Kelsey and Hosmer’s Fish Dressing Machine

The Hosmer, Bear and Company was a fish and pork packing house in Sandusky, at the foot of Wayne Street on Railroad Street (now known as Shoreline Drive) in the late 1800’s. An article from the October 6, 1873 issue of the Sandusky Register described the first operation of a fish dressing machine. The machine was invented and patented by Sandusky residents Frederick Kelsey and Frank H. Hosmer. Run by steam, the machine beheaded, opened and dressed from sixty to ninety fish per minute. The public was invited to view the machine which was set up at Hosmer, Bear and Co. The article concluded by stating about the machine that, “It is destined to mark a new and important era in the fish business of the world.”

Kelsey and Hosmer’s Fish Dressing Machine was on display at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876. The Report from the International Exhibition indicated that the Kelsey and Hosmer Fish Dressing Machine was commended for facilitating the cleaning and dressing fish. It was worthy of mention as an ingenious mechanical device.

Image from Google Patents

You can read the full text of the patent for the Kelsey & Hosmer’s Fish Dressing Machine on Google Patents. Patent Number 142918 was issued on September 16, 1873.

Fred Kelsey: What a Character

Fred Kelsey, a pioneer character actor in both silent and talking motion pictures, was born in Sandusky on August 28, 1884. Known as “the detective of the screen,” Kelsey’s trademarks were a derby hat, a big cigar, and his thick moustache. He appeared in several Three Stooges movies.

In his listing in the Internet Movie Database his film credits total over four hundred. Kelsey started out directing in 1909, but by the 1920’s he was well-established in his role of the bungling policeman or detective. Fred Kelsey was so typecast as a comedy cop that in 1944 animator Tex Avery patterned the detective in the MGM classic cartoon “Who Killed Who” after Fred’s character.

Fred Kelsey often came back to Sandusky for the annual reunion of the “Quien Sabe” Club, a local men’s organization. The photograph below was taken at the Club’s fiftieth reunion in August, 1953 at the Log Cabin Inn in Bay View.Fred Kelsey died on September 2, 1961. He is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, California.