PRICES OF PLANES, MADE AND SOLD, For HOME CONSUMPTION & EXPORTATION By JOSEPH CLARK, PLANE-MAKER, NEAR THE NUN-GATE NEWCASTLE, REGULATED BY THE TRADE AUG.. 1816

This fascinating price list from an early 19th Century British planemaker comes to us courtesy of the Tyne & Wear Archives Service. Found through the A2A (Access to Archives) site, the Tyne & Weare Archives Service was kind enough to arrange for a copy of this microfilm. Paul 'Bugbear' Womack stepped in to arrange for the funds for the copy. Unfortunately, Tyne & Weare are not set up for international funds.

The original of this price list was donated by a local gentleman, who unfortunately can no longer be located. The microfilm copy is, as they often are, less than distinct. I worked some Photoshop magic to produce a variety of versions, from which I managed to transcribe most of the price list.

Joseph Clark Price List Transcription NOTE: This document is provided for the purposes of research and education, courtesy of the Tyne & Weare Archives Service. The orignal may not be reproduced.

High Res PDF

Catalogue and Invoice Prices of Carpenters' Bench, and Moulding Planes, Manufactured by S. Hills, and F. Richards, Norwich, Mass. Jan. 23, 1833. Before there were bound trade catalogs, the typical catalog was a single sheet price list of goods offered. Before the single sheet price list, the trade card often served... but I don't have one of those early ones to show you. Yet.

This early catalogue is of particular interest as it is a plane makers price list from a lesser known maker of Massachusetts. Mailed as a Stampless Letter. the sender folded up a piece of paper to a given size, wrote the 'To' and 'From' on the outside and paid for the service. In some cases, the recipient had to pay for the service.

This price list/catalog was issued by Hills & Richards, one of the many partnerships of the Hills bros', Samuel and Hervey of Amherst, Springfield and Norwich, Massachusetts. The Hills worked during the early part of the 19th C. Frederick Richards has been listed as a planemaker, toolmaker and hardware dealer. In the 1850 Census, he was listed as employed by H. Chapin as a toolmaker. From the primary resource for wooden planes of the United States, A Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planes, we have a brief review of these makers:

• Samuel Hills: Amherst & Springfield, MA: 1830
• Samuel and Hervey Hills, succeeding Hills & Wolcott: Amherst, MA: 1829-1830
• Hills & Richards: Norwich, MA: 1833 (date now known from this catalog)
• Hills & Winship (William Winship worked for H. Chapin, 1826-1832): Springfield, MA: 1832
• Hills & Wolcott (possibly Gideon Wolcott, a planemaker who worked for Leonard Kennedy): So. Amherst, MA: 1829
• Frederick Richards: Springfield, MA: 1833-1850

Kennedy & Bragaw: English and American Hardware, 203 Main Street, Hartford, Ct, July 1st, 1845. This firm was in business from 1844-1846. Before the advent of bound catalogs, merchants marketed their goods through sheet listings such as this one. Easily folded for mailing, in this early case as a stampless letter, the listing doubled as a format for personal correspondence between the seller and the prospective buyer.

At the bottom of the sheet is a note "Joiners Planes of our own Manufacture". The proprietors in question were Leonard Kennedy, Jr. and Isaac Bragaw. To my knowledge, no imprint has been recorded. If you have a plane marked by this merchant partnership, please come forward."

Catalogue And Invoice Price List Of Bench Planes, And Moulding Tools, Also A List Of Boy's And Gentlemen's Tool Chests, Manufactured And For Sale At The Arrowmammett Works, Middletown, Conn., Middletown: Charles H. Pelton, Printer. 1858. Courtesy of Richard Dickerson, whose Tool Makers of Middletown, Connecticut website is a must visit for anyone interested in the history of tools. If you are wondering why you should check out his site, here is a quote from his entry on the Arrowmammett Works:

"Tools Made: Woodworking planes. Working Dates: 1836-59.

Owned by Austin Baldwin, born 11 June 1807 in Albany N.Y. died 28 May 1866. Named after the Arrowmammett river (now the Coginchaug) also known as the Arrowanna river. The company was sold to Globe Mfg. Co. in 1857. There were a number of tool makers in this area including Middletown Tool CO., Starr Mfg. Co. and Tidgewell & Co., Grower & Young, and Libby & Jordan. See Baldwin Tool Co. and Globe Mfg. Co. The factory was located on Jackson Street. There was a pond by the factory, also, a bridge over the river. The pond, bridge and factory are gone. Austin Baldwin’s house was on the NE corner of Jackson and Washington Streets. The house has since been demolished. The planes can be marked with seven different marks."

Monhagen Saw Works. Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell, Manufacturers of Warrented Patent Ground, Extra Cast Steel, Circular Saws, Mill, Mulay, Cross-cut, Hand, Panel and Rip Saws, Butcher's Bow Saws, Back Saws, Wood Saws, Felloe and Turning Webs, and Plastering Trowels. Manufactory, At Middletown, Orange County, N.Y.. Branch Office and Warehouse, No. 39 Platt Street, New York. 1859. A very early catalog from the company that morphed into Wheeler, Madden & Clemson, Woodrough & McParlin which eventually was abosrbed by the National Saw Company. For a full history, see WkFinetools. This catalog has what is known as 'self-wraps", which simply means the cover is constructed of the same paper as are the contents. This makes for a very fragile catalog. That plus the use of acidic paper has resulted in the loss of many mid-nineteenth century trade catalogs to the depredations of time and the elements.

There are references within this catalog to "see another page" for more information on various hand saws. But there is no other page and there never was one included in this catalog. I can only guess that there was an insert at one time that has been lost. The 1860 catalog at WKFinetools has images of the various hand saws which must be the same ones referred to in this 1859 catalog. Both catalogs feature this engraving of the factory as well as an engraving of their patented saw grinding machine, something that would have given OSHA nightmares.

So far as I can tell, Josiah Bakewell made saws under his own name and under the Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell name. If anyone has a saw stamped only with the Wheeler, Madden & Bakewell name and not Bakewell & Co. please send an image for inclusion in the accompanying image gallery>

UNDERHILL EDGE TOOL COMPANY , NASHUA, N.H.. c1860 Single plate from an unkown catalog. This in a single plate, unfortunately parted from the original catalog. I have a few more plates. Somewhere. When I find them, I'll add them. This one is a very clean bronze powder enhanced engraving from an early folio sized catalog.
 

Revised Price List of T. H. Witherby Tool Co., Sole Manufacturers Of The Witherby Chisels & Drawing Knives, Adopted at a Meeting of the Manufactuers, April 1st, 1868. ... All orders for the above should be addressed to Durrie & Rusher, 16 Beekman Street, New-York. 1868. A very interesting and early price list from the famous T. H. Witherby Tool Co. Originally folded to fit in an envelope, this price list looks as if it was pasted into a hardware store's desk catalog or price book. Brian Welch notes that the brand T. M Clarke indicates "that The Winsted Hoe Company was in full possession of the company and making Witherby chisels by April 1, 1868." For more information on the Witherby Company, stop in at Brian Welch's history of the Witherby Co. and at WKFineTools for even more information.

See also: J. Graham catalog 1920; T H Witherby catalog repint; Tenite Handles Ad;