Hooks with a History - Susan Bates


  In all of the "vintage" hooks I brought home from my mom's, there's only one Susan Bates. I immediately thought this must be an ancient hook, because of the price stamped on the flat. I automatically figured that hunting down any history of it would be just as hard as the last time... But my research led me right where I needed to go, and I only have one hook to put a date to. This went quickly enough that I have time to give you a good laugh:




vintage, crochet hooks, Susan Bates





  Before any seriousness, let's all chuckle about the dumb things I do sometimes... As I stared at this hook prior to any research, I thought it was aluminum. But then I noticed what was printed on the opposite side of the flat: "SIZE 4 OR E". Now, my eyes saw that as "size 4/ore". So, I'm sitting here, like an idiot, thinking: What kind of ore? There's all kinds of metal ores, so what is it made of? Thankfully, my eyes stopped tricking me and I soon noticed that the "E" is bigger than the "or". *Face palm*!! Dummy! It's "SIZE 4, or... E, and yes, it's aluminum! Glad I figured that out before I told anybody... Oh wait, I just told you... Shh... Okay?


vintage, crochet hooks, Susan Bates





  Anyways, let's see if I can feel smarter again... Before I dig into the research, let's cover what I already know: Susan Bates hooks are famous for their patented inline heads, which means the head of the hook is in line with the shaft. This produces a sharper angle in the throat, which some claims helps to catch the yarn. Personally, I find that inline hooks tend to increase the issue of yarn splitting, but I'm addicted to hooks with a tapered head. Which do you prefer?


crochet hooks, Susan Bates, in-line head





  Now, on to the history: Originally C. J. Bates and Son, the company began when Carlton Joseph Bates bought the business from his employer. From the age of fourteen, C. J. Bates started working for the firm of Tyler and Post in 1861. Post bought out his partner and a company called Griswolds in 1865, then Carlton Bates bought the business from Post in 1873. The company continued to manufacture items from bone and ivory such as manicure tools and, of course, crochet hooks. In 1893, Carlton Bates fell seriously ill. His son Hamilton took over the business and held the position of chief executive until he retired in 1954.




  Needlework tools from Bates originally had no brand marked on them, or they were marked with a private label. It wouldn't be until the 1930's when the company started using its own brands, Chester and Barbara Bates. (I assume Chester was for the original location in Chester, Connecticut.) In the 1940's, the brand Chester was changed to Zephr, and Barbara Bates to Susan Bates.




  Okay, so that quickly narrows down the search for the age of my hook. Susan Bates wouldn't have been stamped on it until the 1940's or later. Like most other companies, C.J. Bates and Son experienced a halt in production during that time due to World War II. Further searching of products led me to identify this hook as part of the "Silvalume" line, which (as far as I can tell) wasn't introduced until the 1960's. Although I can't find any information to an exact date of when the price was stamped on the flat, I now know that this hook isn't really an antique. A real "Susan Bates" antique wouldn't be made of metal at all, or be stamped with "Susan Bates".


vintage, crochet hooks, Susan Bates





  But just like the rest, it's still vintage to me. Coats and Clark now owns the name, and hooks are no longer manufactured in America. You won't find any new hooks with this stamp of "Made in U.S.A.", and you definitely can't buy them for 29 cents. I couldn't dig up a list of patent dates; I didn't find any other hooks like it on eBay or Etsy. I'm not going to worry about stressing to put an exact date to this hook. It's special just like the rest, no matter what it's true age is. Since this hook is all by itself in my bunch of "vintage" hooks, it seems lonely to me. I'm gonna stop working to dig up it's history and show it some love... As soon as I stop splitting my yarn with this in-line head. This is supposed to be easier? :)


crochet hooks, in-line head, Susan Bates, yarn splitting




*I have to extend a big, huge THANK YOU to Lace Buttons! All company history came from this page: https://lacebuttons.com/?page_id=5340


Happy Crocheting!


Comments

  1. Hi. Interesting story. I prefer the inline of Susan Bates. It helps keep stitches even for good tension

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  2. I have a Susan Bates hook I am using, (older like yours size E) and my yarn is splitting. What kind of hook would prevent this?

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  3. I've used both Susan Bates and Boye hooks. I prefer Boye. I have two sets that are American made of the Boye .I may have one it two homes that are Susan Bates

    I've mostly used tapered head crochet hooks. I never really liked the "flat" head ones.

    I learned to crochet as a child. I probably wasn't even 10 years old when I started. I'm 50 now. Funny how time flies.

    I probably would add vintage Susan Bates hooks to my collection but probably not use them.

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  4. That is very interesting. Boye needles were made in Freeport, Illinois by Newel company for long time. Thank you for sharing. I will treasure my hooks even more. God bless.

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  5. I recently bought a Susan Bates antique crotchet hook from a thrift store. Mine is either wooden or bamboo and is stamped with 8m/m US 11 and a price of .75 cents. Actually a cent symbol, but keyboards of today don’t have the cent symbol anymore. I am loving it, and it is now my favorite hook. Mine is a lonely one of a kind too... for now. Cindy

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  6. Susan bates hooks make my life so much easier!!! I think that you only have a big issue with splitting when you're using small yarn. Chunky yarn is a dream to work with using a susan bates hook.

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  7. "Legend has it that C.J. Bates, who nurtured an ivory carving company into the largest manufacturer of knitting needles in the country, couldn't ever remember women's names. So he simply called every woman he met Susie. Thus the company's name."
    https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1991-08-10-0000213230-story.html

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  8. Got a good laugh form C.J Bates not remembering women's names. I am now using a Susan Bates J hook, am making some cotton crochet produce bags. I noticed that the stem to the hook is a bit shorter than the Boyles. Never noticed this before and I have been crocheting for some thirty years. I work faster with the shorter stem. Great article. Crocheting in Grenada, the West Indies

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  9. I love my Susan Bates hooks. I do have some others that I use sometimes, though.
    I have some with fat handles that I use when my hands are hurting. I would like to try some Furl's hooks but honestly cannot afford them.

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  10. Thank you so much for this! I came across a bunch of hooks that I had inherited either from my mother, grandmother or my husband's great grandmother and found a wooden one still in the cardboard sleeve with the name C.I. Bates & Sons on it with a .25 cent price tag.

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  11. We have a¢55 hook!
    Thank you!!

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  12. We found ¢35 hook!!

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  13. Wish I'd read this sooner and I could have helped you out. I've been researching crochet hooks and knitting needles, among many other vintage/antique genre's, for quite a few years. Thank you internet! LaceButtons was a help for me too! You can find all patents and trademarks on USTPO. United States Trademark & Patent Office. See warning below, LOL. Anyway, LUXITE was actually their first trademarked name, first used in commerce in 1929. "Susan Bates" trademark was first used in commerce in 1937. It was not trademarked until the 1940s. I'm not sure how it is now but back then trademarks had to be used in commerce for at least 2 years. Which doesn't make sense to me as that gives 2 years for somebody else to steal it. Many companies waited much longer for another unidentified reason. Then they were kept alive for sometimes decades beyond their last use. I believe "Chester" was kept alive until at least the 1970s. I have a chart I made of every single CJ Bates needlework trademark. I'm happy to share it! I found some hooks I've never heard of! Like Princess or My Friend. I have yet to find a hook that says those. I have a few Chesters but I've never seen a Barbara. Marcia Lynn and Zephyr were not marked except on their packages but of course, In-Line is unmistakable. They first produced aluminum, silver SilvalumeAs this is the same time frame of using "Susan Bates" I feel pretty secure in saying the two are related. New hook. New name. Bates hooks marked with prices are pretty rare! That's on top of them becoming hard to find in general. I'm going to look up dates and prices and see if I can find anything but off the top of my head I'm going to guess it 29 cent aluminum hook was mid-century. That's just a guess. A new hunt! I specialize in hooks that are still in their packages never opened. An daily quest! But fun! USTPO; I have to warn you that it takes a while to figure out all the tricks to finding what you're looking for. Some things are filed under the business name, others filed under the brand name, etc. When a name is a common one used for many products over the past 150+ years, you'll narrow down the 2000 hits you get with things like the address, owner's name, mark design code, goods code... Codes are on this site. An easier, but whole other search! Let's just say after 4 years I and pretty good but some things still elude me. Let me know if you would like more information on navigating the USTPO and/or my Bates Trademark chart! Please excuse any typos. This is a very small area to type in and I can only see a few lines at a time. I tried to go back and prove it as much as I could but I'm tired now. As I'm sure you are from reading all of this!

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    1. Wow, thank you for all the information! I had used the USTPO when researching Boye hooks. I went down a rabbit hole, took a wrong turn, climbed out and fell back in again. There are so many records to dig through!

      Do you have a link where everyone can view that chart? It would be much appreciated. And also, wow, that must have taken some work to put together!

      I'm currently without a PC and I can see the issue with the tiny comment box... How annoying! I'll check if there's any way to change it.

      Again, thanks so much for all the help you've included. It made my day to learn more about my 29 cent hook!

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  14. Jon: your comment has me intrigued! I haven't found anything like that about CJ Bates and using the name Susan. But that doesn't mean I missed it! Because he first used the name Barbara and then added the name Marcia Lynn,, he had a couple more names he could remember, LOL. None of them were after specific person. That's been made clear. It can cause a huge headache with a trademark. I'll be back if I find definitive proof one way or the other! Happy hooking!

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  15. Anonymous: that cardboard sleeve makes all the difference in the world! At least the way I understand it is it the box was marked. Was the hook marked as well? In my uncountable hours of searches I have never seen one of them for sale! The cardboard sleeve that is. So it is a collectible for sure!

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  16. I found your article and the comments very interesting. I am an avid Susan Bates user and ask all my students to use them. They grab the yarn easily and I can crochet quickly and evenly, the design allows the yarn to be drawn through the loops with no effort. I refuse to use the other styles, finding them awkward. I have no issue with yarn splitting, and suspect it may be an issue with the yarn rather than the hook. I have been crocheting for 65 years and found these hooks to be the easiest and best you can use. They are available at Michaels and on Amazon. I keep three spare sets. If you’re in doubt try different hooks and use whatever is best for you, but I recommend Susan Bates.

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    1. Not Amazon, etc! They aren't In-Line! Only hooks made in the USA are true In-Line. Which stopped around 1990 when Coats & Clark bought CJ Bates & sent everything to China. On top of not being In-Line, you'll often get hooks with burrs or other issues. There was a lot that the color came off onto people's hands & yarn! I am a seller on Etsy of only vintage hooks. I can't keep them in stock because of all the die-hard Bates users who've tried the overseas hooks and are disappointed. I myself happened to try one of the dye issue hooks and ended up with pink on my white project. You will find some vintage hooks that were made in Mexico or Japan. Although they are quality, they are not In-Line. Hooks must have "USA" stamped on them. "US" only refers to the size standard. Mexico & Japan are stamped on those hooks. China got around that by having "China" on the packaging only. If it has no country stamp, that means China. I get why companies send things to be made there to save money. I don't get why they don't keep quality control in place. Although that is sad, it does keep me in business, LOL. There's also the environmental aspect of buying products we already have! When buying vintage Bates, Marcia Lynn & Zephr are exactly the same as Susan Bates In-Line They were marketed to different demographics. Sparing you the details, those 2 brands have no names stamped, but In-Line is unmistakable. I wish I could attach a photo here showing the differences between Bates made in different counties.
      One more note: In 2011 Bates hioks were charged to be be even rounder and users were up in arms. Coats & Clark claimed it was the original In-Line style. Flat out lie In-Line was a single patented design and never changed while made here . Had it changed, a new patent would have been necessary. I have hoiks with "Patent Pending" stamped. You can't get older than that . They are exactly the same as the hooks made over the decades here in the US. I have thousands and have had and sold many more. I've seen some current Bates hooks and they seem to have gotten pointier again.

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    2. If you would like to do so, please share a link to your store! I'm sure many people that come here would be interested. You've helped add so much information to this post and I would love to be able to send some business your way.

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