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c1860 Wood Turner, Cat and Dog Lathe

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 Pattern Maker, Wood Turner, Custom Built Dog and Cat Lathe, c1860 A truly one of a kind 19th century cabinet card. Photographed c1860 somewhere in the United States. This one is as idiosyncratic as it gets. The canvas backdrop indicates a traveling photographer. The turner's hair and garments alwo indicate U.S. Civil War period. Now to the good stuff. The lathe looks to be a manufactured leather belt driven pattern makers lathe. Very heavy bed frame. This thing must have weighed a ton. What stands out are the head and tail stocks. Look carefully at the photo! I have no doubt these parts were made by the turner as patterns, then cast in the foundry connected to the commercial shop. The Head Stock is a Dog. The Tail Stock is a Cat, notably the adjustment wheel is, shall we say, the Tail, exiting through the cat's rectum. If only I knew if this lathe still exists, somewhere in a collection of museum. To date I haven't found it.
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Barn Carpenters, Tool Chest, Stanley 45. Occupational Glass Negative

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 Oliver & Strong Barn Carpenters, Tool Chest, Stanley 45. Occupational Glass Negative Glass Plate Negatives of occupational themes are rare. Glass plate negatives often don't survive the years in one piece, let along undamaged These two are of Oliver & Strong. Apparently local carpenters building a barn. The classic tool chest features hand saws and a Stanley #45 Plow Plane, proof that the famous 45 was used on location altough this location is unknown. Return to Occupational Photographs Index Page
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Cabinetmaker and Plow Plane Ambrotype

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 Seated Cabinetmaker And His Plow Plane: Cased Ambrotype c1860 An unusual cased ambrotype of a cabinetmaker and his plow plane.Classic A. P. Critchlow & Co. patented Gutta Percha moulded hinged daguerreotype case. C1860, unidentified location. Likely taken by a traveling photographer. Posed against a solid backdrop. Typically dressed out in his best Sunday Suit. Return to Occupational Photographs Index Page
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Instructor: Jointed Toys by Bess Bruce Cleaveland

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Jointed Toy Patterns I & II: For Coloring, Cut Out and Construction Work by Bess Bruce Cleaveland, 1920 Free PDF Downloads courtesy SUNY GENESEO "Bess Bruce Cleaveland (1876-1966) was born in Washington Court House, Ohio. She studied art at the Art Students League & Pratt Institute in New York, graduating in 1901. After teaching art for six years, Cleaveland turned to illustrating books, teacher’s magazines, and other commercial art projects. Cleaveland worked in ink and watercolor. Children and animals were her favorite subjects. In addition to drawing most of the cats and dog in Washington Court House, she visited zoos to study and sketch wild animals. Her backyard garden attracted birds, squirrels and rabbits, all of which she sketched." Ohio Memory Collection "Long before magnetic “paper” dolls and interactive walking, talking baby dolls, there was Bess Bruce Cleaveland’s Jointed Toys. Filled with patterns to be copied, enlarged, assembled, and decorated (whe...
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1868 Sand Paper Handbill Matthewman Lewis, New Haven CT

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 Sand Paper Advertising Handbill Matthewman & Lewis New Haven, Oct. 15, 1868 An interesting advertising handbill for Sand Paper, sold by Matthewman & Lewis, hardware merchants of New Haven, Connecticut. Dated October 15, 1868.  A handbill was a common 18th and 19th century form of advertising, a single, small printed page intended to be distributed by hand, unlike a broadside which was a large printed page for posting or pasting on a wall. The ultimate form of ephemera, handbills rarely survived the passage of time . What's so special about this handbill for Sand, or Flint Paper? Woodworkers today seem to think of sandpaper as a modern convenience. This handbill shows that in the mid 19th century, Flint Paper was a commodity of enough importance to warrant the printing of a letterpress handbill. Who was Matthewman & Lewis? Hardware dealers of enough success to warrant a full page advertisement in the 1869 Waterbury, Ct. directory and to have had a stereoview taken ...
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Hermon Chapin Signed Book

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Hermon Chapin's Personal Book Some years ago I was picking a Brimfield show and came upon a pile of old books. Most were kids books but one was The Cabinet Of Arts, 1815. $10 and it was mine without looking it over carefully. Well worth the gamble for an old technical book. Once home I shelved it for future inspection. A week or so later, after sifting through the usual hoard of Brimfield paper, pottery and tools I got around to checking it.  The Cabinet of Arts, Or General Instructor In Arts, Science, Trade, Practical Machinery, The Means Of Preserving Human Life and Political Economy, Embracing A Variety Of Important Subjects. By Hewson Clarke, Esq and John Dougall, A. M., London 1817.  Read the ebook at Google Books. This was one of those moments when I really could have kicked myself for not looking carefully in the field and grabbing all the other books. Check out these three images I scanned from the book. BTW, the book itself I sold some time ago. Look at that last page...
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1858 Baldwin Planes Reference No.1

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Illustrated Catalogue And Invoice Price List Of The Baldwin Tool COs Premium Bench Planes And Moulding Tools. Middletown, Conn. 1858 Periodically I'll post pages from the 1858 Baldwin Tool Co. Plane Catalog as a wooden plane nomenclature reference.  No. 12 Miter Plane, Square No. 13 Miter Plane, Oval No. 14 Gutter Plane No. 17 Double Smooth Plane No. 18 Double Jack Plane No. 22 Double Fore Plane, 22 Inches No. 24 Double Jointer, 26 Inches No. 27 Solid Handle Smooth No. 31 Hand Rail Plane No. 32 Double Jack Plane, Recess Handle No. 33 Double Fore Plane, Recess Handle   No. 41 Levelling Plane No. 53 Pump Plane No. 56 Step Plane, 2 Irons No. 57 Boy's Smooth No. 58 Boy's Jack No. 63 Raising Jack No. 73 One Pair Cornice Planes
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Illustrated Catalogue And Price List Of The Baldwin Tool Co's Premium Bench Planes And Moulding Tools, Middletown, Conn. 1858

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Illustrated Catalogue And Price List Of The Baldwin Tool Co's Premium Bench Planes And Moulding Tools. Middletown, Conn. 1858   Download The FREE PDF This illustrated trade catalog of woodworkers wooden planes has an interesting history. I purchased a box of heavily damp, smoke and carbon damaged paper from a Savannah, Georgia ephemera dealer. Most of the material was not salvageable. This catalog, a few bill heads and a carriage makers broadside survived. The dates of the bill heads stopped at the beginning of the US Civil War and and began again just after the end of the war. According to the dealer, she found this box of paper along with other items in the attic of a Savannah hardware store that dated to before the war. We surmised that the hardware store closed during the war and reopened shortly after. Sadly for me, by the time I knew of her, she had sold most of the material from that attic.Note that the catalog title page mentions Bench Planes and Moulding Tools. Not Mouldin...
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North Bros. Yankee Bench Drills Adverts

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The Famous North Bros. Yankee Bench Drills #1003 and #1005 Adverts Easily one of the most sought after of bench top hand powered drill presses, the North Bros. Yankee Self Feeding No. 1003, single speed and No. 1005, two speed Bench Drill Presses were the top of the line tools as most North Bros. Yankee products were. Still prized and used today, if you come across one, grab it. I used to have the 1005 and it was a beast. Davistown Museum history: North Bros. Mfg. Co., Philadelphia PA, 1880-1946 These adverts are from an early 20th century issue of The Carpenter, the magazine of the  United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBCJA). You can read through the entire online archive of past issues at the University Of Maryland digital library. The Carpenter Magazine Till next, Gary
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Hills and Richards Wood Planes 1833

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c1833 Catalogue And Invoice Prices Of Carpenters' Bench, And Moulding Planes, Manufactured By S. Hills And F. Richards, Norwich, Mass. Amongst the most valuable of ephemeral records of 19th Century American Wooden Plane Making are the catalog and price lists published by the plane makers, both individual and partnerships. Rather than interpreting value and nomenclature based upon existing physical tools, we can refer to these records for true period data.  Today I'm adding this c1833 Catalogue and Price list of a rare Massachusetts plane making partnership, S. Hills and F. Richards. Following this catalog are links to other price lists held in this site. John J. Bowles Joiners Tools c1840 Arrowmammet Works 1858 Baldwin Tool Company 1858 Interested in the collecting, use and history of Wooden Planes? Take a look at my FB group Rhykenology The Study Of Wooden Planes
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Occupational Trade Cards, Part 1

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 Occupational Trade Cards Part 1 One of my all time favorite ephemera types to find is Trade Cards. Nearly always one of a kind, often missing links in the history of early crafts, trades and industries, trade cards are what ephemera is all about: used and tossed. Not always tossed, which is where I come in. Herewith is a selection of Occupational Trade Cards, in no particular order. Enjoy. J. A. Fay &Co. Manufacturers Of A Variety Of Wood Working Machinery L & I. J. White Edge Tool Co., Buffalo, N.Y. D. R. Barton Tool Co., Centennial Exhibition D. R. Barton reverse Bogman & Vinal, Dealers In Builders' Hardware, Carpenters' Tools, Nails, Lead, Zinc, Sash Weights, &c. No. 7 Dock Square, Boston Chapin's Solid Cherry Level. The H. Chapin's Son Co., Pine Meadow, Conn. May & Co. Hardware, Tools and Metals. No. 1 Broad Street, Boston Fred A. Scobey, Blacksmith And Wheelwright, Carriage And Wagon Repairing In All Branches. 52 Dyer Avenue, Mattapan, Mass Tho...
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Occupational RPPC Real Photo Postcards

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 RPPC aka Real Photo Postcards Carpenters, Coopers, Wood Turners, Advertising, Factories, etc. Occupational RPPC are always up there with the better physical records of past history.  Herewith, in no particular order, are a selection of RPPC from my collection.  For more about Real Photo Post Cards, read this WIKI
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