Florida Resident Investigates History of Antique Sprayer

Florida resident Margie Morales grabbed a piece of the pest control industry’s history at a recent garage sale with the purchase of a an antique bug sprayer with the address "SAMETH EXTERMINATING CO. INC., 200 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK".

CLEVELAND — Florida resident Margie Morales grabbed a piece of the pest control industry’s history at a recent garage sale with the purchase of an antique bug sprayer with the address "SAMETH EXTERMINATING CO. INC., 200 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK".

This sprayer features two valves — one for the pump and one for the spout of the sprayer — as well as a seal made of leather.

On the handle was stamped the name of the person who patented the sprayer. The imprint reads "OTTO BERNZ CO. INC., NEWARK, N.J. PATENTED". Through her research, Morales came across a Web site for Bernz's company, which since has been re-named BernzoMatic, and she theorizes that this company customized a sprayer devised from a blow torch — a common practice in the 1930s and 1940s. According to the Ratcatcher’s Child, by and large, the sprayers used by PCOs during this time were made for home gardeners of their own invention and adaption.

If you have any information (or theories) about this sprayer you would like to pass along, e-mail Brad Harbison at bharbison@gie.net.