The Frank Sahd trivet

I recently discovered (and purchased) this interesting trivet on eBay. Here are the details:

● On the front: COLUMBIA PA  ANTIQUES  FRANK SAHD

● Unsigned on the reverse.

● Measures 7.25″ x 4.25″ with four 7/8″ feet.

It was described as cast iron but, once delivered, I discovered a magnet doesn’t stick. So it’s actually brass with a dark brownish-gold patina. Weight: 1 pound 0.4 ounces.

PS: If anyone has an example of the cast iron version of the Frank Sahd trivet, please Contact Me and I will share your image as a blog update. Thanks in advance!

Researching the Frank Sahd trivet

An online search led to the Sahd Metal Recycling in Columbia, PA. The company history shared on their website appeared to establish a link to this trivet. “In 1941, Frank Sahd, along with the help of his wife, Lucille, started Frank Sahd Salvage Center with an antique shop in front and scrap metal business in the garage in the back of their home at 219-221 Locust Street, Columbia, PA.”

Frank Sahd’s wife Lucille and his father Samuel at 219-221 Locust Street, 1940s.

I contacted the company hoping to reach someone with knowledge of this trivet. The next morning I was rewarded with an email from a Sahd Metal Recycling representative. He provided several early images of company buildings and this background on the Sahd company and my trivet.

Frank Sahd opened a business at 219-221 Locust Street until he acquired property, 1029-1045 Lancaster Avenue, Columbia, in the late 1940s. The new office & storage building was built and finished the move in 1950-51 to our company’s current location.

Along with antiques, Frank was also in the scrap metals business. He contracted a local brass foundry and supplied the brass and cast iron to create the “Good Luck” trivets that he would pass out to his customers in commemoration of the new location. The brass ones were limited and given to special customers and friends, while the cast ones were distributed to all customers.

The new location at 1029-1045 Lancaster Avenue, circa 1950-1951.

The Sahd company representative, who was a child at that time, recalls these trivets arriving in heavy wooden crates from the Cordelia Castings Foundry, located on old Chiques Rd on the outskirts of Columbia. The trivets were cast & distributed when Frank Sahd opened the new building and yard at 1029-1045 Lancaster Avenue. This provenance documents the release of the Frank Sahd trivets to the early 1950s.

I was confused because the website opencorporates lists the Cornelia Castings Company location as 257 S. 9th Street, Lancaster, PA with an incorporation date of 1/13/1966 and dissolution date of 2/25/1975.  The Sahd company representative explained that the location on 9th Street, from 1966 to 1975, was actually a storage building for old inventory after the Cordelia Castings Foundry closed.

The front of the business, circa 1957. Frank Sahd is at the far left.

Frank Sahd passed away in 1972. The family business has continued to this day at the same location, now  including a third generation of family members. You’re invited to learn more about this company’s history at their website. https://recycleyourmetal.com/about/

The original “Good Luck For Us All” design

The Frank Sahd trivet design is based on the antique cast iron horseshoe trivet shown above, crudely inscribed “Good Luck For Us All” and unsigned on the reverse. There is a second, slightly different version of this antique design. Both versions are documented on pages 124 and 125 of “A Collectors Guide To Trivets & Stands” (1990).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City also produced a cast iron “Good Luck For Us All” reproduction. MMA trivet reproductions were sold in their museum gift shops in the 1960s and signed © MMA on the reverse.

Three other Trivetology blog posts discuss other antique trivet designs reproduced and sold by MMA.

● MMA leaf trivet
● Ned the Dog
● The fabulous Fly trivet

Update 3/28/24

I was recently made aware of this vintage example of the “Good Luck For Us All” trivet marked A-13 on the reverse. Thanks to Dianne Pruitt for sharing the following two images.