Discoveries
Using Rug Textures to Identify Brickmakers
By Dan L. Mosier
In the stiff-mud process of manufacturing bricks, extruded bricks can have different kinds of textures applied to the sides of bricks. This article will discuss the rug texture and how it can be used to help identify the brickmaker. A rug textured brick is a type of face brick commonly used to decorate the exterior walls of buildings.
A type of die with pointed projections attached to the extruder will scratch grooves into the sides of the extruding clay column. These dies can have any number of points of any thickness, which can make unique rug textures. After the clay column has been wire-cut into bricks, the sides will display transverse (or vertical) grooves called a rug texture.
The grooves can be evenly spaced or unevenly spaced, open or covered, and with or without margins. An open groove is when the groove is open from top to bottom of the brick. A covered groove is when it is slightly or partly covered by excess clay scraped from adjacent grooves. It can sometimes be difficult to count covered grooves. Incomplete grooves are terminated within the brick. The even or uneven spacings of the grooves should refer to only the long side of the brick, not the ends, which can vary when both ends are scored. Margins at the ends of the rug pattern are normally blank spaces that are wider than the spaces between grooves. Margins may not always have the same exact width at each end of the rug pattern, so measurements in that case are approximated.
These grooves usually have consistent patterns on all of the bricks made with the same die. A change in the die can change the rug textured pattern. Therefore, some brickmakers may have more than one style of rug texture. Rug textures will always be found on one of the long side of a brick, but they may or may not appear on the ends of a brick. The number of grooves on the ends may differ by a couple of grooves in the same brick.
The number of grooves on the long side and end of a brick are counted for identification. For a partial brick, the number of grooves can be approximated by extrapolating the number of grooves per inch, but only if the length of a brick is known. If the rug texture has margins, those should be measured and included when estimating the number of grooves in a partial brick.
The rug bricks that have their makers identified in California are listed below. In the first column is the number of grooves on the long side of a brick. These grooves are listed in ascending order. In the second column is the number of grooves on the end of a brick, if available. Also listed are the width of the margins, nature of the grooves, and brick size (in inches). Additional brickmakers will be listed here when their rug textured bricks are discovered.
To identify the brickmaker of a rug textured brick, count the grooves on the long side and end of a brick, measure the width of margins, note the nature of the grooves, and find a match in the list below. An associated wire-cut pattern, when available, should also match with the suggested brickmaker for further verification.
Rug Textures and Brickmakers
Side End Margins Grooves Brick Size Brickmaker
8 0 none even, open 8 1/4 x 4 x 2 3/8 Gladding, McBean & Co., Lincoln
14 0 none uneven, open 8 1/4 x 4 x 2 3/8 Gladding, McBean & Co., Lincoln
16 7 none even, partly covered 8 1/4 x 3 5/8 x 2 3/8 San Luis Brick Works, San Luis Obispo
17 8 none even, open 8 x 3 3/4 x 2 1/4 Consolidated Brick & Tile Co., Santa Monica
18 8 none even, partly covered 8 3/8 x 4 x 2 1/4 Santa Monica Brick Co., Santa Monica
19 9 3/8″ uneven, partly covered 7 5/8 x 3 1/2 x 2 3/8 Southern Pacific Brick Co., Exeter
20 6 none even, open 8 1/2 x 4 x 2 1/4 Craycroft-Herrold Brick Co., Fresno
20-22 14 1/2” uneven, covered, incomplete 8 ¼ x 3 ¾ x 2 3/8 Livermore Fire Brick Co., Livermore
21 9-11 1/4” even, covered 8 x 3 7/8 x 2 ½ Stockton Fire & Enamel Brick Co., Stockton
22 11 3/8” even, covered 8 3/8 x 4 x 2 3/8 Cannon & Co., Sacramento
23-32 12 1/4” even, covered 8 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 2 ½ Atkinson Brick Co., Commerce
24 11 1/2” even, covered 8 ¾ x 4 1/8 x 2 3/8 – 2 ¼ California Pottery Co., Merced
25-26 1/4” uneven, open/covered 8 ¼ x 3 3/4 x 2 1/2 Mission Valley Brick Co., San Diego
26* 13 none even, open 8 ¼ x 3 1/8 x 3 ¼ Liston Brick Co., Riverside
28 13 3/8” even, open 8 ¼ x 3 ¾ x 2 ½ Coast Brick Co., Torrance
29 18 1/4” even, open 8 3/8 x 4 x 2 ½ Stockton Brick & Tile Co., Stockton
30-35 13-16 3/8” even, covered 8 3/8 x 4 x 2 3/8 Los Angeles Pressed Brick Co., Los Angeles
31 14 1/4” even, covered/open 7 7/8 x 3 ¾ x 2 3/8 Union Brick Co., San Diego
33 13-14 none uneven, covered 8 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 2 1/4 Richmond Pressed Brick Co., Richmond
33 15 none even, covered/open 7 7/8 – 8 ½ x 3 ¾ – 4 x 2 ½ – 2 ¾ Port Costa Brick Co., Port Costa
33-37 15-18 none uneven, open 7 5/8 – 8 x 3 5/8 – 3 ¾ x 2 ¼ Castaic Brick Co., Castaic
34 16 none even, partly covered 8 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 2 3/8 McNear Brick & Block, San Rafael
35 12 1/4” even, open 8 ½ x 3 ½ x 3 ¾ Davidson Brick Co., Monterey Park
36 11 none even, covered/open 8 ½ x 4 x 2 ¼ Craycroft-Herrold Brick Co., Fresno
40* 15 none even, open 8 ¼ x 3 7/8 x 2 3/8 Hancock Brick Co., Highgrove
44 10-18 none uneven, open, incomplete 8 1/8 – 8 ¼ x 3 5/8 x 2 ½ Valley Brick Co., Sacramento
44 3/8” even, open 10 x ? x 3 1/4 Tapper Brick Co., Monterey Park
47-49 17-19 3/8” uneven, open 8 ¼ x 3 ¾ x 2 5/8 San Jose Brick & Tile Co., San Jose
61 24 none uneven, covered/open 15 x 7 ¾ x 5 ½ Davidson Brick Co., Monterey Park
61-63 12-13 3/8” even, open 15 3/8 x 3 1/8 x 5 3/8 Higgins Brick Co., Santa Monica
80 33-34 1/4” even, open 7 5/8 x 3 1/2 x 2 Mission Valley Brick Co., San Diego
153 46 1/4” even, open 10 x 3 ½ x 3 ¼ Tapper Brick Co., Monterey Park
163 50 none even, open 9 7/8 x 3 1/8 x 3 ¼ Higgins Brick Co., Santa Monica
169 57 1/4” even, open/covered 10 x 3 ½ x 3 1/8 Tapper Brick Co., Monterey Park
175* 50 1/4” even, open 9 ¾ x 3 ¼ x 3 ¼ Torrance Brick Co., Torrance
180* 48 3/16” even, open 11 ½ x 3 1/8 x 3 ¼ Union Brick Co., San Diego
181* 42 1/4” even, open 11 x 3 x 3 ¼ Higgins Brick Co., Monterey Park
195 3/8” even, open 10 x 3 ¼ x 3 3/4 Tapper Brick Co., Monterey Park
* number of grooves was estimated using grooves per inch based on given brick length and margins
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Josh Higgins, James Eric Freedner, George L. Kennedy, Roy Steege, and the Torrance Historical Society Museum for providing samples of rug textured brick used in this study.
Citation: Mosier, Dan L. Using Rug Textures to Identify Brickmakers. California Bricks, https://californiabricks.com, 2023.
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