Topping Ladder: Over a century of quality
By Linda Van Haneghem
Loaned by Marion Historian Carolyn Adriaansen
Topping Ladder Company of Marion, New York is probably one of the most widely know businesses in Wayne County. For nearly half a century the company's ladders have been distributed and sold as far west as Missouri and in all states from Maine to Florida.
In 1850, over 125 years ago, Howle Topping settled in Marion. Coming from the area around Chatum and Albany, Howle stopped in Newark briefly and then journeyed on to Marion. Being a woodworker by trade, Howle established the ladder business in 1860 in the rear of the lot, which is presently 76 South Main Street in Marion. Lumber was piled beside the creek, also on Main Street, where the old Marion Canning Factory foundation now stands. A sawmill was also located on the new site.
Besides ladders, Topping Ladder also used to make crates, farm gates, and portable apple driers and bleachers. In fact, in the 1870's many of their apple driers were sold to the Russian Government. The popularity of the apple bleachers was mainly the result of the advantages that they held for the farmers. They could be easily moved from one farm to another on a wagon and thus saved the farmers a lot of money, since they eliminated the need for farmers to own their own equipment in dry houses.
In December of 1889, Topping Ladder patented a washing machine called the Marion Washing Machine. Being all handmade and hand-turned, the new washing machine was guaranteed to satisfy or your money back. It also prevented deformed joints and broken nails, saved time, labor, and soap, and could be purchased for $8.00 cash or on the installment plan if your were a responsible party.
Also, in the 1950's Topping Ladder made a "take down" picnic table. For two to three years there was a slight dip in the sale of ladders, and rather than lay off any men, they began the production of picnic tables. As soon as the ladder business increased they discontinued making the tables.
By the early 1900's all products except the ladders were discontinued. As the company continued growing, the need for their own sawmill diminished, since lumber was purchased already sawed. Therefore, with no real need for the mill, it was also discontinued.
When Howle Topping started his business in 1860, he made the first patterns for the production of his ladders. Those patterns are still being used today with only a few minor changes. The construction of Topping ladders is quite unique when compared to others manufactured. Basswood is used for the side rails because it is 30% lighter than fir or spruce (which is commonly used for most ladders). The rungs are made of straight-grained white ash formed into an octagonal shape. This shape gives an easier foothold and leaves more material in the ladder than if they were round. Air-dried lumber is used for both the side rails and rungs because it keeps its strength better than kiln-dried lumber. Each rung tenon is driven in with white lead and oil to seal the joint against moisture and decay. However, probably the most outstanding feature of the Topping ladder is the balance factor. The gradual taper from bottom to top, the size of the side rails, and the length of the rungs, all lower the center of gravity and make the ladders much safer and easier to handle.
Transportation of the ladders was first done on the Erie Canal. In the 1870's they were shipped on the canal to Rochester, where they were sold by a ladder dealer who was the grandfather of John Connor, the present owner of Topping Ladder. Shortly after the 1930's, the ladders became much more widely distributed, and the railroad then became the major means of shipment. The railroad is still used today; however trucks are being used increasingly more.
Howle Topping's son, Charles, worked with his father as a boy, and when Howle died, Charles continued the business. In 1884 he moved ToppingLadder to its present location on 105 South Main Street in Marion. George who was Charles' son, bought the residence in 1906. In 1927 George's son, Clifford, started working with his father, and in 1929 they formed a partnership. The company then became known as the George C. Topping Ladder Company. When George died in 1942, Clifford continued a partnership with his mother until her death in 1958. Clifford then renamed the company The Topping Ladder Company - Clifford Topping, owner. In 1965 Clifford retired and sold the business to John Connor of Rochester. The company is now known simply as Topping Ladder Co., Inc. Until his death in 1970, Clifford served as an advisor to John Connor.
Clifford Topping probably did more for Topping Ladder than did all the previous Toppings put together. Before 1930 Topping ladders were not sold much beyond a 50 mile radius of Marion, and before 1940 all the ladders were sold in New York State. Then Clifford displayed a Topping Ladder at an agricultural show in the Hudson Valley. At the show he met E.E. Stimpson, a ladder dealer from Poughkeepsie. Having been a dealer for thirty years, Mr. Stimpson sold ladders in the entire Hudson River Valley. Being very impressed with the Topping Ladders, he ordered a few samples and very soon after put in an order for a whole carload. Since then E.E. Stimpson has died, but his son has taken over and is still doing business with Topping Ladder.
That was just the beginning. From 1940-1945, the gross profit of the company tripled. And in less than twenty years it became four and a half times larger. Topping ladders are now sold all over the country. Clifford has also made some minor changes in the ladders themselves. For instance, on the extension ladders, he widened the bottom even more to prevent tipping over while working. He also put two hooks on the extension instead of one, to increase the sturdiness of the ladder.
The factory itself is not only the most important but also the most interesting part of the company. Originally the few machines there, were powered by steam. The boiler, which was kept in one part of the building, powered a large main wheel which was in turn connected to many other belts and shafts. These belts and shafts were connected to individual machines. This method of power was sometimes very dangerous, since workers had to be very careful not to get in the way of the large belts, which were constantly flapping. On the other hand, this method proved to be an excellent way to use up waste wood. Both waste wood and soft coal were used to fire the boiler. Not until Clifford took over was the power changed to gasoline engines. This system, however, ran on the same method of belts and shafts. The old boiler was simply used for heat at this time. The gasoline engines were only used for a very brief time in the 1940's.
Sometime around 1950, Clifford changed all the power to electrical motors. This was a great improvement for working conditions. Clifford also changed the way the drilling was done before the rungs were inserted. Before this change, each hole for the different sized rungs was drilled separately by hand or by one electric drill, for which the bit would be changed for each different sized hole. That necessitated having to handle each ladder side three to four times. Clifford recognized this inefficiency, and in 1950 he purchased a ladder-side machine and blower system to remove all sawdust from the machines.
Originally the ladder-side machine was manufactured to make wagon tongues. A competitor purchased it and had it redesigned to taper, shape, and plane sides of various fruit ladders. Several years following the bankruptcy of that competitor, Clifford was able to acquire the machine. He renovated and equipped it with electric motors. The same machine is used today. The blower system is also still in use. A blower is attached to each machine and vacuums up all the sawdust produced and carries it to a large silo, where it is collected. The sawdust is then sold, mainly to a local farmer who uses it in his barn.
Prior to 1930, all work in the factory was done by father and son. From the 1930's until the early forties, one extra man was hired at the hourly rate of fifty cents per hour. Then, after 1940, the number of employees increased to four, and at the present time there are still only four men employed in the factory. One man in addition to the four, however, is hired for the sole purpose of constructing Garlock reels from the waste wood produced by the factory. These reels are made for the sale to the Garlock Company in Palmyra, New York, to be used for winding their packing on. The packing is a rubbery material from which rings (of various sizes) are cut to be used in all kinds of machines as seals and washers. This sale provides a profit from material that probably would have no other use except being burned as firewood. These reels have been in production for at least forty years.
The knowledge of the actual production of the Topping ladders is positively as important as the history of the company. Each ladder is checked and rechecked for any possible defects, to assure that each ladder sold is as close to perfect as possible. To begin the production of the fruit ladder, the wood is unloaded in the rear of the factory. A rip saw is used to cut out the general shape and size of the parts of the ladder. Then the steps are cut out by a marked table saw. Next, the sides of the ladder are put through the ladder side machine. Six motors drive this machine, which smoothes all edges and makes the sides thicker at the bottom and smaller at the top. The holes for the rungs are then bored in the ladder sides. There are four different drills that stand directly next to each other. The right number of a certain size hole is drilled. The production of the rungs is next. Since they are made out of ash, another load of lumber must be unloaded and sawed to the approximate size and shape. The molder cuts the pieces into their octagonal shape and smoothes them down. This machine makes all diameters of rungs. The finished ash rungs are piled according to size and laid out by sets according to how many of each size is needed for a certain size ladder. The rungs are then pounded in by hand with a leather mallet. To help seal the joints, the rungs are dipped into oil before they are hammered in. The ladder is then stenciled with "Topping, Marion, NY" and loaded for shipping.
Probably the most unusual ladder made by Topping Ladder is the chimney ladder, which is made for the International Chimney Company, the world's largest builder of chimneys. It is made in sections and fits together inside the chimney as it is being built. These ladders have been shipped as far as Bolivia.
The history of Topping Ladder Company, whether it involves the production end or the business end, truly shows the many ideas, hard work, and determination that made the company what it is today. There have been a lot of changes in the ways of manufacturing the ladders in the last century, but basically the ladders are as individually made now as they were in 1860. The sense of pride achieved when a product is made one by one is what Topping Ladders are all about. All four generations of Toppings who made ladders their life's work believed in quality. That surely shows in their product as it is today. Topping ladders have always been considered for quality before price. The few changes in construction through the years have always been made with that idea of quality workmanship in mind. Perhaps the company's philosophy is best summed up in the Topping Ladder Company's traditional motto:
"There is hardly anything in this world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper - and people who consider price only are this man's prey."
(The company closed its doors May 30, 1997.)
Directions for Using the Marion Washing Machine
Fill the machine nearly to the "button" with boiling hot water. Shave up as much soap as is necessary to do the washing on hand. Dissolve the soap in about one (1) quart hot soft water. After which pour enough into the machine to form a good strong "suds." Then put an amount of clothes, say about three (3) sheets, or other articles in proportion. The time required to rub them ] from 5 to 10 minutes. If there are any spots on any article that is not clean by first rubbing, soap the spots and rub the second time. If the clothes work to end of the machine, raise up the Tumbler and catch the clothes from the bottom and they will work back. After the clothes are rubbed remove the Tumbler from the machine, then use the machine to suds and blue the clothes. The work is all done with the machine without any tub or wash board. Attach your Wringer to the front of the machine, in front of button.
Improved Portable Fruit Evaporator
No. 1 - The smallest size, six racks, is three feet, six inches high, about two feet, four inches square, weight 84 pounds, will dry three to five bushels of apples per day. This dryer is without heater, has iron feet and is to be placed on the cook stove in the house, which makes it very convenient and safe.
No. 2 - The second size is six feet long, three and a half feet wide, six and a half feet high, containing ten racks, giving a large drying surface, weight about 490 pounds, and will dry ten or twelve bushels of sliced apples per day.
No. 3 - Containing fifteen racks, weight about 650 pounds, will dry from twelve to fifteen bushels per day.
The heaters on all three dryers go the entire length of them.
No. 4 - Containing 24 racks, weight 790 pounds, with a capacity of 20 to 30 bushels per day, and with a practical hand will go more than the capacity mentioned. The improved have been used extensively for the past 10 years. Nearly every farmer in Wayne Co., NY has one; some have 4 in use. It is the cheapest evaporator out, and its handsome fruit brings the highest price. Directions and a special process sent with the evaporator.
Some of the reasons why they are the best and cheapest is for its handsome fruit they have dried in about two to three hours:
1st.- Being portable it can be placed anywhere or moved anytime.
2d.- It takes but little wood to keep it running
3d.- Fruit dried in it will bring from six to eight cents per pound more than fruit dried by sunshine, which alone will more than pay for a dryer in one month.
4th.- The heater is so arranged that you get all the heat, and allows no sparks to escape the pipe, making it safe to have near buildings.
(Delivered at Palmyra Depot free of charge).
Directions:
Use large dry swamp wood, about two feet long; have Dryer hot when the apples are put in. Slice, quarter inch thick; fill the racks full, but not double them. Place them in the dryer as fast as the racks are filled and processed. A steady heat is required. Special process sent with the evaporator.
H. Topping, Marion, Wayne Co. NY
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