The instilled inspiration and generational recall provided by the Murdock fountain, quaintly rephrased as a “bubble-font” with wider intentions around revisiting the regions landmarks.
The second landmark article editorially headed as “Hidden History”, developed from the converse, yet corresponding theme that with the Murdock drinking fountains- though a smaller dispensary part of the river- are still conspicuously widespread. The decision to feature the company’s fountains was instilled- as the referenced article relates- at the public landing site in Cincinnati at Sawyer Point where a number of these fountains are publicly offered. The day these fountains were revisited a prepared failure for me to bring water along while exploring the areas on foot in the August heat left me quite parched. This ‘dry’ condition heightened the indispensable importance of the convenient public drinking fountains that are furthered purified through the city’s water works being closely available.
It is no small matter that sanitary drinking water is currently so handily provided, even as it’s a public service that the regions populace frequently takes for granted or may easily overlook. In the process of research- that required delving into the wider development of Cincinnati’s water works- the local Historical Society’s online library catalog was consulted revealing a “Minority Report" from the Water Supply Commission dated 1865 that mentions the term “pure water”. This early remark relays that this considered issue though frequently thought to be of recent import has rather been a long applied part of the regions concern in supplying potable water.
The inspiration deriving from the revitalizing liquid at hand was a naturally intuitive response that would later be consciously intermixed of familial memories relating to the past interaction with Murdock fountains that are a vital part of the areas history. This recall included the inventive term “Bubble-font” or “Bubbler” that was of wider usage in the 19th century and ‘modern’ turn of the 20th that remains in use of certain Midwestern dialects in the U.S., while also adapted internationally in Australia. It appears to have mostly fallen out of usage in and around Cincinnati, yet is still intoned the further north one travels, particularly in Wisconsin were it is often mistakenly heard as “Bubbla”. One of the reasons for the pervading adoption of the term “Bubbler” in that state springs from the claimed inventor of the particular nozzle for the drinking fountain-Harlan Huckleby-who worked for Kohler Water Works in the late 1800’s that according to the company’s stipulated trademark also termed the effervescing phrase over to them. Though many online forums continue to debate the spread of the term “Bubbler" beyond the American Midwest the instances of the circulation in Australia does not seem to be an anomalous transported occurrence. In fact the term is not accorded only with an artificial fountain as it was- and is- attributed to certain fish in rivers or streams; leading to ponder that its lively hook has most likely been expressed for some time prior to any official declaration.
Most of this ever being a matter of settled merit toward any clear claim of the coinage of “Bubbler” is likely insolvable as it derives appropriately from word of mouth, though Kohler does hold the later trademarked paper on the sparkling phrase as ceded to a drinking device. Hence the hyphenated rephrase “Bubble-Font” in reference to J.G. Murdock’s adapted water fountains refined by his patented “anti-freezing” function. The remembrance of my visiting grandfather in the feature article-who was a resident of Martin, Tennessee- is another national instance that the quaint application was distributed southward about his small town. Relevantly, to the ‘catchy’ phrase being conveyed out a “far piece”, my ‘grand pap’ was a delivery driver for Pepsi-Cola where upon his daily rounds he no doubt may have picked up this turned “tickler” spouted about a drinking fountain. As he was an avid fisherman this could also have furthered his amused allure toward the recast idiom.
Included with the generations that have benefited from this resourceful device is the Murdock families lasting legacy and the intentional emotive recall upon the past shared experience from their lasting contribution included in the first part of the article with my own family memories was intended as more than just wistful reminiscing. It was a conscious effort to comparatively reflect upon the multigenerational population that has developed and settled in or around the Cincinnati area and continue to reside or visit, taking in or giving back in respective measure.
As a returning resident to Cincinnati that was born here, yet at various times has lived in other locales both international and national, this expanded perspective is sought to be applied toward a wider understanding of the diverse immigrant construction that shaped the regions landmarks or monuments and the multicultural interactions that have and continue to appreciate by an ongoing communal exchange.
Of further intent the physical reaction described from tactile exposure to the reconsidered landmarks was included to hopefully encourage individual interaction on the part of the reader to revisit and draw upon their own sensate response at the current site. Of this palpable experience, the emphasis on reciprocal exchange- in this second feature in particular- is interwoven as a literal issue, with the essential import of landmarks being made active by current existential involvement.
This functioning relationship about the landmarks considered in the ‘first leg’ along a route that purposely draws around the Ohio River is in regard to the central issue that the watercourse bears to the formation and sustentation of the surrounding tri-state, while presenting a viable means of seemingly endless egression.
The present markings and overdue signs acknowledged around the local, national, and international legacy of Murdock fountains.
As with the first feature composed to overarch the Ohio River with the monumental span of the John A. Roebling Bridge, the ensuing article turns about the Murdock drinking fountains that equally tap into the central issue of the formative waterway.
Lacking a official marker that denotes any historical significance, certain features are nonetheless recognizable upon the adapted “Bubble-fonts” that were required of a set ratio to be made wheelchair accessible by federal mandate in public parks, with the prominent nominate relation Murdock upon the cast bases, interior basins, and foot treadles bearing a lasting impression. Included in this bronze, chrome, or iron-incised signage on various parts is the attached distinction relating the productive city were these fountains were formed- and are constantly retrofitted -Cincinnati O.
It is a wonder that outside these prevalent fountains there is no authorized plaque relating the lasting tribute that the Murdock family has made to the Greater Cincinnati area and continues to undertake in maintaining their reliable and replenishing function. Particularly the venerable fountains and hydrants that were installed near the turn of the 19th century, though not as grandly figurative as the Tyler-Davidson fountain, are no less literally given as a enduring reciprocal embodiment to the ensuing generations that pass through or reside within Cincinnati and the surrounding municipalities.
This is a undue oversight that is long overdue to be awarded and this circulate article arriving at the august fountain on Fourth Street, medially mentioning the age old fonts or pumps in Spring Grove Cemetery, while roundly concluding with the respected models in French Park, further endeavors to reemphasize the longstanding contributions that continue to currently flow from Murdock’s fonts.
That there is no ready inscribed account emplaced correspondingly nearby a historic font/hydrant or prominently accorded to John G. Murdock within the inductive city’s central electronic library catalog, remaining card indexes, or conspicuously representative in the areas Historical Societies registry on line, goes beyond the relayed reaction in the column of surprising, extending into embarrassing neglect, considering there are international regards on the Internet depicting the significant representation of Murdock fountains worldwide.
Suspecting to quickly turn up multiple references to the name John G. Murdock through the city’s main library from certain regards to the lasting import that his family continues to conduct in Cincinnati through their globally admired fountains and hydrants, it was rather distressing that the few relations were subsumed within the system- comparable to a hidden Easter egg- that was found by the persistence of the local librarian who was duly noted in the columns footnote- Jeanne Strauss De Groote. Though professionally poised, Ms. De Goote was also concerned that there was not a prominent relation connectively denoting John G. Murdock’s company in the libraries accessible search engines or past codex’s. Her applied knowledge of further electronic extensions from her continued investigations uncovered the previous relevant articles and entries in trade journals regarding Murdock’s fountains that were especially informative for the current column.
The confusing claims around Murdock fountains following from synonymous terms and adapted articles, with prolonged attempts made to regain present clarity.
Locally, only two relatively recent articles have reported on Murdock’s formative and ongoing contributions. One was undertaken- as acknowledged in the primary article- by Si Cornell for The Cincinnati Post in 1978. This was a transcribed interview with J. (Joseph) Kelso “Duke” Murdock, who at the time of the conducted consultation was acting C.E.O. of the company. The inclusive inceptive date cited by J. Kelso when his inventive ancestor installed the “non-freezing” fountain being related as 1853 raised further curiosity as to the absence of this preceding acknowledgement against multiple sources on the Internet that cite Harlan Huckleby as patenting the first “bubbler” in 1888, while larger respective mention given to Halsey Willard Taylor and Luther Haws for their wider efforts of sanitary drinking fountains in the early 1900’s.
The necessary editing to pair down the submitted review to 600 words required the leaving out of a original section that hereby conveys more detail of Taylor and Haws, while further citing a past record of John G. Murdock’s concurrent involvement:
“The development of the modern drinking fountain in North America is generally credited to two men in the early 1900’s Halsey William Taylor of the Halsey Taylor Company and Luther Haws representing the Haws Sanitary Drinking Faucet Co. The story behind Taylor inventing a more sanitary system for public intake of water was motivated by his father contracting typhoid fever, presumably from contaminated drinking water that led to his death in 1896. By 1912, Taylor had developed a design for an adaptive drinking fountain and was manufacturing them in Warren, Ohio. Correspondingly at that time from the records of the Municipal Journal & Public Works, Volume 33 of the September 19th 1912 issue there is an account under Muncipal Appliances, p.415 describing the unique properties of John G. Murdock’s “Bubble-Font” that utilized a patented “anti-freezing” design along with the sanitary elimination of standing water or shared cups. Curiously, though the name Murdock is still world- renowned, a current search on the Internet while crediting Harlan Huckleby and subsequently Kohler Water Works with the initial patent and trademark for the first ‘Bubbler’ from which the modern drinking fountain derived being issued in 1888, and acknowledging Taylor principally and Haws seemingly concurrently with leading innovations, widely omits Murdock’s significant contribution.”
The uncovering of the Municipal Journal account was aided by the Cincinnati Historical Society’s online database, after several variant entries outside of directly inputting Murdock’s name or company derivation. Specifically these searches were traced from broader categories of the water works or fountains by Cincinnati’s credited leading advancement in managing a sanitary system for public consumption of water in the 19th century. The earliest correlating historical article thus found of the J. G. Murdock Mfg. & Supply Co. was in the 1912 account with a following story in a 1913 publication Water & Sewage Works that further conveys a description of a drinking fountain emplaced in front of the Plum Street business that unfortunately is no longer there. These accounts substantiate the patent of the “anti-freezing” fountain, yet it is at a later date than purportedly Huckleby, Taylor, or Haws preceding claims. A proceeding description re-transcribing a listing was uncovered online from a railway pamphlet headed as “The Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati to Chattanooga” originally published in 1878. This re-transmitted post cites the 5th Street location under the Business Directory section on “Plumbers”, under which “Murdock, J.G. & Co” is entered as “Plumbers, Gas, and Steam Fitters”. The specific location is noted as “195 w. 5th Street” of the ascribed city, with the included description “Mn rs (Manufacturers) of J.G. Murdock’s Patent Anti-Freezing Hydrant”.
The second recent correlate mention of John G. Murdock’s patented system that placed the by-pass mechanism below the frost line in the ground to ensure operation year round was more recently restated in a 2008 feature in The Cincinnati Business Courier that quoted Bob Murdock- son of J. Kelso. Bob further presently communicated via email that-though he did not have the exact records or reference directly available- he recalled that J.G, Murdock’s supply store was established in 1853, while the patented application was initially in a hydrant or pump that could variably be largely referenced as a fountain. It is unclear if the Post reporter- Si Cornell- in the consulted interview with J.Kelso in 1978 misconstrued the recorded term fountain, or that it was directly said as an inclusive term taking in hydrants/pumps that was broadly extended to drinking fountains.
Further prospective mining conducted of the past patents of J.G. Murdock and his inherent families’ formative contributions to drinking devices in and around Cincinnati and world wide.
Of the pressed deadline to turn in the original article there was little additional opportunity to consult the patent source records, yet of a concerned interest of clarity the primary date of J.G. Murdock’s hydrant or fountain was further investigated by reviewing the digitized records of “The Annual report of the Commissioner of Patents” that begins in 1790 and extends to 1974. A full perusal of the claims beginning in 1853 was undertaken to determine if John G. Murdock is officially listed, with ensuing years as well. The patent categorization for 1853 is vastly different than the following decade, with the former having sections such as “Calorifics”, under which lamps and ovens are listed. Further close study from the full printed volume is to be undertaken to ensure John G. Murdock’s name was not overlooked of the year 1853. At the first view online of the record it would logically follow that his invention should be in the “Class XI: Hydraulics and Pneumatics” where there are other hydrants and pumps awarded, yet his name is absent in that category. The earliest recorded corroboration found was in 1863 that is supportively renewed by the 1869 reissue of his patented hydrant system. No exact mention is made of the “anti feezing” or “frost proof” mechanism as was to be later applied by Joseph K. Kelso Murdock in 1921 towards a supply and drain cap for antifreeze hydrants, though the precise terminology itself may be buried or hidden of his ancestor’s original claim. Continuing research is planned as these extensive and earlier oddly arranged patent records necessitate detail inspection into the printed records. The attribution to Kohler registering a patent in 1888 is not supported in that years record, not under company name or of Huckleby’s. Other dates of the patent for the “bubbler” given are of 1889, and the printed listing also needs to be consulted, as a full online version was not complete.
It is likely since J.G. Murdock was to establish a plumbing supply store in the city on 5th Street by 1853 and patent a hydrant in 1863 that the first practical application was somewhere in Cincinnati, possibly Eden Park where the protracted water works reservoir project was completed in 1878, or quite probably at the Front Street Pumping Station that had been found negligent in their absence of necessary fire hydrants. Where that operations central rebuilding was undertaken in 1865 could be another practical possibility.
Bob Murdock was graciously and expediently helpful in timely sharing his familial understanding of his ancestors patented system, although shortly pressed and not given due notice to consult the exact documents, his personal relation of the story was directly sincere. It tells of the fragility of archival records over the passage of 158 years and emphasizes the ever-present devastation of fire that in the open flame jets and torches of the 19th century was a constant hazard. In relevant response this was why the advent of an “anti-freezing” hydrant would be indispensable for a fire brigade or department in that era of which Cincinnati is recognized as progressively developing as well into the 1800’s. Of an unfortunate correlate matter a fire decimated the original supply house that J.G. Murdock operated out of on 5th Street in the early 1900’s, whereby many stored corresponding documents and personal transcriptions within the establishment were consumed. Bob has stated that there are depictions of this conflagration that he has in a personal collection and as there was a loose proposal of further compiling a familial narrative including his ancestors history- in celebration of their companies 160 year anniversary in 2013- it is hoped that I may be able to publicly share these harrowing renderings, as well as the ensuing resolve that J.G. continued to decidedly apply in his future applications to improve upon his dispensing devices. No doubt due to being nearly mortally reminded of the continuing necessity of requisite water applied by a substantial fountain or hydrant that is close at hand. The present merged company Murdock-Super Secur has a section on their website devoted to historical photographs that appear to show various sites in Cincinnati and the surrounding region, as well as national locations. These are very relevant examples, yet they lack identifying dates or captions as to specific places that would be an invaluable aid to their accorded appreciation within Cincinnati and counties of Ohio. Among these photographs, appears to be a scan of a poster signifying the great fire in the 1900’s at Murdock’s original supply house at 5th Street. The heading is discernable as “Whoopsie! They Singed US”, yet the body text is indecipherable.
The loss of many of the operative records prior to 1912 would explain the lack of additional substantiated archives that would further aid in soundly supporting J.G. Murdock’s original part in the development of the inceptive devices that distribute water. Yet as mentioned in the column the fugitive conditions of the 19th century rendered much corresponding material literally to moldy pieces or ashes, and as they were often singular accounts that were not replicated, they are regrettably irrevocably gone. Some additional digitized records from an "Annual Report" by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Exchange, year ending August, 1889 found citing the J.G. Murdock & Co. for plumbing extras on a receipt for their new building. The Smithsonian Institution lists a trade catalog of the Murdock Mfg. & Supply Co. of trade catalog and price lists from the 1900’s that in the notes records: "anti-freezing drinking; bubble-font: and hydrants".
Immutably the recognized patent for the 1863 hydrant remains attributed to John G. Murdock. His deserved recognition toward improving upon and ensuring that his drinking receptacles were to be effectively in operation despite the outdoor elements, along with the vital supply of hydrants for the prevention of fire at any time of the year, undoubtedly warrants his prime inclusion in the advanced development of public water fountains, both locally, nationally, and internationally.
J. Kelso in the stated article from The Cincinnati Post is shown standing by the company's pedal activated drinking fountain at French Park with a caption that it was installed in 1890. However, Bob is not certain there are sustaining records supporting that date. Bob further conveyed in his correspondence that many of the early dates are related by second or third generation stories and while not decrying their memorial validity on the part of J. Kelso; the relayed inceptive dates have at this time not been supported by corroborative historical documents for the date of the standing Bubble-Font. It is likely that J. Kelso could have been refering to a hand hydrant at French Park that was put in corresponding to that early date and this somehow was mistaken for the later "Bubble-Font". There is the chemical process of carbon testing upon the existing hydrants and fountains that is a proposal that has not yet been put to Bob Murdock, however this may be a further advance that could aid in actual proof as to a certain age.
Bob recalled that the first install of the “anti-freezing” hydrant/fountain might have been at Eden Park, that equipment was however replaced, so the option of physical testing is negated. Additional application could be turned to the venerable model at the Fourth Street location or the other older sites wherein other extant examples are emplaced such as in Spring Grove Cemetery and the Cincinnati Zoo. One other related account found that while not specifically recording the name of Murdock, mentions the presence of drinking fountains in the areas parks in 1871. This is the well known periodical booklet transcribed by Daniel J. Kenny in the 1879 Cincinnati Illustrated edition where in the section on ‘Fountains, drinking’ he states-emphasizing the importance of the Tyler-Davidson fountain being centrally given as a sanitary drinking vessel- that
“Beyond the limits of the parks there are but few, the principal being one at the Gas Works in which there is scarcely enough water, and one at each of the Christian Association Halls-.”
Kenny further cites the city’s Street Railway Company as having water stations in convenient locations for their own use. This is of course only another possible inference that these “exceptions” are examples of Murdock’s fountains, yet given his enduring models later proven practical application in the cities parks this would be very probable.
A necessary recap upon the ongoing difficulties and precise dangers of clear originality in regards to indisputably exacting the first drinking fountain.
While there is inherent propensity for ‘dogged’ pursuits of originality- of a certain irony that is not lost on the reviewer- as to the patented mania that was sweeping the United States in the crazed industrial expansion in the 19th century to the turn of the century that led to some unscrupulous and wild endeavors undertaken to claim rightful ownership, these questionable actions are at the considered forefront of remaining records proving clear inceptive inventions. The supportive patents registered with the U.S. office, while providing a prime relation as to formative dates are as considered of the early categorizations and descriptions of the mid 1800’s not always as specifically outlined as they would become, even- as stated- by the 1860’s. J.G. Murdock’s patented hydrant revealed of the 1863 claim in the records, may have further conducted an "anti freezing" function that was not fully writ at that time. Undoubtedly, this patent was re-issued in 1869, wherein again no exact terminology is recorded of "anti-freezing", yet the functioning principles of a supply and drain cap for that stated premise that would be patently issued to J. Kelso in 1921 presumes the function. Furthermore there is the 1913 account in the Water & Sewage Works of which J.G. Murdock states he adapted the idea for a standing drinking fountain two years prior, that at least purports the modified system from his hydrant being planned in 1911.
There appears to be much competitive confusion as to the inception of the 'modern' drinking fountain in that was it established through the early handle hydrants or upstandingly held of later adaptations by various nozzles, such as the widely claimed invention by Harlan Huckleby that was 'accordingly' espoused as the "Bubbler". If holding up standing claims it is still unclear if Kohler 'beat' anyone in inventing the freestanding drinking fountain in 1888. I believe the attribution under the upright model in the 1978 Cincinnati Post article by Si Cornell, as far as the depiction in French Park being of 1890, may have confused the dated inception with one of Murdock's hydrants, rather than the "Bubble-Font".
As far as supportive historical accounts, the earliest discovered thus far is within the railway pamphlet of The Cincinnati Southern Railway from Chattanogga to Cincinnati transcribed of 1878 under "Plumbers" that mentions Murdock's patent "anti-freeze" hydrant, with the 1912 Municipal Journal article and a established reference of the Smithsonian Institution listing this in their trade records with the noted "anti-freezing drinking fountains and bubble-font. The ascribed date however is of a more round 1900's, and if trusting to the account in the 1912 Municipal Journal and Water & Sewage Works of 1913-of which J.G. Murdock recounts his invention to "two summers past" the "anti-freezing" "Bubble-Font" appears to have been implemented in 1911, accordingly adapted from Murdock's patent hydrant.
As ongoing material relating to the historical descriptions or documentation leading to J.G. Murdock's significant input is further sifted their will be periodical updates here, along with further attached illustrations pending permission from the respective copyright holders.
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