Oakland Underfoot

8327 Plymouth Street

This bizarre backwards mark appears to be from 1926. Let me share my thinking here. First, we’re very close to Banchero & Co.’s home location on 86th Avenue. Second, all my other Banchero marks used a racetrack format whereas this is an oval. Third, unless I’m badly mistaken, there’s no possible way to create a reversed mark with a properly made bronze stamp. Fourth, the numeral 6 next to the (backwards) date “192_” suggests to me that it’s meant as 1926. Fifth, all other Banchero marks date from 1927 and later.

The scenario I envision is this: When it went into business in 1926, the Banchero & Co. firm ordered a stamp, but it was defective thanks to a boneheaded foundry error. They went ahead and used it until a new one was made. I’ll have my eye closely peeled as I explore the next few avenues.

This entry was posted on 27 May 2015 at 12:04 am and is filed under  Errors, 1926. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.