RARE Collectible Antique Brass Door Knobs " Three Feathered Indian " Fraternal
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:48720 | Type: Door Knob |
| Material: Brass, Bronze |
You are bidding on RARE Collectible "Three Feathered Indian" door knobs.The Three Feathered Indian IDENTIFIED!The VDA2d contains the Three Feathered Indian (A-317). The VDA2d remarks it is "finely made, for a commercial building."A recent purchase of old hardware catalog copies, not from the ADCA archives included two pages from the 1923 Reading Hardware Co. catalog. One of these was the title page; the other was entitled "Special Designs", and showed, among eight other fraternal k...nobs, what we know is the "Three Feathered Indian" which was entitled "Red Men". A comment from Win Applegate led a search that produced a reference to a fraternal organization named "The Improved Order of Red Men (IORM)."Congress chartered the Improved Order of Red Men. It sounds like an American Indian organization, but in 1886 their membership requirements were: "No person shall be entitled to adoption into the orderexcept a free white male of good moral character and standing, of the full age of twenty-one great suns, ~who believes in the existence of a Great Spirit, the Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and is possessedof some known reputable means of support". In the 1970s IROM opened its membership to NativeAmericans and other persons of color; whether any joined it not immediately ascertainable. It currentlyhas chapters in 18 States.The IORM says its primary goal is to promote patriotism and the American Way of Life and that it isthe oldest fraternal organization in the U.S.A., tracing its history back to 1765, and is descended from theSons of Liberty (who threw a famous tea party in Boston, disguised as Mohawk Indians). It sponsorscharitable programs, particularly directed to research on Alzheimer's disease.Their rituals and regalia are modeled after those used by Native Americans, and their various groups areorganized into tribes, lodges, etc. Interestingly enough, its membership has slipped (from 500, 000 in 1935to less than 38, 000) while the Native American population has grown - in 1920 there were more than twoRed Men for every Native American, while according to one book, by the end of the 1990s, there were 70Native Americans for every Redman. If you look at the New York Times archives, it was a very big thingin the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Theodore Roosevelt was an honorary member.
Bidding on (1) of two.
Bidding on (1) of two.
