Original Item: Only One Available. This is a remarkable original pre-WWII 100-foot roll of Ensign-Bickford Company “Clover Brand” Safety Fuse retaining its original printed paper wrapper. Manufactured for the mining, quarrying, construction, and commercial blasting industries, the roll provides an unusually complete example of the specialized industrial equipment produced by one of America’s most important historic safety-fuse manufacturers.

The original wrapper prominently identifies the product as Clover Brand Safety Fuse manufactured by The Ensign-Bickford Company of Simsbury, Connecticut. Clover Brand was an established Ensign-Bickford commercial trademark, formally registered during the 1920s for fuse intended for blasting and mining applications.

The roll measures 6 ¼” in diameter and is roughly 2 ½” tall. The front of the wrapper superimposed in front of the clover is the code E86025ED5 C, likely a lot or contract number.

The wrapper also bears a patent date of MAY 9, 1933. This date corresponds to U.S. Patent No. 1,907,863, titled “Safety Fuse,” invented by David E. Pearsall and assigned to The Ensign-Bickford Company. The patent was filed on August 5, 1931 and granted on May 9, 1933. It concerned improvements to the construction of blasting safety fuse, particularly methods intended to improve resistance to moisture and consistency of manufacture.

Ensign-Bickford traced its American safety-fuse business to Simsbury, Connecticut, and became closely associated with the manufacture of fuse for mining, quarrying, and commercial blasting. By the early 20th century the company was continually developing refinements intended to improve the weather resistance and reliability of its products. Earlier Ensign-Bickford patents likewise addressed waterproof or weather-resistant fuse construction, showing the long-term importance of moisture protection in this type of industrial product.

This surviving roll is particularly notable for retaining the combination of its full 100-foot form, orange wax-finished exterior, original Clover Brand wrapper, May 9, 1933 patent reference, and unidentified E86025ED5 C production marking. Together these features make it an unusually complete representative example of American pre-WWII mining and commercial blasting equipment from the historic Ensign-Bickford Company.

Totally inert, cannot be converted to an explosive device, not available for export. This item is completely legal within the USA. International Military Antiques, Inc observes all Federal, State and Local laws. Everything for sale on ima-usa.com is completely legal to own, trade, transport and sell within the United States of America.

All deactivated ordnance sold by IMA, Inc is engineered to be inoperable according to guidelines provided by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF).