Hammer

16 Jun

Hammer Highlight - Winterhilfswerk Hammer Pin

by staffHammer, Nazi, pin, history

The Winter Fund, or Winterhilfswerk, was an annual charity drive organized by the Nazi party in Germany during the interwar and war years. German citizens were expected to give regular donations to the Winter Fund. These ‘donations’ were not necessarily voluntary. The newspapers printed a list of anyone who had not made a contribution. These people were often threatened and attacked until they donated to the fund.

24 Jul

Hammer Highlight - Lovable Bar Bum

by staffHammer of the Week, Hammer, Bar tool, Bar Bum, MW

The post-war era in the United States saw a boom in such middle-class luxuries as widespread car ownership and the advent of the ‘rumpus room’ and home bar. This hammer of the week fit right in amongst the bar tools used by the regular home bartender. The “Lovable Bar Bam”, described as “A handy man for your bar,” was a kitschy but useful addition to any barman’s arsenal. He splits at the waist and would contain an icepick, muddler, and corkscrew (ours sadly is empty). His pants doubled as a jigger, while his hat is a bottle opener and his ears are nut or ice hammers.

10 Jul

Hammer Highlight - Turkish Chewing Taffy

by staffHammer, Hammer of the Week, Taffy Hammer, MW

While this hammer may look like a cigar hammer, it is missing the necessary notch used to break the seal and pry open the lid. So what is it? On one side it says “Makers of the Genuine Turkish Chewing Taffy,” while the other simply states with a flourish “Schwarz & Son, Newark, NJ.” As it turns out, Schwarz & Son were the manufacturers of Turkish Chewing Taffy from about 1915 until 1936. Contrary to what Wikipedia says, the recipe was discovered in 1912 when Herman Herer added too many egg whites to a batch of marshmallow and he brought it with him to Schwarz & Son.

03 Jul

Hammer Highlight - Carrie Nation with a Hatchet

by staffHammer, Carrie Nation

Rumor has it that Carrie Nation towered six feet without heels and crashed saloons with a hatchet in hand from 1900 to 1911. Howling mobs threatened her and wives of saloon owners beat her for attempting the closure of the city’s illegal joints.

The truth is a bit shorter. Carrie Nation had a stature of 5 feet 4 inches, and most of her saloon rampages involved mere rock throws. Although she crusaded many states with her fiery tongue, only Kansas had a legal loophole that enabled hatchet-wielding ruckus without a lengthy jail sentence.

06 Jun

Hammer Highlight - MG 08/15 Toolkit

by staffWWI, Toolkit, Hammer

On the front, when a machine gun broke down, it had to be repaired. The MG 08, the most common automatic gun in WWI, was cumbersome. The gun weighed 60lbs, and its sledge mount weighed 80lbs. Although it was deemed “portable” and “light,” four soldiers were needed to lug this gun around. German engineers tinkered with the design to make it more mobile. The result was the MG 08/15, the Devil’s Paintbrush. The MG 08/15 was short recoil operated, water-cooled, full automatic, and belt-fed.

Our Hammer in its wooden, felt-lined case

29 May

Hammer Highlights - "Home Improvement" Hammer

by staffHome Improvement, Tim Allen, Hammer, Hammer of the Week, MW

Home Improvement was one of the most popular television shows of the 1990s. Based on the stand-up of Tim Allen, Home Improvement followed Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor, a well-meaning yet cocky know-it-all Detroit man interested in sports, cars, and tools. He hosted the ‘show within the show’, Tool Time, where his accident-prone tendencies resulted in hilarious mishaps, often turning into a ‘don’t try this at home’ for the audience.