This 1913 Catalog, "The Heavy Hardware Co., Toledo Ohio", Provokes Your Imagination
The Heavy Hardware Co.
Toledo Ohio Jobbers of Carriage and Wagon Makers', Blacksmiths' and Horse-Shoers' Supplies
IRON AND STEEL
1865 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 1913
Let's see, 1913 is the second year of World War I, that is if you are a British citizen, or like me, a Canadian citizen. Now that I am also an American citizen, I know vividly that America didn't enter WW I until 1916, but in those two years, between 1916 and 1918, America's military sustained a devastating number of casualties.
It was, to use a cliché, a much different world: electrification of urban centers was just beginning, that is, beginning a long process that was not completed in the rural areas until after WW II, in the 1950s. And, even if they were not able to vote until the next decade, women were about to shed their corsets before the end of the second decade of the 20th-century.
Automobiles were just appearing, but highways were not built. Thus, for all practical purposes, America was still in "the horse and buggy" stage of development, which is, basically, what the gist of this catalog comprises.
Going Beyond the Information Given
The Heavy Hardware catalog does contain replacement "springs" for the automobiles on the market in 1913! What this information implies is that - and I have my friend, Ronald Darner, to thank for this point - in the initial stages of automobile manufacture, before the notion of the production line, building cars was often a process of assembling parts that originated from a variety of different sources, and not necessarily created by the manufacturer himself. And, at its beginning, much of the components of carriage and wagon construction carried over into automobile manufacture: wooden frames, wooden spokes on the wheels, to name just a few things. Obviously, woodworking's contribution to automobile manufacture is important, but, because of other urgencies, conducting research on it right now needs to be set aside.
But most of this catalog deals with the economy of a society transitioning from one level of technological development, steam-power, gas light, and where it exists, direct current electricity, to electrification - with alternating current - including the "industrial revolution of the kitchen", which - with the refrigerator and the electric washing machine - most notably, is marked by the emergence of the fractional horse power electric motor, and the truly revolutionary changes in living in America for which it is responsible. For more, click here. The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts Comprising an unbelievable 140-plus pages that include exquisite images on almost every page, all accompanied by clearly-written descriptions, this catalog captures the spirit of its era. In short, it contains a vast assemblage of products of America for a 1913 world, poised for the emergence of the automobile.
In a literal sense, the catalog's title - Carriage and Wagon Makers', Blacksmiths' and Horse- shoers' Supplies - suggests a fixed, unchanging world, an economy powered by horses, oxen, water and steam, but the catalog's contents belie such a limited prospect. However, pages of this Heavy Hardware Company's catalog contain wall-hung drill presses powered by electric direct- current motors, and drill bits with straight or tapered shanks, all portents of an increasingly electrified economy.
On another field, too, for my Dad, winning a plowing match in 1914 with a team of horses pulling a single-furrow plow required competing with steam powered tractors. And soon, those steam powered tractors would be replaced by tractors powered by gasoline.
For a person like myself, eager to find material appropriate to a history of woodworking and cabinetmaking, the payoff from a catalog such as this one is much greater than one anticipates, because much of the information it contains will wind up integrated into other parts of the website. In a sense, then, the impact of finding this catalog is reminiscent of the sayings like, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, or that its payoff goes “beyond the information given”
Because the catalog lacks a "Table of Contents", it might be worth looking at the four pages of detailed indexing at the end of the catalog, or simply scanning quickly, page by page, will give you an idea of the wide range of the contents.
(My friend, Ronald Darner, claims that, at the time, in anticipation that distributors would publish catalogs that contained their products, manufacturers would also supply these distributors with images and descriptions of their products. Ron's claim has validity, because some of the descriptions of products are very fulsome, and often go beyond the definition of "description", and into the realm of "history". )
The box-camera picture on the left, taken in 1914, shows my father when he was 14 years old as he poses for the winning a plowing match near Wishart, Saskatchewan, Canada. My father won against all other contestants, including the steam tractors, but - because he was considered too young for the cash prize of $5.00 - the oversight committee for the match decided it would be appropriate for him to be awarded an engraved medal instead. Today, I am the proud owner of that medal! Illustration 1: In the attached "Heavy Hardware" catalog, notice the "plow shares" and the "plow handles".
Also notice in the picture of my father that there is no "whiffletree" hanging from the horses' "collars" on their harness – instead just a rope strung from bridle to bridle -- and of course no "tongue", just the horses' "traces" on the harness hooked to the "double-tree" that attaches to the plow. I suspect that, in 1914, throughout much of rural America, such an image would be frequently duplicated, in part because of nostalgia, i.e., a nation looking back with pride in the skill of their ancestors and, with plowing matches, celebrating that skill by keeping it alive.
Documenting the History of Wagon and Carriage Making Locating the 1913 Heavy Hardware Company's catalog is important to a history of the making of wagons and carriages. Historically, the making of wagons and carriages is a skill considered in the realm of "cabinet-making", at least a step above the level of carpentry. Click here for a discussion of what distinguishes cabinet-making from carpentry. At the same time, documentation on the making of wagons and carriages is scarce. To compensate for this obvious absence of scholarly investigation I have created a special page for George Sturt's personal account of a life as a wheelwright.
The Catalog Contains a Potpourri of Products
As well as such tools for working on carriages and wagons as spokeshaves and draw knives, drill presses and this catalog contains plow shares, plow handles, wrenches, automobile springs, carriage frames, carriage wheels, carriage tires and axles, wheel hubs and spokes, carriage tops and fringes, carriage "platform gears", carriage shafts and whiffletrees, horse shoes, horse shoe nails, hammers and sledges, anvils, machinist's and woodworker's vises, forges, tap and die sets, bob sleigh runners and shoes, the 36-inch Crescent bandsaw, plus countless other items.
Cutaways that show the Anatomy of
The images - obviously hand-drawn - include occasional cross-sectional "cutaways", designed to let catalog readers view the internal workings of products for sale, like the "Greenfield Drill Chuck" and the "Little Giant Die".
the Greenfield Drill Chucks and the Little Giant Die The Surrey With the Fringe on Top
In the preparation of this catalog for the Internet, frankly, I couldn't help having the lyrics coursing through my head of the song, "The Surrey With the Fringe On Top", from that wonderful musical, "Oklahoma":
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, "Green Grow the Lilacs". Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancee, Ado Annie, a friend of Laurey's.
Click here for more on the musical on the Wikipedia page. THE ileavy Hardware Co.
TOLEDO, OHIO
JOBBERS OF Carriage and Wagon Makers', Blacksmiths' and Horseshoers' Supplies. & IRON AND STEEL &
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