Presented in this lot are a pair of Vintage Oneida Victor #3 Double Long Spring Leg Hold Steel Traps, for Coyote, Beaver and or Lynx. Metal animal traps made by Oneida were the world’s best for over 70 years. Under the brand names of Newhouse and Victor, about 120 million game traps were manufactured in Sherrill, New York. They paid for a utopia, a silverware industry and a city. Trap-making began with the Oneida Community (1848-1880) as a famous experiment in harmonious group living. Believing in the possibility of human perfection, this religiously based group of about 250 people lived as one family dedicated to selfless behavior. They had little money at first and traps came to the rescue in their hour of greatest need. One of their members was Sewell Newhouse, a blacksmith who had learned to hand-forge traps better than anyone else around. When the Oneida Community began making these traps, they improved Newhouse’s design and mechanized the manufacturing process. They named their product Newhouse, and the traps quickly earned the reputation of being the best. “No professional trapper would look at anything else,” a member of the Oneida Community remembered, “and its adoption by the great Hudson Bay Company placed it apparently on a safe footing. There was but one trap in the market and its name was ‘Newhouse.'” In 1886, Oneida introduced a less expensive line called Victors, which quickly dominated the market, and by the early 1900s, Oneida became the biggest trap company in the world. In the early 1900s, two of every three traps around the globe came from Oneida’s Hardware Department building in Sherrill. Oneida trap-making ended in 1925. These two Oneida Victor #3 Double Long Leg Hold Steel Traps are in good weathered condition, pans are solid. Consistent oxidation exhibited on both, 18.5" ground stakes. Both appear to be in working order. Measure each 5.75"W x 16.5"L x 4"H