NPS, P05-077

The Smithsonian Institution recognized the significance of the Regan Vapor engine by taking the 1885 prototype into its collection in 1950, a precious relic sent off with a wistful smile by Otto Fischer.

Over the past two years the park has taken in two groups of archival materials relating to the Union Diesel Engine Company of San Francisco. The photographs, catalogs, and company records were generously donated by Sarinda Newell, granddaughter of the long-time company President, Otto Fischer.

Formed in 1892 as the Union Gas Engine Company following a merger of the Regan Vapor Engine Company and the Pacific Gas Engine Company, it was the first successful manufacturer of gasoline engines in this country.

Daniel S. Regan was the true pioneer of the American gasoline engine business, receiving the first U.S. patent for a practical internal combustion engine in 1885. His engine, a four-stroke cycle type with a single vertical cylinder and a make-and-break type mechanical ignition system, was the prototype for tens of thousands of engines that would be built in the Bay Area, not only by the Regan and Union Companies, but by some two dozen independent manufacturers who took their design lead from Regan.

Bay Area engines were notable in the 1890s and the early 20th century for being four-strokes, at a time when two-strokes were the norm elsewhere in the country. The Hicks and the Frisco Standard models were the last survivors of these locally-built gasoline engines, remaining the preferred power for Monterey fishing boats into the 1930s.

A Hicks engine, in working condition, is on display at Hyde Street Pier. Also, moored at the end of the pier is a Monterey fishing boat.

The Union Gas Engine Company was located on Howard Street, in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco. The company was burned out in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire and then relocated across the Bay to Oakland.

After developing their first diesel engine in the early 1920s, they became the Union Diesel Engine Company and remained in business until the early 1970s. Otto Fischer was the president from about 1910 until his death in 1967, and was succeeded by his daughter, Harriet Fischer Newell.

The Union Diesel Engine Co. collections are available for research. Call the park library for information, 415-561-7080.

NPS

A scrimshawed walrus tusk depicting images from the Arctic Whale fishery between 1893 and 1914.

Scrimshawed Walrus Tusks

The park recently accepted a generous donation from Mr. Richard Vignolo, a member of the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, of beautiful scrimshawed walrus tusks.

Hand scribed onto the tusks are scenes of men in boats hunting walrus, an arctic scene of dogs pulling a man on a sled, and the San Francisco whaling ship Jeanette, that was active in the Arctic whale fishery between 1893 and 1914. The Jeanette sailed out of San Francisco and was built at a shipyard in Benicia, California, by Matthew Turner, the most prolific shipbuilder on the West Coast during the 19th century. Also included in the donation are two carved Narwhal(ivory)walking canes.

Mr. Vignolo’s grandfather operated a jewelry store in San Francisco on Dupont Street (now Grant Street) in the early 1900s and the pieces were reportedly traded there by sailors. The ivory canes will be displayed in upcoming exhibits planned for the Visitor Center.

Interesting Items Dug Up During Renovation Work

During the renovation of the Aquatic Park Bathhouse, a number of items were found that provide a glimpse of life in the 1930s and perhaps before.

Ceramic and glass sherds, found in the pit dug for the new elevator, may very well be part of the rubble of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. A brown glass wine bottle, a Rainier beer cone-top can, an Orangeade bottle cap, and a tobacco bag, tell us of habits and vices of those who worked in, or on, the building.

In the United States, cone top beer cans had their start in 1935. Prior to the 1930s most beer was bottled in glass. The cone top can design allowed breweries to use their existing bottling equipment to fill and cap the "bottle-shaped" cans. Because ot its design, we know that this particular can was made between March 1936 and July 1937 (the latter being the "brewed by" date on the bottom). Eventually the flat top beer can, that we use today, was introduced and new canning systems were devised to fill them.

A Calo Cat Food can, found several years ago in the building, contains a residue of blue paint, a thumbprint in blue on the outside of the can, and, attached to the exterior, an intriguing hand-written notation: "flat blue fish/ panel #26." During the late 1930s artist Hilaire Hiler, and his assistants, spent two years creating 5000 square feet of brilliantly colored interior murals. We don’t have absolute proof, but it seems likely that this paint was used to create one of the blue fish in a mural panel.

Tours of the building and the murals are offered on a regular basis. Call the park Visitor Center for dates and times, 415-447-5000.

By Judy Hitzeman, Museum Curator