Pipe marking: A blast from the past

People always seem to have some kind of reverence for things from the past — I’m no different. While going through some file cabinets at work, we discovered our company’s second pipe and valve marking catalog printed in 1968.

It’s not like 1968 is ancient history or anything, but there was some excitement in feeling the old paper, seeing the colorful illustrations, smelling the musty pages (joking, the smell wasn’t exciting). There was just something interesting about seeing how pipe markers were sold and merchandised more than 40 years ago.

First, the cover. The design screams retro. Look at the Emedco logo – very reminiscent of a drive-in or diner sign if you ask me.

Then, when you open up the catalog it first states the “big news” for that catalog. What’s the news? That all Emedco pipe markers would be made with directional arrows right on the marker and that Emedco was the only company that offered that unique feature.

Emedco still sells pipe markers with arrows on them – both snap around and self adhesive versions. But we now also offer arrow banding tapes and a variety of custom pipe marker options.

The first page also spoke to the benefits of our pipe markers – all of which are still true today. Interior pipe marker catalog page

The catalog is only 8 pages in its entirety. Most of the pages are used to explain the benefits of the product, show installation procedures, discuss pipe marking standards, and walk through ordering instructions (see page to the right). Only two pages are devoted to listing product – a pretty big change from today’s catalogs.

Hope you enjoyed this little blast from the past.

(To view full size images of the catalog, visit my blog at http://pipeandvalvemarker.com/)