Early 20th Century Gade 3 HP Engine

 This air-cooled engine was manufactured by the Gade Brothers Manufacturing Company of Iowa Falls, Iowa. It was rated at 3 HP and has a 5" x 7" bore and stroke. According to a 1911 history of Hardin County, Iowa, the future Gade company was initially created by two men named Hardenrook and Rice.  In 1903, Carl L. Gade joined these two men in the business.  About six months later, Carl's brothers, Fred J., Willam H., and Louis A., replaced Hardenrook and Rice as co-owners.  Over the next few years, the Gade brothers made a series of improvements to the company's engine, especially developing an air cooling system for their engines, and their company slowly grew.  By 1914, the company had about 30,000 square feet of floor space, employed about 50 to 60 men, and had two traveling representatives.  The Gade brothers' company not only shipped engines throughout the U.S., but also to other countries.

 If you look at the top of this Gade engine, you might notice a small brass cup sticking up from the engine. This is a Lunkenheimer Brass Oil Cup made by the Lunkenheimer Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.  This company was founded as the Cincinnati Brass Works in 1862 by Frederick Lunkenheimer, a German immigrant to the U.S.  Over the first several years in business, Lunkenheimer made a wide variety of valves, lubricators, steam engine attachments, and other brass items.  After Frederick's death in 1889, his son, Edmund, took over leadership of the company.  Edmund was a very inventive person, obtaining several patents for valves and lubricators.  In 1902, the company opened a new 150,000 square foot factory, employing about 700 workers.  The factory produced items not only for the U.S. market, but for markets throughout the world.  You can see a 1906 Lunkenheimer illustrated catalog, showing this brass cup and the company's other products by clicking or touching here.

From the Lunkenheimer Factory 1906 Illustrated Catalog
and Price List. Published in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Notes

The information about the Gade company's 1903 formation is from Past and Present of Hardin County Iowa, edited by William J. Moir (Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1911), pp. 450-452.  The information about the company in 1914 is from Farm Implement News, vol. XXXV, no. 48 (November 26, 1914), p. 70.

The information on the Lunkenheimer Company in 1902 is from Electrical World and Engineer, vol. XL, no. 18 (November 1, 1902).