eBay Tuesday: J.N. Lapointe Advertisement

At first glance, this advertisement almost looks like a sewing machine. So its placement in the August 1920 issue of Railway Mechanical Engineer Magazine seems a little out of place. But it turns out that this machine is actually used for broaching, a machining process for removing material to help shape parts.

This advertisement is being offered by user qcyjohn of Quincy, Ill. It manages to get quite a bit of information into the page, including a picture of the machine, a detailed description of why it's worth your while to buy it, and even the hand of J.N. Lapointe himself reaching in to sign his approval. "Time saved by broaching small parts necessary for engine or car assembly is the surest short-cut to increased shop production and lower shop costs," the advertisement declares.

Lapointe makes a prominent appearance in Benjamin Tinkham Marshall's A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut. According to Marshall, Joseph Napoleon Lapointe was born in a Montreal suburb in 1861 and moved with his parents to Waterbury in 1878. He became a machinist in the brass industry there, but joined a number of other companies before creating his broaching system while working with Pratt-Whitney in Hartford.

J.N. Lapointe Co. got its start as the Lapointe Machine Tool Company in Massachusetts, but moved to New London in 1913. He later bought out another company and moved their operations to this city as well. Lapointe's son, Frank J. Lapointe, announced in 1917 that he would be starting up his own company with the New London Broaching Machine Co. on Norwood Ave.; this may have been due to dissatisfaction with his role in his father's company, however, and later in the year it seemed that the two had worked things out and Frank was willing to stay there.

Lapointe died nine years after this advertisement appeared. He was attending a movie at the when he was stricken with a heart attack.

The seller describes the advertisement as being in very good condition, measuring 8.5 by 11.75 inches. The starting bid is $7, plus $2.80 for shipping. The auction ends at about 10:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

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