many of them on eBay and they are very affordable.
btw, I'm a longtime Biker so mentioning Speedo brought to mind the things the cops tell us we have to put back on our custom bikes. Dang speedo cops.

I was surprised also Mark until I ran across those ads to get people to sell them. I am guessing that a lot of them got sold this way. The last ad I could find was in a 1933 Popular Mechanics. I am not totally sure of the last ones made but some time in the early 30's Melchior moved to California so I am thinking that may have brought the production to an end.

Mark Wisecarver said:

Awesome post! I'm surprised there are so many of them on eBay and they are very affordable.
btw, I'm a longtime Biker so mentioning Speedo brought to mind the things the cops tell us we have to put back on our custom bikes. Dang speedo cops.

Love the old adds about as much as the old tools.  Very cool. 

wow my grandfather had one of those when i was just a youngster,wonder what happened to it,

---

take Life slowly,no reason to speed,it will be there when u get there,slow down an smell the trees an fresh cut wood

Me too Chris. I have several of them.

Ron, you need to see if you can find it.

---

John Moody
Site Administratorhttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
“Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.†Shaker Saying