oto 56627.)]

Change

American hand tools in 1876 did not achieve the popular acclaim accorded
the Corliss engine, yet few products shown by American exhibitors were
more highly praised by foreign experts. It seems justified to suggest
that American edge tools displayed at the Centennial had reached their
high point of development--a metamorphosis that began with the medieval
European tool forms, moved through a period of reliance on English
precedents, and ended, in the last quarter of the 19th century, with the
production of American hand tools "occupying an enviable position before
the world."[11]

[Illustration: Figure 54.--1809: THE INTRODUCTION of the gimlet-pointed
auger followed Ezra L'Hommedieu's patent of 1809. From this date until
its general disuse in the early 20th century, the conformation of the
tool remained unchanged, although the quality of steel and the precision
of the twist steadily improved. (Wash drawing from the restored patent
drawings awarded July 31, 1809, U.S. Patent Office, Record Group 241,
the National Archives. Smithsonian photo 49790-A.)]

[Illustration: Figure 55.--1855: RUSSELL JENNINGS' improved auger bits,
first patented in 1855, received superior citation at the Philadelphia
Centennial; in the years following, the trade name "Jennings" was seldom
omitted from trade catalogues. (Original wash drawing, patent drawing
submitted by R. Jennings, U.S. Patent Office, Record Group 241, the
National Archives.)]

The tool most highly praised at Philadelphia was the American felling
axe (fig. 52) "made out of a solid piece of cast steel" with the eye
"punched out of the solid." When compared to other forms, the American
axe was "more easily worked," and its shape permitted an easier
withdrawal after striking.[12]

Sawmakers, too, were singled out for praise--in particular Disston &
Sons (fig. 53) for "improvements in the form of the handles, and in the
mode of fixing them to the saw." The Disston saw also embodied an
improved blade shape which made it "lighter and more convenient by
giving it a greater taper to the point." Sheffield saws, once supplied
to most of the world, were not exhibited at Philadelphia, and the
British expert lamented that our "monopoly remains with us no
longer."[13]

[Illustration: Figure 56.--1894: THE PERSISTENCE OF "JENNINGS" AS A
TRADE NAME is suggested by the vignette from the "Illustrated Catalogue"
of Baldwin, Robbins and Company, published in 1894. (