Hi Everyone,
I'm a curator at a small museum in Door County, Wisconsin and I'm working on a new exhibit about the history of trapping (and hunting) in our area. I have several Newhouse traps from our collection that I'm trying to pin down the manufacturer dates on. I'll post them one at a time so it doesn't get too confusing.

I'll start with a #5 Newhouse bear trap that I originally thought was a reproduction because it looked too clean (and painted with primer). On closer inspection I see that the springs were forged and stamped. It says ROME underneath and has some other curious marks.

So, my questions:
Is it authentic?
If so, any thought on when it was made?
Any idea what the punched marks mean? (trappers ID?)
Any suggestions in cleaning the paint off and dying/coating to make it look right?
Any other interesting info on it?

Thanks in advance

Authentic yes definitely
Made sometime around 1870- 82
Punch marks are from a trapper a religious one ide guess
The Rome is the small Rome and is one of the better romes I’ve ever seen.
Primer can be a mofo to get off. I would try high octane gasoline on a hot day. Let the gas come up to temp and submerge the trap then take a plastic scour pad to it and see if it starts to slowly lift.
The chain is an abnormal length. It looks pretty good but doubtful it’s original that way.
You should show the spring stamping to us and the length of the springs .

Thanks for keeping this forum going.

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated and it's great to know it's the real thing.
Here's a couple shots of the spring stamps. They are very faint but I can at least make out the end of "Newhouse" and "Community"

and the length of the spring is 13.5" from the top of the upper hole to the bend

Joe, You have a very nice #5 Newhouse, Community. I would say that it was made in the early to mid 1880s. The "ROME" on the base is a mark from the steel mill and was incorporated into the trap, it was embossed on the bar stock used to make the trap. Rome is not common on traps but is more prevalent on the next later, Kenwood, N.Y. model. The punch marks on the base are a trappers ID marks. Paint can be difficult to remove from traps, but the important thing in cleaning any trap is to not remove the patina. The patina is the color of the metal that it gets with age. Paint stripper does not remove the patina, but will require some scrubbing. Be careful, scrubbing can remove patina. Some paint like flat black come off without much work, others are more difficult. The original chain and swivel look to be still there, the ring would have been on about the 8th link after the swivel. Someone removed the ring, added more chain and the ring on the end.

Thank You! It's always fun to learn something is the real deal when you first thought it was a repo.

If that paint happens to be Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer, acetone might dissolve it. You will likely need to find a container big enough to submerge the entire trap.

Ive used Citrus Strip, it's a non toxic Stripping gel on some numer 4 Newhouse traps and it worked well without affecting the Patina.

Where on beautiful Door County is the museum?

I would like to visit there on my next trip to Wisconsin.