As many of you know, one of my passions is neon signs and art….but also the tools and equipment used in its creation. So not surprisingly I collect vintage neon and glassblowing related tools and I am always on the lookout for such items.
Today, those in the business would think of names like EGL and Voltarc as the suppliers of burners and equipment for bending and processing the tubes. They have both been around a rather long time. But they were not the only ones….others, such as Thordarson (a respected maker of transformers), Tubelite, Eisler, Sola (another high end transformer maker), and Haydu Brothers were well known in this field along with many smaller manufacturers. I am somewhat surprised by the number of different companies in this business that coexisted during the 1920-1950 period. In my living museum collection I have parts of my shop outfitted with items from several of them, including some of the obscure ones. These items are still used and function well.
Recently I became the proud owner of some Haydu Bros five point crossfires. These are a bit smaller than the old Hyde (later Voltarc-Hyde) five points that I have used since I was a teenager and first got into neon and a bit bigger than the tiny AGF 3 pointers that reside on my portable bench set up. They are made using what appear to be AGF 790 type tips on a magnificent bronze casting with knuckle shaped bulges in it and brass down tubes. These will be a worthy addition to my shop and will get some use! I am lacking the original base for them, but I expect that something suitable can be made that will hold them as needed and hopefully be in line with the vintage aspects of them and their inclusion on my vintage portable system that I built as a functional showpiece for demos and classes. (the base I create will have to be as much a work of artistry as the burners themselves, possibly made from a found object of similar vintage)
Haydu Bros, has an interesting history. They began as Excel Products in Newark, NJ in 1936–founded by John Haydu (a Hungarian immigrant) and his sons, George and Zoltan. They built tools for the mass production of small radio parts. Eventually they moved to a farm they purchased in Warren Township as the Haydu Bros Laboratories and set up a factory there–initially using the existing chicken coops for manufacturing space! This plant was expanded and by the onset of WWII they were the largest employer in the area. Due to gasoline rationing during the war they also ran their own bus line to get workers to and from the surrounding areas.
They manufactured a wide variety of electronic tubes, parts, and other hardware. After the war, they continued in this line but also expanded to produce items for neon and glassblowing. Hence the production of my bronze knuckle crossfire burners.
One very interesting tidbit of this period is they constructed their own airstrip at the plant and shipped out items to customers via their own company aircraft. …and, to predate Amazon’s drone delivery concept by many decades–if a customer was located in an area without nearby airfields they actually made deliveries via parachute drop!! (one wonders how often this was done)
By 1954 the plant was sold to Burroughs and by 1956 the Haydus had moved on to other business ventures, moving to Plainfield, NJ and later to Hialeah, Florida. Today, the Z. Haydu Manufacturing Company (now run by Zoltan’s sons, John and James) resides in Hollywood, Florida and is known for specialized custom manufacturing for medical and communications industries and the production of ultrasonic dental tools.
I was fortunate to be able to obtain these burners from a fellow bender (thanks, Sean!) but also fortunate to be able to find some history on the company that made them. (and let’s face it, I enjoy the hunt) In many instances, these old operations fall into obscurity and are lost to history. As part of my upcoming revamp to this website I hope to add tabs for various functions and topics and will include a section dedicated to information on some historic manufacturers of neon and glassblowing tools. In the meantime, if you have any vintage related catalogs or other such items that you are tired of stubbing your toes on, I may be interested in acquiring them.