Bates and Klinke Pewter Souvenir Buildings

Monticello & Poplar Forest 

The company, Bates & Klinke,  was founded by Harold Bates & Oscar Klinke and manufactured pewter products in the U.S. since 1919. Bates and Klinke, Inc. produced a number of product lines in Attleboro, Massachusetts, at town which was a major center for jewelry production in the early 20th century.  The company is noted for making souvenir silver charms from tourist travel destinations, along with souvenir spoons, brass souvenir plates, medals, key chains, & military insignia. Later, the company did business as B&J Manufacturing Corporation. However, neither of the companies' website are active and only their LinkedIn page works, so they may be out of business. Here’s a bit of trivia I discovered:  Did you know that in 1935, Bates and Klinke, Inc. was sued for patent infringement in the U.S. Supreme Court? PetersPatent Corp. v. Bates & Klinke, Inc. They produced a number of souvenir buildings and monuments and Building Collector reader, Gary, asked if I could compile a list and photos and below is what I have so far. I noticed on both the Monticello and Poplar Forest pewter souvenirs the shallow diamond logo which leads me to believe they were also produced by Bates and Klinke even though the name is missing. I wrote previously about other souvenir buildingsmade of pewter. Below are photos of buildings and monuments made by Bates & Klinke. Do you know of others?

540 Madison Ave. NY & Sears/Willis Tower

The Siege Museum & Lincoln in chair 

Washington, D.C. 

Pewter Souvenir Building Replicas

Pewter has been around since the Roman Empire and used to create chalices, patens and spoons for ceremonial use. It is an alloy consisting mostly of tin which has been mixed with small amounts of other metals such as copper, lead or antimony to harden it and make it more durable. Early pewter often contained lead to give it strength. Lead causes old pewter to turn it's characteristic dark gray color. Today’s lead-free pewter softens to a very light gray patina. Pewter replicas are made by by melting pewter alloy and casting it into molds. It’s a soft metal which is easily bent or dented. Pewter figurines tend to be produced in a smaller size scale. Souvenir buildings have been made by a variety of pewter-producing companies including: Spoontiques, WAPW (Wales Association of Pewter Works), Hudson, Bates & Klinke, Roycliffe, Superior, and many others. I’ve written beore about pewter replicas like military statues and Union College’s Nott Memorial.  Below are some examples and photos of building replicas made of pewter. Do you know of others?

Spoontiques Pewter Lighthouses

Have you noticed that you can buy Spoontiques pewter lighthouses on Amazon? These are not easy to find and seem like a good deal for any building collector. I believe most were made during the 1990's and were sold in stores, but good luck finding them in stores today.