Brass shipping stencil, Fable & Co., Philadelphia

Brass stencil, 6.75 x 14 inches with turned-in edges. Ca. 1920s-1940s. Stencil is stamped "W. H. Alexander, Shipping Room Equipment, Arch St. Phila." Clean, uneven front surface with dimples and scratches; bright, subtle patina. Reverse has old paint remnants where it was pressed up against surfaces for use, nicely preserving evidence of its life as a useful (and well cared-for) tool. 

Fable & Co. was a Philadelphia wholesale distributor of sheet metal founded in 1921 by Frederick A. Fable with O. Roy Frankenfield, Randolph Wright and George R. Lovell. They established headquarters at 837-41 N. Third St. Fable died in 1944; the company continued until at least 1956 (found in Standard Metal Directory for that year).