Collins and Co - Manufacturing Thread

Square_peg said:
Do you have a date on this axe? Did Mann Edge Tool continue to use the 'Legitimus' label after they bought Collins in 1966? Did Mann continue to manufacture this style for export to Latin America?
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Since Collins had factories in Brazil, Columbia, and Mexico (as well as Connecticut), I wonder if they were exporting any axes at all from the USA to Latin America during the 1960s, before Mann bought the Collinsville facilities and Stanley Tool bought the three foreign factories.

From YesteryearsTools:

The Collins Co. had factories in four different countries. The major factory was in Collinsville, Connecticut in the United States. They are had factories in Brazil, Columbia and Mexico. In 1966 the facilities in Collinsville were sold to the Mann Edge Tool Co. of Lewistown, Pa. The other three factories were sold to the Stanley Tool Company.
http://yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears%20Tools/Collins%20Pt.%203.html
 
Well if Mann bought the Collins brand than at least Stanley wouldn't have been able to use the 'Legitimus' name in their new offshore factories. Stanley may still have made axes in those factories but they wouldn't have been Legitimii.
 
Picked up this baby a while back, engraving plate for some labels, not a stamp, as the letters, etc are cut out of the steel, also says something around it about "genuine labels have the raised letters" Any idea how they would do this? Apply Ink, steam paper/press into the engraver? I am unfamiliar with the process.
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Making a frame for it to hang up in the shop next to some collins axes. On the back were a few layers worth of stamps, really poorly worn and water marked, but under the stamps the back says something like GEO Sharp, whom I believe made the stamp. Anyways its a neat piece for sure. Haven't seen anything else like this.
 
Blue Sasquatch said:
...says something around it about "genuine labels have the raised letters" Any idea how they would do this? Apply Ink, steam paper/press into the engraver?...
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From Yesteryearstools:

Many of the original labels depicting the Legitimus symbol were embossed, a reference to which was even included along the edge of some labels along with the a notation that the label was genuine only if embossed and had been printed by the New York Bank Note Printing Co. Embossing is a process utilized in printing whereas certain areas are raised above the normal surface of the paper. This is accomplished by adding padding under the areas that will be raised and printing on paper that has been temporarily treated to stretch.

Leg.%20Bank%20Labels.jpg


"Earlier Legitimus labels had raised (embossed) lettering around the outer edges. Some were printed with different colored metallic inks."

http://yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears%20Tools/Collins%20Pt.%202.html
 
Thanks for the info Steve, I didn't catch that on yesteryear tools last I read. I understood what they meant, just not how it was done. It would be fun to re-create some of these labels, but maybe some legal issues with that. . . $5 for a NEW authentic collins label anyone? ;)
 
Right behind where I restore my axes I have an etching press. Embossing of this era is a byproduct of the printing that they did which was mostly etchings or litho, it is exaggerated though and deeper with padding and sometimes even wetting the paper. With both you use a hardground (this is like a coating that resists acid) and acid to make the image on a metal plate or a stone. When you are done with the acid it is remove along with the hardground and then you have your plate, printable image. You ink the plate and then wipe it off. The ink stays in the low portions of the plate and comes off the high portions which is what will eventually impress on the paper and make your image. The plate is run through a press that usually has a heavy roller (think mini steamroller kind of) and the ink transfers to the paper. The embossing happens because the plate has a measurable third dimension. Offset printing wouldn't have this because the plates are photoreactive and the ink sticks to the plate only in the places that retain a special chemical coating. If you brought that plate over to my house, my wife Valerie, who is a master printmaker could print as many of them as your hearts desired.

It's interesting because the Legitimus label prints with a lot of ink and almost in negative in relation to what we usually see unless of course they are printing with white ink on black paper but that usually doesn't work so well.
 
Here's a detailed article about Collins from 1946. Collins evidently became more of a machete maker than an axe maker, starting in 1918:

"Collins Co., a $3-million corporation, makes 600 styles of edge tools, of which 400 are types of machetes."
"Collins original stock in trade, and its mainstay for 90 years or so, was the ax. From 1918 on, machetes rapidly became the major product."

At the time of the article (1946), 80 to 90% of Collins' total revenues were from foreign sales, and about 70% of the foreign sales were machetes.

Quoted from Fortune magazine, January 1946
https://www.fulltable.com/vts/f/fortune/az/cv/a.htm

A lot of historical information and photographs can be found in this article. For example, it mentions that Kelly started a price war in the 1890s (that lasted until 1915), bringing down domestic prices in an attempt to put its competitors out of business. Kelly suceeded in breaking the axe 'trust' A.A.&T. and bought up most of the member companies. Collins survived by concentrating on exports.

Also mentioned is that the total domestic consumption of axes (in the USA) declined from around 350,000 dozen annually in 1921, to around 200,000 in 1946. "The Collins Co. is busy in greener pastures. [machetes]"
 
I have couple of Legitimus machetes. They made huge numbers of these for the war effort in the Pacific .My shortest is a 18", longest is a 26". The 26" is huge.
 
I went to take a look at an antique shop recently opened at the Collins Co

Some pictures of what I found in the Collins Co factory building now antique conglomerate.
The two story factory contains a multitude of dealers and requires more than the 45 minutes i had to properly walk thru.
I will be returning and will try to get a few interior shots of the old factory that may be of interest.

https://imgur.com/gallery/h1inr

I will also head into the Historical Museum in the new year most likely. More Collins legacy on display...more pictures if allowed:thumbsup:
 
Justin Seaux said:
Anyone have any idea what years the red knight boys axes were made?
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no idea on years but it appears to fill a role similar to the kelly woodslasher "produced mostly for hardware stores"take a file to your plumb national and then to your red knight, you should be able to tell the quality of steel by comparing it to the plumb
 
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