August, 2013:
George Hummel – The Ridgewood Furniture & Carpet House – Bushwick, Brooklyn
George Hummel, Sr. (1851-1911) an acclaimed furniture & cabinet maker, was the son of stone mason David Hummel, a German immigrant who settled in Cincinnati, OH in 1841 according to Constance Lee Menefee, “with optimism and a trade.” There he started the Hummel Building Company. Menefee further states:
At that time Cincinnati was on the crest of a building and expansion boom….David Hummel died in 1894, leaving the business in the capable hands of his three sons: George, Frank and William. Each had been trained as an apprentice to a stone mason, blacksmith or carpenter and each worked at the stone yard and had supervised construction.¹
According to Digging Cincinnati:
In 1893, George Hummel, Sr. was the first to build his home at 3423 Whitfield Avenue. This home remained in his family until his wife, Ella, passed away in 1947. This home, designed by Samuel Hannaford & Sons, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.²
Claireware Pottery by Claire Weissberg – National Packing Box Factory – James H. Dykeman – Union Street, Brooklyn
543 Union Street – Just by the Union Street Bridge – Claireware Pottery – Handmade porcelain by Claire Weissberg