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Bulloch Biological No. 2 Model


WALTER H BULLOCH:

LOCATIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

This page is devoted to a roughly chronological list of the locations and work of Walter H Bulloch, his agents and successors. It is based to a large extent on Henry Tolman's Obituary, but also supplemented by other information revealed by Donald Padgitt's research, and additional references and information from advertising. Bulloch stated in his (apparently first) catalog, dated 1878, that he was: engaged in the manufacture of microscopes for the past twenty five years..., he claimed to have made microscopes since about 1853(when he was employed by Pike). According to the few sources available, Bulloch first emigrated to the United States in 1852, and by 1853 was apprenticed to the foreman of the famous New York instrument maker Benjamin Pike & Son. According to Bulloch's own account, he worked for Pike from 1853 to 1864. Tolman states in his account, that Bulloch enlisted in the Union Army sometime during the Civil War (which broke out in 1861); but left the service relatively quickly when he became ill. According to Bulloch's account, he continued to work with Pike until 1864 when he left to join William Wales, the famous maker of objectives in joint production. Again, no microscope with a signature seems to exist that stems from that period. There are also no illustrations or catalogs or even advertisements known of microscopes made by Bulloch from that time in New York/New Jersey. Indeed the only signed Bulloch microscopes in existence include Chicago as Bulloch's location; according to Padgett, the first record of Bulloch being in Chicago was in 1868, although his own 1890 catalog stated it was from 1866, which is concordant with his activities reported in the Microscopical Congress where it states he left Wales to go to Chicago in 1866.

adbulloch1867 In 2022, the author discovered a business directory from 1867 (for 1867-1868)which listed Walter Bulloch first in the list of Instrument makers(right). The earliest ad I could find from Bulloch (left) is in the American Entomologist of 1868 though no illustrations are provided. The earliest records with illustrations of Bulloch microscopes date to around the mid 1870's and his first known catalog of 1878. Most, if not all advertisements of his stands also date to that time or later. The next catalog known to be issued by Bulloch was his last, dated 1890. Between about 1878 and 1891, only advertisements and articles in Journals (both in the U.S.A. and in England), exist to, rather incompletely, fill in the gap. A list of Bulloch stands in Frey from 1880, which is the last list of microscope dealers in the book, lists only three stands by Bulloch and although without illustrations, does have good descriptions. To make matters worse, even Bulloch's own terminology seems to be inconsistent at times. An example here is the fact that the more complex 'Biological' Microscope was called the 'Number 2', while the 'Professional Number 2' was a smaller version of the professional. Furthermore, some different models had only subtle differences between them, and even these differences apparently changed with time.

Walter H. Bulloch died in November of 1891. After Bulloch's death his business was managed by a Mr Von Mehren but was soon owned by his longstanding New York agent Emil Meyrowitz. It is unclear if Von Mehren stayed on to help with the production or not. After the company changed hands, Meyrowitz made changes to the designs, most notably incorporating 'spiral' rack and pinions instead of straight ones and renaming the 'Biological No. 2' stand to the 'Bulloch Bacteriological'

A PRELIMINARY LISTING OF REFERENCES PERTAINING TO WALTER H. BULLOCH'S LOCATIONS AND OCCUPATION

DATE LOCATION & ACTIVITY TYPE OF REFERENCE NAME OF PUBLICATION AUTHOR VOLUME OR EDITION, PAGE TITLE OF ARTICLE NOTES
1853-? APPRENTICED TO BENJ PIKE & SONS; first experience with making microscopes Bulloch Catalog of 1878, also of January 1890, also Tolman's Article (see below) Illustrated Price List of Optical Instruments, Microscopes, and Microscope Accessories Manufactured by W.H. Bulloch, Optician...(1878) and Walter Bulloch Himself ? First PREFACE States he was making microscopes since about 1853.
1853-c.1864 WORKING FOR PIKE & SONS(possibly with a brief stint in the Union Army) JOURNAL ARTICLE PROC OF AM SOCIETY OF MICROSCOPISTS OF Feb 1882 George Blackman, President of Am Soc of Microscopists pp 46-47 'Appendix' of the Presidential address on the 'Evolution of the Modern Microscope' According to Bulloch himself, as reported by Blackman, Bulloch was first apprenticed to the Foreman of Pike & Sons in 1853, 'more or less' working for them continuously until 1864. He then joined William Wales in New York in a partnership until 1866 when he left to start business in Chicago. No microscope known to be made by Bulloch during that time has been identified.
1861-?ENLISTED IN UNION ARMY JOURNAL ARTICLE (OBITUARY) AM MONTHLY MICROSC J OF Feb 1892 Henry Tolman 8, p29 'Notice of Walter H. Bulloch' Tolman states he was in the service only a short time due to severe illness; how long this was is unknown.
1864-1866 WORKING WITH WILLIAM WALES JOURNAL ARTICLE PROC OF AM SOCIETY OF MICROSCOPISTS OF Feb 1882 George Blackman, President of Am Soc of Microscopists pp 46-47 'Appendix' of the Presidential address on the 'Evolution of the Modern Microscope' According to Bulloch himself, as reported by Blackman. No microscope known to be made by Bulloch during that time has been identified.
1866 to October 1871 WORKING IN CHICAGO FOR FIRST TIME JOURNAL ARTICLE (OBITUARY) AM MONTHLY MICROSC J OF Feb 1892, ALSO IN THE ARTICLE BY BLACKMAN CITED ABOVE Henry Tolman 8, p29 'Notice of Walter H. Bulloch' States that he was making microscopes in Chicago from 1866 until October 1871 when the Great Chicago Fire destroyed all he had. Although according to Padgitt, Bulloch is not listed in the Chicago City Directories until 1868, a business directory (shown above), lists him in 1867. Bulloch's 1890 Catalog states he was in business in Chicago Since 1866.
1867-October 1891 WORKING IN CHICAGO, ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTORIES BAILEY'S BUSINESS DIRECTORY FOR CHICAGO BAILEY'S BUSINESS DIRECTORY, 1867 'WALTER H. BULLOCH' Even though for part of this time he was working in Washington, and for a time after the fire was apparently working for Tolles, his business in Chicago remained listed in the directories
1869-1891 FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE STATE MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF ILLINOIS MSI records - - - - He apparently remained a member until his death in 1891
c 1871 WORKING WITH ROBERT TOLLES, BOSTON JOURNAL ARTICLE (OBITUARY) AM MONTHLY MICROSC J OF Feb 1892 Henry Tolman 8, p29 'Notice of Walter H. Bulloch' States that after the Great Chicago Fire he went to Boston to work for Tolles. No microscope known to be made by Bulloch during that time in Boston has been identified, and presumably they were signed by Tolles, Dalton, or the Boston Optical Works.
c 1872-89 WORKING IN CHICAGO AGAIN JOURNAL ARTICLE (OBITUARY) AM MONTHLY MICROSC J OF Feb 1892 Henry Tolman 8, p29 'Notice of Walter H. Bulloch' States that after he left Tolles he moved back to Chicago for the Second time. His first Catalog of 1878 was published during that time. There is no indication in this catalog of Meyrowitz association, and the Microscope catalog of Meyrowitz from this time period shows Beck microscopes, not those of Bulloch.
c 1884-91 EMIL B. MEYROWITZ WAS BULLOCH'S AGENT IN N.Y JOURNAL AND BOOK ADVERTISEMENTS 'New York's Great Industries' 1884, & many Journal ads up until an ad in the American Monthly Microscopical Journal of 1891.
Note that Bulloch Microscopes were not offered in the 1880 Meyrowitz catalog, that, at that time featured Beck microscopes and Cheap French imports.
MEYROWITZ ---- ---- It is clear that Meyrowitz was Agent in New York City from no later than 1884 through Bulloch's death in 1891. After Bulloch died, Meyrowitz bought all of his stock and tools. Starting after his death, Meyrowitz sold microscopes signed as 'Meyrowitz Maker' and 'Bulloch's Patent.'   Once Bulloch had died, Meyrowitz clearly modified many of these stands as noted in the descriptions of them on the Meyrowitz page.
1889 WORKING IN WASHINGTON DC FOR U.S. GEODETIC SURVEY JOURNAL ARTICLE (OBITUARY) AM MONTHLY MICROSC J OF Feb 1892 Henry Tolman 8, p29 'Notice of Walter H. Bulloch' Tolman states he spent six months doing this work, but then returned to his Chicago business
1889-91 BACK IN CHICAGO JOURNAL ARTICLE (OBITUARY) AM MONTHLY MICROSC J OF Feb 1892 Henry Tolman 8, p29 'Notice of Walter H. Bulloch' Tolman states after six months spent in Washington, Bulloch returned to his Chicago business, only to die in November 1891
late 1891-? CHICAGO BUSINESS BRIEFLY TAKEN OVER BY M. VON MEHREN BOOK A SHORT HISTORY OF EARLY AMERICAN MICROSCOPES (1975) PADGITT P63 'Walter H. Bulloch' This was apparently only for a few months before E.B. Meyrowitz of New York City bought the business.
1891-?(at least 1894) E.B. MEYROWITZ SELLING BULLOCH MICROSCOPES, SOME OF WHICH THEY MODIFIED AND LIKELY CONSTRUCTED FROM HIS LEFT-OVER PARTS JOURNAL AND ADS BY MEYROWITZ, MEYROWITZ'S CATALOG OF 1894 AM MONTHLY MICROSCOPICAL J, 1894 MEYROWITZ CATALOG TOLMAN 14 p219 (1893) 'Microscopy at the Columbian Exhibition' and also 'Illustrated Catalogue of E. B. Meyrowitz, Part V-Fourth Edition- MICROSCOPES, MICROTOMES, MICROSCOPE ACCESSORIES AND DR GRUEBLER'S ANILINE DYES' Both according to Tolman, and also the Meyrowitz Firm itself, E.B. Meyrowitz of New York City bought all rights and materials of Bulloch and started to sell microscopes of Bulloch design, which Meyrowitz claimed to manufacture and 'improve.' Close examination of some of these instruments suggests that Meyrowitz (perhaps via Von Mehren),likely assembled microscopes from Bulloch parts, and also added some minor features of their own manufacture. This is most obvious on the Biological No. 2 stand in this collection where a rack and pinion mechanism to displace the iris diaphragm has a knob clearly not of the same design of the rest of the instrument; the author has seen this identical addition on other Meyrowitz stands. Tolman stated in his article Meyrowitz...manufactures the handsome form of stand made popular by the late W. H. Bulloch... In their catalog of 1894, Meyrowitz outlines their modifications of Bulloch's stands and specifically mentions they changed from straight to 'spiral' rack and pinion. It is now clear that that Meyrowitz did at least modify some Bulloch stands, although they may not have manufactured all the parts.