Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co.
The “Hunt’s” & “D. Sharp” axes — East Douglas, Massachusetts
One of the oldest and most decorated New England axe makers — and a standing correction to a common myth: the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. took its name from its town, East Douglas, Massachusetts, not from any “Douglas family.” The works was built by the Hunts, and every genuine head carries one of two registered stamps, “W. HUNT” or “D. SHARP.”D1 This page traces the firm from its Hunt-family roots to its 1897 absorption into the American Axe & Tool trust,D5 and shows how to date a head by its stamp.
A short history
The Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company was a Hunt-family business long before it was a company. Oliver Hunt and his brother Joseph kept a blacksmith and edge-tool shop at East Douglas, Massachusetts from about 1798,D4 and in 1834 the family reorganized the works — naming it not for any “Douglas family,” as is often assumed, but for the town itself.D4 The reincorporated firm dated its own manufacture of axes and edge tools to 1836,D1 and from the start it stamped its goods with two registered names, “W. HUNT” and “D. SHARP,” to keep imitators off its trade.D1
Those stamps rode the company’s flagship line, “Hunt’s Superior Axes,” offered in a long list of regional patterns and finished in black, blue, bronze or red to order.D1 The axes carried off the era’s highest honors — medals at the World’s Fairs of London (1862), Paris (1867) and Vienna (1873), and at the 1876 Centennial in PhiladelphiaD1D2 — and by 1877 the East Douglas works could turn out two hundred dozen axes and a hundred dozen tools a day, sold through a Boston office.D1
For all its medals, independent axe-making at East Douglas did not outlast the industry’s consolidation: in 1897 the company was absorbed into the American Axe & Tool Co., the 1889 “axe trust.”D5 Because the trust kept its constituents’ old brand names, “Hunt’s Superior” outlived the works — it is almost certainly the “Hunt’s” axe that Sears was still selling in 1902.D6 That makes the two stamps the collector’s whole game: a “W. HUNT” or “D. SHARP” head is the East Douglas company’s own, while a later “Hunt’s” is trust-era work (see dating, below).
History
- c.1798Oliver Hunt and his brother Joseph open a blacksmith / edge-tool shop at East Douglas, Massachusetts — the Hunt-family root of the business. ~ D4
- 1834The Hunts reorganize the works as the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company, taking the name of its town. ~ D4
- 1836Incorporated; the company dates its own manufacture here — “commenced the manufacture of Axes and Edge Tools in the year 1836” (the 1873 catalog: “for thirty-eight years”). ✓ D1
- 1862–76Highest medals at the World’s Fair, London (1862); French Exposition, Paris (1867); World’s Fair, Vienna (1873); U.S. Centennial, Philadelphia (1876); plus the Mass. Charitable Mechanic Association and the International Exposition of Chile. ✓ D1 D2
- 1877Fifth edition of the Illustrated Catalogue; daily capacity “two hundred dozen Axes and one hundred dozen Tools”; office in Boston, works at East Douglas; treasurer D. D. Dana. ✓ D1
- 1897Absorbed into the American Axe & Tool Co. (the 1889 “axe trust”) — the independent East Douglas works ends here. ~ D5
The Hunt & Sharp stamps — the company’s own words, 1877
The clearest statement of the two marks is the catalog’s own “Caution” page — from the 1877 (fifth-edition) catalog (D1), leaf n16, verified against the page image:
- “Commenced the manufacture of Axes and Edge Tools in the year 1836.”
- Always used the names “W. HUNT” and “D. SHARP” to distinguish their goods.
- The label wording: HUNT’S (or D. SHARP’S) SUPERIOR AXES … BEST REFINED CAST STEEL … DOUGLAS AXE MFG CO., EAST DOUGLAS, MASS.
- Both stamps registered in the Patent Office, Washington; buyers urged to “examine the stamps and labels … obtain the genuine goods.”
Documented products & patterns — 1877, specs by number
A broad edge-tool line, each pattern designated by a number (No. 201, No. 300…). Like Collins, AA&T and Mann, the catalog is specs, not priced — “a Price List is issued as often as necessity requires.” Goods finished in black (default), blue, bronze or red to order (D1):
Product types:
Axe & adze patterns in the 1877 index:
Capacity in 1877: 200 dozen axes + 100 dozen tools per day. ✓ D1
What a Hunt’s axe cost — 1879, per dozen (wholesale)
The catalogs are unpriced, but the prices survive elsewhere: a San Francisco hardware jobber’s sheet — Carolan, Cory & Co., c.1879 — lists the “Hunt’s” (Douglas) line at wholesale, beside rival Union and Phillips columns (D3):
| Hunt’s (Douglas) line | Price / doz. | ≈ each |
|---|---|---|
| Unhandled axes — “Ohio” pattern | $12.50 | $1.04 |
| Unhandled axes — “Eureka” pattern | $13.00 | $1.08 |
| Unhandled axes — double-bit (3¾–4½ lb) | $24.00 | $2.00 |
| Broad axes — to 7½ lb | $30.00 | $2.50 |
| Ship broad axe (Barton’s / Horton’s) | $40.00 | $3.33 |
| Adzes — house / ship | $23.00 | $1.92 |
| Shingling hatchets — No. 1 / 2 / 3 | $7.25–8.75 | $0.60–0.73 |
Read from the sheet’s OCR ✓ primary-ocr — a jobber’s wholesale, not the factory list; the West-Coast “Noyo” and “Eureka” patterns reflect that market.
Dating a head by its stamp
| Era | What the head is stamped | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| pre-1834 | Early Hunt-family edge tools from the East Douglas shop (from c.1798) | Pre-company Hunt work, before the Douglas Axe Mfg Co was organized. Rare; hard to attribute with certainty. |
| 1836–1897 | W. HUNT or D. SHARP + DOUGLAS AXE MFG CO., EAST DOUGLAS, MASS. — “Superior Axes, Best Refined Cast Steel,” warranted | The independent company’s own production. Boston is the office address on the labels; patterns are numbered; finish black / blue / bronze / red. |
| post-1897 | The “Hunt’s” / “Hunt’s Superior Axes” name, now an American Axe & Tool Co. brand | After the 1897 absorption a “Hunt’s” axe is trust-era AA&T (later Kelly / True Temper), not the East Douglas works — Sears 1902 still sold “Hunt’s Superior,” Yankee, 56¢. |
Hard anchors ✓ primary: the company dated its manufacture to 1836, and the medal years (London 1862, Paris 1867, Vienna 1873, Philadelphia 1876) set a floor for any head or label that cites them.
Where Douglas surfaces elsewhere — the loops it closes
| Douglas thread | Reappears as | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas Axe Mfg Co. | → | Constituent firm absorbed by the American Axe & Tool Co. in 1897 | ~ |
| “Hunt’s Superior Axes” | → | the “Hunt’s” brand in the AA&T catalog & Sears 1902 (“Hunt’s Superior,” Yankee, 56¢, “brand first made 1826”) | ~ |
The “Hunt’s” link is an inference on strong evidence: the exact brand name (“Hunt’s Superior Axes”) is a primary in the Douglas 1877 catalog, in the AA&T catalog, and in Sears 1902; the 1897 absorption is corroborated; and AA&T is documented to have kept its constituents’ old names. Flagged corroborated until one document states the identity outright.
In period print
How the East Douglas works and its “Hunt’s Superior” brand were sold and reported in their own day — each item read on the original page. All are public-domain newspapers.
“Manufacture of the best Cast-steel Axes.”
The company’s own card, over the name of its Boston treasurer — the full “Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company” spelled out.
The Big Blue Union, Marysville, Kan. (D7)
“Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co, East Douglas, Mass, axes, hatchets, picks adzes.”
An exhibitor list the year of the Centennial — Douglas among the New England makers on show.
Providence Morning Star, R.I. (D8)
the “hatchet shops of the Douglas Axe Company, at East Douglas”
A fire at the works, reported all the way out in Montana — the East Douglas plant was national news.
Helena Weekly Herald, Mont. (D9)
“Hunt’s superior cast steel Axes.”
The flagship brand advertised in Virginia as early as 1842 — the Douglas trade-mark wording, though the maker’s own name isn’t printed.
Alexandria Gazette, Va. (D10)
orders “executed direct from” the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co.
A Mississippi merchant filling axe orders straight from the company’s Boston house — remarkably early proof of the name.
Southern Argus, Columbus, Miss. (D11)
Sources
- primary · catalogpublic domain
Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. Illustrated Catalogue … 1877 (fifth edition), Boston / East Douglas, Mass. Founding year, the “W. Hunt” & “D. Sharp” stamps, medals, capacity, finishes and numbered patterns; the trade-mark / label page (leaf n16) verified against the page image. Specs, no prices. Internet Archive → - primary · catalogpublic domain
Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. Illustrated Catalogue … 1873. Corroborates the medals (London 1862, Paris 1867, Vienna 1873) and the stamps — “manufactured … for thirty-eight years,” “W. HUNT” & “D. SHARP, MF’D BY DOUGLAS AXE MF’G CO.”, registered in the Patent Office. Internet Archive → - primary · distributor price sheetpublic domain
Hunt’s Superior Axes, c.1879 — Carolan, Cory & Co., San Francisco (jobber sheet, pp.235–237). Per-dozen wholesale prices for the Hunt’s (Douglas) line; figures read from OCR (primary-ocr). Internet Archive → - secondary · value/marks/history
“Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company — Guide to Value, Marks, History.” WorthPoint Dictionary — Hunt-family origins (c.1798), the 1834 reorganization, and the marks. (WorthPoint blocks direct fetch; used via search snippets.) worthpoint.com → - secondary · corporate history
“American Axe & Tool Company” (constituent firms; Douglas absorbed 1897). MyCompanies Wiki / Fandom — consistent with this guide’s own AA&T page. mycompanies.fandom.com → - primary · retail catalog (cross-ref)public domain
Sears, Roebuck & Co. Consumers Guide, Catalogue No. 112 (Fall 1902) — “Hunt’s Superior” single-bit Yankee axe, 56¢, “brand first made 1826.” The through-line from Douglas’s “Hunt’s” brand, via the AA&T trust, onto a 1902 page. (Already a primary on the Sears & AA&T pages.) Internet Archive → - primary · period newspaper advertisementpublic domain
“The Douglas Axe Manufacturing Company … Manufacture of the best Cast-steel Axes” (company advertisement; Geo. Rogers, Treasurer, Boston). The Big Blue Union (Marysville, Kan.), Feb. 21, 1863, p. 1. Library of Congress, Chronicling America → - secondary · period newspaper reportpublic domain
Exhibitor list naming “Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co, East Douglas, Mass, axes, hatchets, picks adzes.” Providence Morning Star (Providence, R.I.), Sept. 29, 1876, p. 2. Library of Congress, Chronicling America → - secondary · period newspaper reportpublic domain
Fire notice — the “hatchet shops of the Douglas Axe Company, at East Douglas” destroyed. Helena Weekly Herald (Helena, Mont.), Oct. 14, 1875, p. 3. Library of Congress, Chronicling America → - primary · period newspaper advertisementpublic domain
“Hunt’s superior cast steel Axes” (dealer advertisement; the Douglas trade-mark wording, though the maker’s name is not printed). Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Va.), Mar. 19, 1842, p. 1. Library of Congress, Chronicling America → - primary · period newspaper advertisementpublic domain
Merchant’s advertisement — axe orders “executed direct from” the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. of Boston. Southern Argus (Columbus, Miss.), June 26, 1838, p. 3. Library of Congress, Chronicling America →
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Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co. of East Douglas, Massachusetts: the Hunt-family origins, the image-verified “W. Hunt” / “D. Sharp” trade-mark key, a specs catalog (patterns by number) with period wholesale prices from a jobber’s sheet, and its 1897 absorption into the American Axe & Tool trust. Not affiliated with any current rights-holder; sources are digitized public-domain catalogs and clearly-marked secondary references.