Very old Burnham boiler???

[art6411]

I used to clean this boiler every year, it is now gone for scrap. Does anyone know anything about this casting? I was told it was probably built before WWII. Very interesting to me.

[spotts]

Ya know, I have a very old brass boy scout button with the same logo in reverse. It didn't mean the devil before Hitler.

[spotts]

brain fart

[da_poppa]

The swastika or svastika in Sanskrit, has been used for thousands of years. It's most commonly used in Buddhism, Hinduism and Janism. When placed on a person or thing it denotes good luck.

After Hitler shanghaied it, the meaning changed 180º

[drhardcrab]

(I know this is an old thread, but what the hey) I had a customer that had one of those and I did some research and found out they were made by Burnham. This is the reply I got from them:

This question does come up occasionally . You are correct in that we (BURNHAM ) were originally based in Irvington New York. We did have a boiler series known as the Swasteeka which at that time had a very positive connotation . World events did change the perception of the Swastika symbol hence this series was renamed. Dave King Technical Services Representative Burnham Corporation 717-481-8400 Thanks, Dave! (Notice i did not say "Atta Boy, Dave") ;-]

Another posted:

Dave is correct as to our manufacturing facilities being situated in Irvington, NY. Back in those days prior to the two World Wars, the Swastika symbol was both a sign of prosperity and good luck. As a matter of fact, it dates back as far as 315 BC throughout Europe and Asia and was used by North American native Americans as well. It was used widely throughout the European countries on many products and is possibly the oldest known symbol in world history. If my memory serves me correctly, the original emblems had the configuration as a mirror image with the points in a counterclockwise direction. As Dave indicated, world events in the first half of the 20th century changed the connotation of the Swastika symbol somewhat.