Mesker Brothers

{{Short description|Competing Manufacturers}}

{{use MDY dates|date=July 2021}}

File:Frank_Mesker.jpg

The Mesker Brothers Iron Works and George L. Mesker & Co. were competing manufacturers and designers of ornamental sheet-metal facades and cast iron storefront components from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century. The Mesker Brothers Iron Works was based in St. Louis, Missouri, and was operated by brothers Bernard and Frank Mesker. The George L. Mesker Company was operated by a third brother, George L. Mesker, and was based in Evansville, Indiana.{{cite news |author=Darius Bryjka |title=Sibling Rivalry Good for Illinois Architecture: The Meskers' Sheet-Metal Businesses |publisher=Historic Illinois |date=April 2006 |url=http://www.gotmesker.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922183456/http://www.gotmesker.com/ |archive-date=2008-09-22 |url-status=usurped}} The Mesker brothers were the sons of John Mesker who operated a stove business in Evansville and later galvanized iron for buildings. The three brothers learned their iron-working skills from their father.{{cite news|title=Putting steel into the city Evansville's Mesker buildings|newspaper=Evansville Courier & Press|author=Rich Davis

|date=February 26, 2008|url=http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/Feb/26/putting-steel-into-the-city-evansvilles-mesker/}}

The companies' products are often referred to as "Meskers." The companies also produced tin ceilings, iron railings, stairs, roof cresting, ventilation grates, iron awnings, skylights, and freight elevators.{{cite web|title=Sheet Metal Facades by Mesker Companies|publisher=Illinois Historic Preservation Agency|accessdate=August 7, 2012|url=http://www.gotmesker.com/}}{{cite|title=Got Mesker? Identification Guide to Sheet-Metal Facades and Building Components Manufactured by Mesker Brothers Iron Works and George L. Mesker & Company|publisher=gotmesker.com|url=}}

The Meskers marketed their products through catalogs displaying their designs. The catalogs were so successful they expanded print runs from 50,000 to 500,000 one year later.{{cite web|url=http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/guides/whm0331.htm |title=Mesker Brothers Iron Works Records, 1879-1953 (11 volumes on 3 microfilm rolls)|publisher=State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center, University of Missouri-St. Louis|accessdate=August 7, 2012}} According to a 1915 catalog, there were Mesker storefronts in every state, including 4,130 in Indiana, 2,915 in Illinois, 2,646 in Kentucky, and even 17 in the territory of Alaska.

A number of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{NRISref|version=2010a}}