Identifying possible antique railroad hatchet mark, have researched with no luck

M

MarsHillPicker

Joined
Apr 23, 2017
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Hi! I recently bought a lot of old hatchets from eBay for $40 shipped. I got lucky and figured I couldn't go wrong either way. I often find when items on eBay have very little description or bad pics, I can find more treasures... and there is less competition. This hatchet has me confused, I searched every different way I could think, posted in other forums etc and had no luck, other than realizing railroad tools and such have a little more collector value. You will not be able to see from the pics that I post, but the hatchet is marked accordingling...
Outline is a large,wide diamond shape. Top left "forged, top right "steel", bottom "usa" and the middle is the tricky part I can make out an "N" and "R" "R", but I can't make out anything else, it seems there would be atleast one more letter the way it is situated in the diamond, I am possibly seeing an "H" maybe? Any age info, maker info, even type of hatchet and head style... I am brand new to this, I just dove right in, couldn't pass up the deal lol. Most of these are meant to be re hung, cleaned up a little and used or sold for use locally, I will be making sheaths etc. But I dont want to ruin a real treasure! Antique anything is my real passion and it would kill me to do that! Anything would be much appreciated! I'll also include a pic of the lot I bought, $40 shipped, unbelievable! Thanks in advance,
Jim
Bonez Customs
dateposted-public

I am not sure if my pics are gonna show this is a test posr. If it works, I'll get the rest up. If not, I will figure it out and get them up! Thanks for your patience with a newbie.
][img]
 
MarsHillPicker said:
Hi! I recently bought a lot of old hatchets from eBay for $40 shipped. I got lucky and figured I couldn't go wrong either way. I often find when items on eBay have very little description or bad pics, I can find more treasures... and there is less competition. This hatchet has me confused, I searched every different way I could think, posted in other forums etc and had no luck, other than realizing railroad tools and such have a little more collector value. You will not be able to see from the pics that I post, but the hatchet is marked accordingling...
Outline is a large,wide diamond shape. Top left "forged, top right "steel", bottom "usa" and the middle is the tricky part I can make out an "N" and "R" "R", but I can't make out anything else, it seems there would be atleast one more letter the way it is situated in the diamond, I am possibly seeing an "H" maybe? Any age info, maker info, even type of hatchet and head style... I am brand new to this, I just dove right in, couldn't pass up the deal lol. Most of these are meant to be re hung, cleaned up a little and used or sold for use locally, I will be making sheaths etc. But I dont want to ruin a real treasure! Antique anything is my real passion and it would kill me to do that! Anything would be much appreciated! I'll also include a pic of the lot I bought, $40 shipped, unbelievable! Thanks in advance,
Jim
Bonez Customs
dateposted-public

I am not sure if my pics are gonna show this is a test posr. If it works, I'll get the rest up. If not, I will figure it out and get them up! Thanks for your patience with a newbie.
][img]
Click to expand...
Merit as has been posted is exactly what I can make out on it.

For type, this is just a standard ol' plain Jane half hatchet.
The half hatchet is just a general use carpentry tool.
Very common and very handy.

There are 6 in that lot of yours, though the one on the far left is slightly different.
It may be what was considered a car builders hatchet, but still pretty common.
 
Thanks for the quick solve! After seeing the clear stamp and checking it against mine, it is as clear as day! I knew I saw an R in ther, just a few short lol. This is a perfect example of why I love this site. Now, any info on the date of this one? One of the hachets in the pic is a craftsman from what I believe to be the 70's or 80's, still checking into the stamp. I will get back to researching now that I have a starting point, thanks to you guys, but if somebody happens to know that possible date range. It would be much appreciated! The last piece of cutlery I sold with a stamp shaped/wored like this was from the late 1800's!
 
Any idea when Merit was producing these? I found annold sears catalog and found Merit to be a step down from the fulton line. Only tools i could find were different pliers and there were no dates listed.To the commenter who mentioned the far left hatchet... it is a Dunlap and was my next piece to research. It still has the emblem painted? Or a sticker etc. On the handle and is in pretty decent shape. I would guess the 70's or 80's but could be way off!
 
MarsHillPicker said:
Any idea when Merit was producing these?
Click to expand...

We have no idea who produced these. But Sears marketed a Fulton Merit axe at least as early as 1928 because this image is in the Spring/Summer catalog for that year.

Fulton%20Merit%201928-2.jpg


By 1933 I see Merit as a stand alone brand, not in the Fulton line.

Merit%201-1933.jpg


I have no the end date. I don't have images of all the catalogs and I don't have time to search all I have at this time.
 
In 1938 I'm seeing Craftsman, Fulton and Dunlap as Sears' axe brands but no Merit. That's not to say they couldn't have brought it back later. So now you have '33-37' as at least possible dates. It could be narrower or wider.

I didn't find Merit in the '43 or '48 catalogs.
 
Thanks for the info square peg! I still have several of these hatchet and just got around to finishing my research and getting these guys ready to go. I have found similar info to yours in my searches and have concluded that your date range is spot on! Another testament to this site! Now to date this old Marbles #9 I just got, seems pretty confusing... might be a good question for another thread! Thanks again!
 
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