GERMANY – PRE-1945: LOT OF VINTAGE GLOVE MAKER TOOLS, ALFRED SCHOLZ – SCHWEIDNITZ

20,00 €

Product no. 13-1633

1 in stock

1 in stock

Category: Civilian Items 1933–1945 / Non-Market Items
14-day return policy

Smooth reversal

A grouping of glove-making tools and measuring devices from the manufacturer Alfred Scholz, located in Schweidnitz, Silesia (now Świdnica, Poland).

  • Glove Stretchers: Three wooden glove-widening tongs (Handschuhweiter) used to stretch and shape the fingers of leather gloves.
  • Measuring Tapes: Leather/canvas measuring bands printed with the manufacturer name “Alfred Scholz, Handschuh[fabrik]” and location “Schweidnitz”. The scale uses the traditional French inch measurement system (sizes 6 to 10 with 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 increments), which remains the standard for glove sizing.
  • Hardware: Outfitted with metal rings and rivets at the ends for mounting or securing.

Glove stretchers and glove-measuring bands are trade tools from the leather glove industry, and similar designs were in use well before the 1930s and 1940s. The stretcher is a scissor-like pair of wooden arms, sometimes made of metal, bone or celluloid. The narrow, rounded tips go into a glove finger. Squeezing the handles spreads the tips and eases the leather open. Factories used such tools to shape and finish gloves before packing. Households and shops used them to ease tight kid gloves or to restore the fingers after washing. Collectors tell variants apart by the hinge or pivot (a turned peg, a spring, or a plain pin), the tip profile, the overall length, and whether the arms are straight or curved. Some are made for men's or women's gloves, and some for gauntlets. The measuring band is a flexible strip, usually of cloth or leather, with a scale in the French-inch system. It follows the sizing method devised by Xavier Jouvin of Grenoble in 1834, in which the hand is measured around the knuckles. Sizes are read in whole numbers with quarter steps, and the same scale is still used for glove sizes. Rings or eyelets at the ends allowed the band to be hung up or fastened. Makers often printed their name and town on the band, which helps collectors identify maker and origin.

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