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Ed Jones, a descendent of the early California Castro family, hall-marked badges under his own name in 1898 and possibly even earlier. Like many entrepreneurial spirits, Jones learned the engraving craft from his employer (the J.C. Irvine Company of San Francisco) and then ventured out on his own. It took many years, however, before he made that big leap into self-sufficiency. Irvine's was a successful engraving concern involved in the manufacture of badges, emblems, buckles, and saddle silver.
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For over a decade, Jones used an outbuilding on his mother's property at 853 40th St. in Oakland as his covert base of operations, secretly competing with his employer, relying on the security of a regular paycheck.
A shed in his mother's backyard housed the one-man operation in evenings and on weekends while he continued to punch a clock at Irvine's during the day.
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The great fire and earthquake of San Francisco in 1906 (8.25 Richter) totaled the Irvine's facility.
Whether Jones deemed the event a fortuitous competitive advantage (not having to rebuild like Irvine), or that it was simply an unexpected, chaotic event breaking his well-entrenched pattern of existence, Ed Jones formally established himself in business as a general engraver in 1906.
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