Vintage Axe Hewing Single Bit GW Bradley Cast Steel No 5 Arrow & B Logo 1800’s
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:16708468 | Modified Item: No |
| Featured Refinements: Vintage Axe Head |
RARE Vintage GW Bradley Hewing Axe with New York pattern***Found 2 of the same axes online that sold for over $200From the 1800s (1812-1906)Cast Steel No 5. with Arrow & B logo stamped on side of axeCondition is Used. Great condition! Axe handle has been altered to use like a hatchet. If you do not want the handle let us know and it can be removed prior to shipping and will reduce shipping rates.Dimensions: 6-1/4” Blade length, 7-1/2” from flat hammered end to blade edgeShipped wit...h USPS Priority Mail. If shipping is over $20.00 let me know and I can revise it to reflect $20 and put it in a large flat rate box.History of company:The originator of the company that was to later become known as the Bradley Axe Co. was Wakeman Bradley who relocated to Weston, Connecticut from Southport and commenced to make axes there. That was in 1812 after he had learned the trade from David Wakeman.During the ensuing years Gershom Wakeman Bradley, Wakeman Bradley's oldest son, worked with his father and learned the trade. In 1834, Gershom Wakeman Bradley bought what had previously been a comb factory that was located on the Saugatuck River in Weston, Connecticut. It was there that he started to make edge tools under his own name. The establishment was called G. W. Bradley's Edge Tool Factory. The business continued under the leadership G. W. Bradley until 1854 when it was destroyed by what was called a freshet. That is when a fresh water stream is overfilled and floods, resulting in considerable destruction on its path downstream to the sea. The factory was rebuilt by Bradley's oldest son, Miles, and continued first under Miles's leadership, then by various other family members, until 1906 when the company was sold to two men; one named Adams, the other named Staples.For one reason or another, the location of the company was noted on some labels as Westport. Quite possibly they had an office there and/or it may have been a more recognizable shipping depot, either of which may have influenced the use of Westport on the labels rather then Weston.
