quarter of the 19th century the tool catalogue replaced Moxon, Duhamel,
Diderot, and the builders' manuals as the primary source for the study
and identification of hand tools. The Centennial had called attention to
the superiority of certain American tools and toolmakers. The result was
that until the end of the century, trade literature faithfully drummed
the products that had proven such "an attraction to the numerous
artisans who visited the Centennial Exhibition from the United States
and other countries."[23]

[Illustration: Figure 63.--1870: THE METALLIC VERSION OF THE PLOW PLANE
later produced by Stanley and Company was patented by [Charles] G.
Miller as a tool readily "convertible into a grooving, rabbeting, or
smoothing plane." In production this multipurpose plow gained an
elaborate decoration (fig. 51) nowhere suggested in Miller's
specification. (Wash drawing from U.S. Patent Office, June 28, 1870,
Record Group 241, the National Archives.)]

[Illustration: Figure 64.--1867: THE DRAWING accompanying B.A. Blandin's
specification for an "Improvement in Bench Planes" retained only the
familiarly shaped handle or tote of the traditional wood-bodied plane.
This new shape rapidly became the standard form of the tool with later
variations chiefly related to the adjustability of the plane-iron and
sole. (Wash drawing from U.S. Patent Office, May 7, 1867, Record Group
241, the National Archives.)]

Collins and Company of New York City had been given commendation for the
excellence of their axes; through the end of the century, Collins' brand
felling axes, broad axes, and adzes were standard items, as witness
Hammacher, Schlemmer and Company's catalogue of 1896.[24] Disston saws
were a byword, and the impact of their exhibit at Philadelphia was still
strong, as judged from Baldwin, Robbins' catalogue of 1894. Highly
recommended was the Disston no. 76, the "Centennial" handsaw with its
"skew back" and "apple handle." Jennings' patented auger bits were
likewise standard fare in nearly every tool catalogue.[25] So were bench
planes manufactured by companies that had been cited at Philadelphia for
the excellence of their product; namely, The Metallic Plane Company,
Auburn, New York; The Middletown Tool Company, Middletown, Connecticut;
Bailey, Leonard, and Company, Hartford; and The Sandusky Tool Company,
Sandusky, Ohio.[26]

An excellent indication of the persistence of the Centennial influence,
and of the tool catal