L&H Electric Brander 54

L & H ELECTRIC BRANDER, MODEL 54, L. & H. MFG. CO., MANDAN, N.D., 115/120 VOLT 1000 WATT LIVESTOCK BRANDING IRON WITH CORD A genuine ranch-used electric branding iron from the best-known name in the business. The tool has a cream-white cylindrical body, a heavy hand-forged iron bail handle of bent rod construction with a rectangular grip loop and triangular bracing rods, and a heating head at the working end consisting of a half-round element and a flat straight bar face, blackened from use. The original heavy three-wire rubber cord with a molded grounded plug is present and coiled, secured with twist ties in the photographs. The brass and enamel data plate on the barrel reads L & H ELECTRIC BRANDER / MFD. IN U.S.A. BY / L. & H. MFG. CO., MANDAN, N.D. / PATENTS 2,514,618 - 3,067,314, with the fields MODEL 54, SER. 116642, VOLTS 115/120, and WATTS 1000. Approximately 17 to 18 inches in overall length. This is the same lot group as the pair of hand-forged H branding irons offered elsewhere in this sale, and the two together tell the whole story of how ranch branding changed, the fire-heated irons and the electric one that replaced them. It makes a strong western, ranch-office, barn, or steakhouse display piece and is also of interest to anyone still branding, though it has not been plugged in or tested and is sold strictly as a display and as-is item with no representation that it works or is electrically safe. Sold as one brander with its attached cord. Description L & H electric livestock brander, Model 54, with a cream-white painted or coated tubular barrel housing the heating element and connections. Hand-forged bail handle at the rear made of bent round iron rod: a rectangular grip loop with an inner rod, joined to the barrel by two angled bracing rods forming a triangle, all wrapped and clinched at the joints in the rod-braced construction L & H advertises as bracing at all stress points. Working head at the front consisting of a half-round arch element rising from the barrel and a flat straight bar brand face across the bottom, the face coated black with old carbon and burnt residue. Based on L & H's published product line, a half-circle-plus-bar head is the configuration the company describes on its semi-universal style brander, meant to build almost any letter or number by making a series of separate applications rather than burning a fixed brand in one press. This identification of the head style is read from the shape in the photographs and is offered as an opinion only; no L & H catalog number for the head is claimed. Original heavy black three-conductor rubber cord with a molded three-prong grounded plug, coiled and tied in the photographs. L & H states its branders ship with a ten-foot three-wire grounded cord, and this cord appears consistent with that, though the cord was not uncoiled and measured, so no length is claimed. Data plate, quoted verbatim as read from the photographs: L & H ELECTRIC BRANDER, MFD. IN U.S.A. BY, L. & H. MFG. CO., MANDAN, N.D., PATENTS 2,514,618 - 3,067,314, MODEL 54, SER. 116642, VOLTS 115/120, WATTS 1000. The plate is worn and the gold ground is rubbed, but all of these fields are legible across the several plate photographs. Approximately 17 to 18 inches overall length from the top of the handle loop to the brand face, with the handle grip loop approximately 5 inches across and approximately 3 inches tall, per the tape-measure photographs. In every measuring photograph the tape is laid on the concrete floor beside the tool or stood on end next to it rather than held against the piece, so all of these figures are close estimates only. No weight was taken. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Photographed on a bare concrete garage floor rather than the table setup used for smaller lots in this sale; other items and a coiled orange cord appear at the edges of one frame and are not part of this lot. Attribution note L & H Manufacturing Company of Mandan, North Dakota, which trades today as L & H Branding Irons, is described in trade coverage by Tri-State Livestock News as the oldest and largest branding iron manufacturer in the industry, and its own literature and dealer listings show a full line of electric branders, fire-heated irons, freeze branders, dehorners, hot knives, and decorative custom irons. North Dakota Studies, the state's educational program, notes that L & H Manufacturing of Mandan turns out roughly seventy electric branding irons a day. The company's published selling points for its electric branders are that they reach branding temperature in about ninety seconds, hold constant heat with no reheat waiting between animals, plug into any 110-volt outlet, eliminate the open branding fire, and are rod-braced at all stress points, all of which matches the construction of this tool. Model 54 is a long-running L & H electric brander designation that turns up on the secondary market in a range of wattages, and the 1000 watt r