(fig. 50) and departed
noticeably from the unadorned style of traditional English and American
tools. The scalloped blade, influenced by the rival styles rather than a
technical need, seemed little related to the purpose of the tool.[10]
No less archaic in decoration was the iron-bodied version of the plow
plane (fig. 51). The Anglo-American tradition seems completely put
aside. In its place is a most functional object, but one elaborately
covered with a shell and vine motif! Patented in 1870 by Charles Miller
and manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, this tool in its
unadorned version is of a type that was much admired by the British
experts at Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition in 1876. What prompted
such superfluous decoration on the plow plane? Perhaps it was to appeal
to the flood of newly arrived American craftsmen who might find in the
rococo something reminiscent of the older tools they had known in
Europe. Perhaps it was simply the transference to the tool itself of the
decorative work then demanded of the wood craftsmen. Or was it mainly a
compulsion to dress, with little effort, a lackluster material that
seemed stark and cold to Victorians accustomed to the ornateness being
achieved elsewhere with the jigsaw and wood? Whatever the cause, the
result did not persist long as a guide to hand-tool design. Instead, the
strong, plain lines that had evolved over two centuries won universal
endorsement at the Centennial Exhibition. The prize tools reflected
little of the ornateness apparent in the wares of most of the other
exhibitors. American makers of edge tools exhibiting at the Centennial
showed the world not only examples of quality but of attractiveness as
well.

[Illustration: Figure 52.--19TH CENTURY: THE AMERICAN AXE WAS UNEXCELLED
in design and ease of use. European observers praised it as distinctly
American. At the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 Collins and Company of
New York City was singled out as one of the outstanding manufacturers
exhibiting these axes, a reputation that persisted. (_Tools for all
Trades_, Hammacher, Schlemmer and Company, New York, 1896. Smithsonian
photo 56625.)]

[Illustration: Figure 53.--1876: DISSTON AND SONS LONG CONTINUED to
remind prospective buyers of the company's success at the Philadelphia
Centennial Exhibition by retaining the "Centennial Saw, No. 76" as a
brand name. (_Illustrated Catalogue_, Baldwin, Robbins and Company,
Boston, 1894. Smithsonian ph