Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very unusual original U.S. Navy WWII-era foundry shop sign, most likely made for display aboard a naval vessel, tender, repair ship, or other Navy facility equipped with a foundry. The sign incorporates a heavy lead plaque honoring Navy Molders, the “Iron Men of the Navy,” together with the painted legend YE OLD FOUNDRY and the crossed-tool insignia associated with the Molder rating.

The sign measures 15 ¼ x 19” and bears a lead plaque depicting an arm reaching out from a fire clutching a tool, with the crossed tools denoting the Molder rate above it. The phrase YE OLD FOUNDRY is stenciled in white to the front. The back of the sign has the first draft of the painting, with FOUNDRY under the painted crossed tools insignia.

The Navy’s move from wood to steel vessels began with Congressional approval of the construction of four steel warships in 1883, the Age of Sail had not quite ended. These “ABCD Ships”—so dubbed because they were named Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Dolphin—were curious hybrids featuring steel hulls and steam engines but also equipped with sails. It was not until a decade later that the Navy was fully committed to steam-powered vessels and cast sails aside.

But just as sails required sailmakers to effect repairs, the new mechanized Navy ships needed Sailors to manufacture damaged or worn equipment in cases where the parts were not on hand. Using a wood pattern of the object to be duplicated, Molders create the shape of the part by pressing the pattern into a sand mixture, removing it, and pouring liquified metal into the impression. Originally stationed on battleships, repair vessels, and at shore stations, all Molders were originally either first- or second-class Petty Officers from either the Seaman of Fireman job class. When a Molder reached the rate of Chief Petty Officer, he became a Chief Metalsmith.

The ML rating was disestablished from 1929 to 1943. After 1943, all Molders were drawn from the Firemen job class. A year earlier, foundries had been removed from older battleships and were not included on new battleships in production, so Molders were no longer found on first-line combat ships but rather on tenders accompanying the fleet.

Rather than representing a standard issued piece of equipment, this is the type of personalized shop sign that reflects the identity and pride of the sailors who worked in one of the Navy’s most demanding technical trades. Its direct association with foundry work and the Molder rating gives it excellent value for a collection focused on WWII naval engineering, repair ships, tenders, or Navy occupational specialties.