Trying to identify an old axe

I

irrelephant

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Mar 1, 2011
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78
My friend has two of these axes, although I only brought home to clean up and identify. It's stamped "CCC" - Civilian Conservation Corps? He wants to get rid of them, if they have any value. If they're actually from the 1930s I would probably buy one from him, but I'm really just guessing at the origins. Has anyone seen these before?





Thanks for any help!
 
What you have is commonly called a "hewing" axe or hatchet. It is a chisel grind edge designed to square off logs or true up just about anything to a flat surface. Yours is set up for a right handed person. One would just reverse the head for a lefty.

It is a fairly common pattern that was made by Kelly, Plumb, Collins and others. There were many that were private branded for hardware stores like Sears or Montgomery Wards and others.

I'm sure you are correct about the stamp "CCC" being for the Civilian Conservation Corps.

I guess it's worth what you are willing to pay for it. The CCC stamp may add value to a collector.

Hope this helps. Maybe someone else will jump in here and help.

Tom
 
Tom has it right there. Hewing hatchet, bench axe/hatchet. Hard to put an exact date on axes even with a makers mark. Value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it. I usually spend $5-15 on an axe I'm looking to restore.
 
Easy to put a rough date on a CCC axe. The agency only operated from 1933 to 1942.

Broad hatchet - hewing hatchet.

There were a ton of CCC axes marked from many makers. I've got one around here somewhere and I sold another one last fall. The CCC stamp definitely adds interest and some value to the axe but it's not a big deal.
 
Nice find. Anything stamped with markings like that is a good find. CCC, FPS, FSA, WPA, etc are all unique designations used by various agencies with usually limited time frames of usage. So u have a tool like an axe with a finite life span and then also the imprint with the same - makes for an interesting piece. I enjoy those a lot. Nice piece of history.
 
That's a great old axe. When I'm cruising old mountain roads, I'm reminded of the CCC.
 
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