Walters Axe Catalog

S

Steve Tall

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Aug 28, 2010
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From an old auction listing, a few pages from
Walters Axe Co. "Catalogue No. 5"

One of the pages has the date June 1, --58 (or 59?).
The cover shows a cartoon of M. P. Walters, "Age 94", so that should help date the catalog.

There is a page showing the size range of Walters' "Montreal" pattern
(which isn't listed as the "Montreal" pattern here, Walters calls it a "Tomahawk" axe for most of the sizes),
available in 12", 14", 16", 18", 26", 28", and 30".

Another pages shows the Walters "Pulp Wood Axe" and warns that Walters' original pattern is "now being manufactured in Europe..."

walters-axe-company-catalog-vintage_1_8ecb9d340424ef91d13fe7b800265bf6.jpg


walters-axe-company-catalog-vintage_1_8ecb9d340424ef91d13fe7b800265bf6.jpg


walters-axe-company-catalog-vintage_1_8ecb9d340424ef91d13fe7b800265bf6.jpg


walters-axe-company-catalog-vintage_1_8ecb9d340424ef91d13fe7b800265bf6.jpg


from https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/walters-axe-company-catalog-vintage-1826910916

One of the above catalog pages also shows a "Branch Trimming Tool", available with single and double cutting edges. It's claimed that one man with this tool will branch a spruce as fast as two or three men with axes. Plus, it's "almost 100 per cent accident free".

The "Branch Trimming Tool" was invented by M.P. Walters (US patent 3,101,539 filed in 1960 and granted August 27, 1963):

US3101539-0.png


https://www.google.com/patents/US3101539

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US3101539.pdf
 
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Thank you Steve. I get a kick out of that line for the patented brush tool that never caught on: "almost 100% accident free". Sort of like saying 'slightly pregnant'. Morley trained as a mechanical engineer at prestigious McGill U in Montreal before the turn of the 20th century but his command of the Queen's English pretty much always remained backwoods. I don't doubt he thought up the awkward company slogan of "not too soft and free from flaws" too. I see that in the late 50s Walters was already caught up with Swede or German copied patterns of his being marketed in Quebec. I don't doubt that that was fledgling Garant et fils who serviced la Belle Province (Province of Quebec (P.Q.)) with shovels, axes, rakes and garden tools but couldn't do their own forgings.
 
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QUIZ: What is different from the catalog cover and this drawing?

BNFu1iD.jpeg


Extra credit if you know where Waldo is.


Bob
 
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Steve Tall said:
The cover shows a cartoon of M. P. Walters, "Age 94", so that should help date the catalog.
Click to expand...
In the drawing I posted (post #4) upper left corner, the character is saying "You certainly have come a long way since 1865!". Assuming that was M. P. Walters birthdate:

1865 + 94 = 1959


Bob
 
oPO3scP.jpeg

Google Translate: "Exhibition booth of the Walters Axis in 1956. In the center: Morley Punshon Walters, right Rene Ouellette."


This picture had no caption, but I believe that is our hero in the center:




Bob
 
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If ever there was an 'Energizer Bunny' Morley P. Walters would take the cake. I met him in 1965 (I was way too young) when Walters Axe Co. hosted an evening public talk on 'how axes are made' at the Victoria Natural History Museum in downtown Ottawa. Most likely Ed Hammel (the General Manager) conducted the 'show and tell' but already ancient Morley was pretty good at working the crowd after. If you're ever gonna 'get a bee in your bonnet' about beginning to gather up specific old stuff it doesn't hurt to have been mesmerized by a master.
 
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rjdankert said:
Google Translate: "Exhibition booth of the Walters Axis in 1956. In the center: Morley Punshon Walters, right Rene Ouellette."


This picture had no caption, but I believe that is our hero in the center:




Bob
Click to expand...
Front and center that'll probably be Ed Hammell. Ed was exempted from military service in WWII by virtue of being a tool & die maker. But he was really good at it and was tasked with making Inglis washing machine of Toronto become primary makers of Bren machine guns and Browning Hi-power pistols. Morley enticed him over to to modernize his axe making operation starting in about 1947 and Ed wound up running the show towards the end. The closed die forming change he implemented was a miracle at reducing costs by raising production and maintaining quality. In fact (the way I understand it) Baker Bros of Ottawa (metal and automotive recyclers) bought up Walters Axe when it was about to fold (early 1970s) solely to get their hands on Mr Hammel's expertise so he could be pressed into service to modernize their car crushing operation. Bakermet wasn't long in looking through the bottom line of their ledger books when they decided to fold the side-line Walters operation.
 
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Those late 50s catalogue pictures are great! The lovely fawn's foot butts were obviously being made at that time.
 
300Six said:
Front and center that'll probably be Ed Hammell. . .
Click to expand...
Are you saying that this is


I probably should have said given the source of that picture and the likeness of M. P. Walters in the 1956 picture that I am guessing that the guy with the vest in the center is M. P. Walters. If you have a photo of Ed Hammell, please post so that correct information can be shared.

Thanks,


Bob
 
I never officially met Ed but spent a week building a hot tub gazebo in Ottawa for his MS-disabled son John in 2002 and discovered who he was because of the unusual selection of Walters Axes at the back of the garage. This initiated many conversations! Ed must have been frugal though and mostly gave his children and grandchildren factory seconds. At the end of the job John gave me one; a brand-spanking new hatchet with the stamps ground off of the head and the handle, but that did undergo factory paint and finishing.
 
There is an often quoted article on here (titled: Axe-maker to the World) from 7 Aug 1965 Canadian Weekly addition in the Toronto Star (a Montreal paper also carried it) that has a good shot of Ed Hammell. Until I get picture hosting resolved I'm dead-in-the-water with regard to adding pictures.
 
300Six said:
There is an often quoted article on here (titled: Axe-maker to the World) from 7 Aug 1965 Canadian Weekly addition in the Toronto Star (a Montreal paper also carried it) that has a good shot of Ed Hammell. Until I get picture hosting resolved I'm dead-in-the-water with regard to adding pictures.
Click to expand...
The photo showing both Ed Hammell and Morley Walters is just above the title of the article, Axe-Maker to the World:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XYY1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=n58FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4749,1186543
 
300Six said:
There is an often quoted article on here (titled: Axe-maker to the World) from 7 Aug 1965 Canadian Weekly addition in the Toronto Star (a Montreal paper also carried it) that has a good shot of Ed Hammell. Until I get picture hosting resolved I'm dead-in-the-water with regard to adding pictures.
Click to expand...
Here is the picture:





Comparison:





Bob
 
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