I have re-written my web page to include the following preamble:
According to most accounts I have read, David Maydole was a blacksmith in
Norwich, New York, in the early 1840s. He is widely credited (but not by all
researchers) with inventing the "adze eye" method of securely affixing the
hammer head to the handle which solved the vexing tendency of the heads to "fly
off" the handle after a sort period of use.
He subsequently built a factory to exclusively manufacture hammers as The David
Maydole Hammer Company on the banks of the Chenango Canal in Norwich circa.
1843. The business, which was now family owned, prospered mainly due to his
"adze eye" head attachment methodology and a reputation for producing hammers of
high quality and superior finish.
A fire destroyed the factory in 1848 but it was quickly replaced a by a new two-
storey building facing on the Chenango Canal which provided water power for the
machines.
David Maydole died in 1892 and by that time his family claimed the factory was
the largest producer of hammers in the United States with over 100 employees.
The firm continued to be family owned and operated until 1931, when it was
reorganized as the Maydole Tool Company. It was purchased by Mayhew Tools of
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts as Mayhew-Maydole in 1939. Mayhew continued to
manufacture Maydole hammers until 1957 when another devastating fire destroyed
the factory. In July 1970 the Norwich Common Council bought the factory site,
demolished the dilapidated buildings, and used the site to construct an Urban
Renewal project.
THE MAYDOLE HAMMERS 1919 CATALOG (PDF) - Reference Document.
HAMMER HEAD STAMPINGS
My compilation based on catalog listings and printed Ads.
Circa. 1843-mid 1900s:
D. MAYDOLE
NORWICH N. Y.
CAST STEEL
Circa. mid 1800s-mid 1920s:
D. MAYDOLE
CAST STEEL
Circa. mid 1920s-1939
D. MAYDOLE
MADE IN U.S.A.
Circa. 1939-1957:
MAYDOLE
or
D. MAYDOLE
The web page is at:
http://jp29.org/wwmaydolehammers.htm
Once again I solicit help in correcting errors and suggestions for inclusion of
additional information.
James Pickering
Sent from my iPad
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