Bush Hammer
date: label: date made
content: 1871-1920
name: label: associated user
content: Pirie, W.
label: associated user
content: Woods, C.
label: manufacturer
content: H. H. Harvey and Company
label: maker
content: Harvey and Company, H. H.
notes: label: Description
content: This is a bush hammer. A bush hammer, also known as an axe hammer, is a masonry tool used to texturize stone and concrete. In 1831, Joseph Richards (1784–1848) of Braintree, MA, invented the bush hammer. The US patent was issued February 20, 1828, for a stone-working tool, with a patent number of X5010 or 5010X. His patent sparked many other inventors' designs for the bush hammer.
label: Description
content: This particular hammer has inscriptions reading ‘H. H. HARVEY & CO. [/] AUGUSTA. ME. [/] MANUF'R. [/] 5143 [/] 1873 [/] T[E]STED [/] No 5’ which refer to the manufacturer.
label: Description
content: It has an iron body ("pole") gibbed across the top and bottom and four bolts to secure two sets of sharp plates or teeth inserted into jaws at either end of the head (12 on each end). There is a wooden handle force-fit into the eye of the pole that has a drilled hang hole, not original to the piece, added by a tool collector for display.
label: Description
content: H.H. Harvey was a manufacturer of tools for quarry workers, stone masons, and blacksmiths, with a factory in Augusta, Maine, and a store and office in Boston, Massachusetts. They were in operation from 1871 to at least 1914 (possibly 1920). The business was named for Henry H. Harvey (1840-1928), a native of England. The plant was destroyed by fire in 1893, and the announcement that it was being rebuilt said that Mr. Harvey's 3 sons were then active in the business. They were George H. Harvey (1862-1902), Fred M. Harvey (1863-1945), and Frank A. Harvey (1867-after 1930).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maine, Augusta
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Hand Tools
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Olde Country Store of Witmer, PA
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1265.11
label: accession number
content: 1979.1265
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1265.11
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Hammer
label: Other Terms
content: Hammer; Stonecutter/Stone Dresser; Stoneworking; Striking & Prizing Tools; Hand Tools
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood, hickory (overall material)