Every now and then, I come across an item among an array of stuff in a box lot that surprises me. What a surprise I got recently when I pulled an old bug sprayer out of one of them. Why would anyone keep such a thing, I wondered.
Rust had sealed the cap, but the color and graphics on the tin sprayer were brilliant. When I shook it, I heard a swishing inside so I handled it carefully. There was still bug spray in it. The tin looked old, so I’m sure this stuff had been around a long time, and I wasn’t taking any chances. I wrapped it in newspapers and put it aside.
I remember this type of sprayer from my childhood. We’d unscrew the long neck from the body and pour in the liquid poison. Then we’d do battle with roaches, wasps, yellow jackets, flies and any other tiny creatures that were tormenting us.
Yellowjackets were among the worst. I grew up in a rural area – in the country, as it was called then – just outside Macon, GA. In the summertime, wasps and yellow jackets were as common and as plentiful as the flies. They all acted like they owned not only the summer but for us. Our home, our yard, our everything was their playground and they were just allowing us to hang out for a while.
The bug sprayer and its deadly fluid were our weapons. Even though I do not like guns, it was like a .45 in our hands. We’d pull out the plunger and push it back in quick spurts, blasting away at the yellow jackets and their nests. Both were gone after a few dousings.
I was familiar with the trusty Black Flag (which also had its own sprayer), but the Harry Brand was new to me. The colors on the sprayer were the patriotic red, white and blue of the American flag, and the maker had taken that symbolism a step farther. Its logo was a battle-ready boy with a feather in his cap and a sprayer in his hand, squirting at five different types of bugs. Around the side of the sprayer, the body was the words “Harry Brand.”
The long arm of the sprayer carried the logo and the name ‘Harry Brand Sprayer. Kills Flies, Mosquitoes, Cockroaches, Ants, Bed Bugs, Moths. Caution – Do not spray into or near an open flame.” If you’re currently dealing with an infestation in your home, have already tried this spray but you haven’t noticed any improvement, it may be worth getting in touch with professionals like an Olathe pest control company (if you live in and around this area of Kansas) to finally get this resolved. It is best to do this sooner rather than later, as no one wants pests in their homes.
Today, killing bugs is a little less dangerous. I just buy a plastic bottle of bug spray from just about anywhere, squeeze the spray nozzle and shoot away. No spills or fumes. I can also buy products that protect me as I kill them. One eco-product advertised itself as a wasp killer using all-natural plant oils that “attack insect receptors only.” Is that a more humane way of killing? Or I can make my own natural killer. If the thought of getting rid of the bugs yourself sounds appealing, at least you have options such as getting in touch with cailfornia pest control companies (or ones closer to where you live) to get rid of any pest invading your home. We can all do with a helping hand once in a while.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the sprayer. Like a scarecrow, I could sit it on my porch as a warning to any bug that would even think of finding a tiny opening to crawl into my house. That happened recently. With the rain and cold, I had a few small black visitors appearing near my front door.
I was curious to see if there was a market on eBay for vintage bug sprayers. I found one auction for Harry Brand but it didn’t sell, and neither did plenty of others like it. An industrial sprayer, though, sold for more than $200.
What did sell were two vintage Valentine cards. One showed a puppy pumping a sprayer aimed at what looked like a bee. On the front of the card: “I tried to kill the love-bug by spraying him with Flit –.” Inside the card: “but he’s the toughest insect and so help me, I’ve been bit.” I found a magazine ad for Flit bug spray and sprayer from the 1920s.
The other card showed a little girl aiming hers at what looked like a yellow jacket: “I’m buggy about you,” with an inscription and the date 1936 written in pencil on the back.
Here’s a true horror story for you – they also sold FLIT in bottles with a tin-whistle-like gadget you dipped into the mixture and blew on the top tube! This produced a fine spray. Our family used these into the 1950s. Never did us any harm surprisingly enough……
In the 1950s we survived with the hand sprayer and gulf mosquito spray to kill the mosquitos in our kids bedrooms. They would of been chewed up all night and ended up with infantigo sores. Thank The Lord for that old hand sprayer, that’s all we had.