J B V Co Axe

[DarthTaco123]

Heya guysI recently got this head in a trade from a fellow on Facebook marked JBV or UBV Co. Overcoat bit, longer than usual poll and a general old aesthetic. I've asked around and heard it may be either a John B. Varney from Maine or a John B. Varick out of New Hampshire. Amy ideas?

 

[Steve Tall]

Heya guysI recently got this head in a trade from a fellow on Facebook marked JBV or UBV Co. Overcoat bit, longer than usual poll and a general old aesthetic. I've asked around and heard it may be either a John B. Varney from Maine or a John B. Varick out of New Hampshire. Amy ideas?

I'd go with John B. Varick Co. because they were claimed to be New England's largest hardware business in 1915, and they apparently sold axes of their own brand (as shown on this label):

VARICK'S JERSEY
EXTRA QUALITY
CAST STEEL
HAND TEMPERED
JOHN B. VARICK CO.
OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN
MANCHESTER, N.H.

A picture of the axe rack in their store, from 1894:

from The Iron Age, July 5, 1894


The other named candidate, John B. Varney from Maine, doesn't seem to appear in the Registry of Maine Toolmakers (1607-1900), and seems to be an unlikely source of this axe. A listing for that name in a Maine business directory from 1861 mentions "Manf. of plows and all kinds of castings".

 

[DarthTaco123]

About how long was Varick in business?

 

[Steve Tall]

About how long was Varick in business?

... In 1860 John B. Varick bought his partner out, and became sole owner. In 1884 the business was incorporated under the name of John B. Varick Co...
... The John B. Varick company closed its doors by 1951.
http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2015/02/06/john-b-varick-co-new-englands-largest-hardware-business-in-1915/

 

[DarthTaco123]

Thank ya Steve! At work or I'd have done the digging myself.