Howlands Samson Quality - Need Help

[mrkus]

Hi all. Saw an axe stamped with Howlands Samson Quality. Sorry I have no pic, but the words are written on top of each other and surrounded by a single oval. The name Samson had largest letters. Anybody know anything about these axes in terms of history and quality?

Thanks!

 

[Steve Tall]

H. S. Howland, Sons and Company was a hardware wholesaler in Canada, established 1877 in Toronto.

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/howland_henry_stark_13E.html

From an advertisement in Hardware Merchandising, January 1920:

"...The reputation of the Samson Axe is your guarantee. It is made with one idea only — the maximum of sat-
isfactory service. It is produced without reference to the price situation.
We aim simply to offer an axe that will give the longest and most satisfactory service.
H. HOWLAND, SONS & CO., LIMITED
TORONTO"

http://archive.org/stream/hardmerchjanfeb1920toro/hardmerchjanfeb1920toro_djvu.txt

 

[Steve Tall]

Appears that Samson axes were distributed in the USA by the Charles Weiland Hardware Corp. in New York City.

...
Source: Hardware Age, July 21, 1966, page 809
...By coincidence, the same page also lists the "Samson" brand axe as being supplied by the Charles Weiland Hardware Corp. in New York (The Samson brand was brought up in another thread today, coming from a Canadian hardware wholesaler). I guess that Weiland was the sole US distributor of the Samson axes.

http://books.google.com/books?ei=bwsYUv_JMczWigLV0YDYAQ&id=ts8TAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22parker+tool%22+company+sid+axworthy&q=samson+axe#search_anchor

 

[mrkus]

Thanks Steve! That's some great detective work.