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MANUFACTURER
- Sallee Bros.
Hickory Handle Co.
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The Sallee family originated in
Gainesville, Missouri. Around 1902, Raymond Sallee
started to make handles by hand. He made a good
handle and found a market for all he
could make. The market outgrew his hand
manufacturing method, and he saw a
future in the industry if he could find
plenty of raw material and could equip
a plant.
He and his brother Joe Sallee organized
in 1908, and found plenty of raw
material around Success, in Randolph
County where they built their first,
handle factory. They moved the plant
from Success to Pocahontas, in 1909.
Hickory and ash logs would be delivered
to the mill, where they would be sawed
into blanks, then shaped into various
handles for tools such as axes and
baseball bats.
Joe Sallee died in 1927 and his brother and partner, Raymond took over his
interests. He was assisted in the sales
department by another brother, Robert
Sallee and his son Dean. By 1937 the
company produced 1,000 dozen handles
each working day in the mil which
operated 300 days a year. About 85 per
cent of all the handles that
were being made in 1943 were
being used for the war effort.
A steam engine powered the Sallee Bros. Handle Factory in Pocahontas from
1956 until the mill was converted to
electric in the Late 1980's. Steam was
generated by burning sawdust and wood
shavings produced in the manufacturing
of striking tool handles. The engine
turned the large flywheel, witch in
turn operated a line shaft running the
length of the mill building. The line
shaft powered the saws, lathes and
sanders utilized in making hickory
handles.
This particular steam engine was originally manufactured in 1898, and was
moved from a slave mill in Tiptonville,
TN in 1956. The move included a ferry
crossing of the Mississippi River at
Tiptonville. When installed by Sallee
Bros. personnel, the engine replaced
and older engine which had been in
service since the early 1900's.
Sallee Bros. baseball bat models include: Special 300; Special 500;
Jubilee Ball Bat; Official 101;
Official Baseball No. PG29A;
Official Playground No. PG26A; Official
Softball, No SB32FH.
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Sallee Brothers
Pocahontas Ark. Baseball Bats |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
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