At left is an image sent by Page Thomas. " The engraving can be found, among other places on the title page of the "Historie Ecclesiastique des Eglises Reformees au Royaume de France", 1580, attributed to Theodore Beze. The allusion is to the answer given to T. de Beze to the royal envoy after the Vassy Massacre (1562), that persecutions are futile and that the Reformed church is like an anvil on which many hammers have been broken. "From Politics & Religion in Seventeenth-Century France", by A. W. Stankievicz. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1960, Preface, viii. This image is taken from the title page of the 1960 book." See the anvil names list below.

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This anvil list below was compiled by David Poppke. It does not contain the names of all anvils ever produced. But is an excellent resource.

David Poppke, WA0VFY <poppke@gra.midco.net>
1418 Burntwood Court
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58201
Home Phone: 701-746-7841

Comments from David,

>...I am collecting the miniature anvils. I will buy or trade a 100# Peter Wright, Hay Budden, or Solderfors for some of the miniatures I need to complete my collection.

An excellent book about anvils, "Anvils in America", is available from ...

Richard Postman
320 Fischer Court
Berrian Springs, MI 49103
269-471-5426

>He is retired and you can reach him at home quite often. He is the best authority on anvils.

Anvil Brands:

Acme
Ajax
American-Ross
American Skein and Foundry
Armitage Eagle
Arm and Hammer
Alsop
Badger
Baker
Bay State
Black Jack
Black Prince
Bradley
Brooks and Cooper
Buffalo Forge
Champion
Charles Hadfield
Cliff Carrol
Columbus Anvil and Forging
Columbian Harden Co
Columbus Forge and Iron
Cranberry
CW
Delta
Denver
Dural
DuraSteel
Eagle
Fireside
Fisher-Norris
Fulton
Hay Budden
Henery Wright
Herculies
Indian Chief
Insonora
J.E. Pilcher
Kim Bach farriers anvil
Keen Kutter
KL
Kohlswa
Lakeside
Louisville Forged Anvil
Mankel
Mouse Hole
Oak Leaf
Old Forge
Onsteel
Paragon
Pedinghaus
Peter Wright
Record
R. Redding
Rock Island
Roberts Anvil
Sampson
Sligo
Snyder & Oaks
Soderfors
Southern Crescent
Standard
Star
Trenton
Trenton Indian Chief
Valley
Vernaium Steel
Village Forge
Vulcan Arm-Hammer
West
Wilkinson
William Foster
Yost "Y" in a circle

The information below was contributed by David Poppke <poppke@gra.midco.net>. Other contributers are "Steven O. Smith" <steve_smith@cc.com> and "Page Thomas" <pthomas@post.cis.smu.edu>.

The Mousehole Forge was in Sheffield England. There are records about the forge that go back 200 years. There are 5 types of Mousehole anvils:

1. The London shape
2. The double pike
3. Coachsmith's
4. Farrier's
5. Sawmaker's anvil

The first recorded owner was the family of Sir John Burgoyne. In 1914 it was still operated by Brooks & Cooper. For over a century there has been no change made at the Mousehole Forge. Originally the Mouse Hole anvil was made up of 6 pieces by the building up process. The corners of the base or feet, the horn and tail or heel was welded on to a centerpiece. After this the steel face was welded on in sections, trimmed and finished to the desired shape by hand tools. The face was then ground and hardened and, after hardening, the face was again ground and finished."

Peter Wright worked for the Mousehole forge. He left and started his own business at Dudley, England. He conceived of making anvils in two parts and patented it in England about 1850. Most of the business that had centered around the Mousehole Forge was diverted to the works of Peter Wright, and the result was that the Peter Wright anvil became the most popular in the market and is still [1914] well known in all quarters of the word.

>From The American Blacksmith, September and October 1914. History of Development of the Anvil, by James Cran. Evidently he had just visited the Mouse Hole Forge in Sheffield, England and the Peter Wright Forge in Dudley, England.

"From the 12th to the 17th century, smithing all over Europe reached a stage bordering upon perfection, but no attempt was made to standardize the shape of the anvil. Anvil making as an industry was first started at the Mousehole Forge, Sheffield, England. How long ago there is no authentic record, but for well over 200 years anvils have been made for the trade at Mousehole Forge, which for two centuries, at least, was the only works of its kind in the world. The first of whom there is a record of having operated the Mousehole Forge in Anvil making is the family of Sir John Burgoyne. Then Cockshutt & Armitage, and following them came M&H Armitage who operated the forge for over 100 years. The present [1914] owners, Brooks & Cooper, have run the works for upwards of 38 years, and are still making anvils by an old-fashioned water-wheel. For well over a century there has been practically no change made at the Mousehole Forge. The same old fashhion helve hammer or 'metal helve' as it is locally termed, is still doing duty and is operated by the already mentioned water wheel. The building itself, with its old fashion solid stone walls and low arched windows and doorways, shows but slight signs of the ravages usually worked by time, and are apparently good, barring misfortune, for centuries to come. For many years, piling and building up was the only known process of making anvils, and it was not until Peter Wright, an anvil manufacturer of Dudley, England (at one time a workman at the Mousehole forge) conceived the idea, and patented it in England. Making anvils in two pieces. This happened about the middle of the last century and proved an epoch in anvil making."

Peter Wright, England, Warranted: The name of the company was Peter Wright and Sons, during the later part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century.

The "130" is the weight 1=112, 3/4 of 112 = 84 and 0=0, The anvil weighs 196 lbs.

Brief history and dating of Anvils in use before the Hay-Budden in 1886.

Before 1650, made by local smiths 1650?-1850?, made by Mouse Hole Forge in Dudley, England 1850?-1886, made by Peter Wright in England, first at Dudley 1850?-1886, made by the Wilkeyson Forge in Dudley, England, following the Peter Wright method of the six piece then a three piece anvil 1842 OR 1843, the first Anvil was made in America by Mr. Mark Fisher, and later produced under the name of Fisher & Norris. "Eagle" brand. In 1864 James Chase got out his first batch of two-piece American Wrought anvils, 12 in all.

In Sweden, the Soderfore Bruke Aktiebology, founded in 1250, sold a one solid piece anvil in 1885, sold in American as the Paragon.

Peter Wright started forging anvils somewhere around 1850, after working for the Mouse Hole Forge in Dudley. The anvils were made up of 3 parts (before this anvils consisted of 6 parts: two legs, body, horn, tail and steel plate (usually consisted of three or more pieces)). "The bottom part is formed by piling up scrap iron and welding it into a solid mass. While still hot it is placed in a die and blocked to shape. The whole of the upper part, including the horn and tail, are forged in one piece from scrap iron, the greater part of the shaping being done at the same heat at which the scrap is welded. Next the steel face is welded on, the hardie and pritched hole punched, the tail or heal squared and the horn finished to shape. The two pieces, base and upper parts are welded at the waist. This is done by jumping. The two pieces are heated in an open fire; when the welding temperature has been reached the two are placed in alignment under a steam hammer & a few blows join them together. The steam hammer is then used as a vise to hold the anvil while the edges of the weld are hammered in. The anvil is then thrown on the floor where it can easily be turned in any position or direction and finished, as far as forging goes, with hand tools. For a long time the steel faces, were welded on in sections of about 6 inches in length. Sometime after the turn of the century, the whole face was welded on in one piece, borrowed from an American blacksmith.

I have a Wilkinson anvil, made in Dudley. It is a six piece anvil, the horn and tail have been broken off, but it is clear that they have been forged on to the centerpiece as have the corners of the feet.

Advertisements in the American Blacksmith from 1906-1915:

Columbus Anvil and Forging Co., West Frankfort St., Columbus, Ohio. "We are experts at repairing old wrought anvils. We also manufacture the celebrated Arm and Hammer brand anvil."

Eagle Anvil Works, Trenton, New Jersey. In 1911 changed name to Fisher & Norris, Trenton, New Jersey. Known as the Trenton Anvil. Oldest manufacturing of anvils in the U.S., 1843.

The face consists of a single piece of the best cast steel, perfectly welded and of the hardest temper. The horn is made of untempered steel and will neither break nor bend. All Eagle anvils are made with the latest Fisher Patent double thick steel on both edges of the face. From 10 to 1300 lbs.

A spread eagle [1922 the eagle is enclosed in a horseshoe] The weight of the anvil is on the right foot. " FISHER" stamped on front of foot below the tail. Above this on the top of the foot is "PATENT". Forged eyelets are on each foot under the tail and horn.

Peter Wright & Sons, England. Wiebusch & Hilcer, Ltd., New York Office, 9-15 Murray Street, New York City. Peter Wright Patent Solid Wrought'

Columbian Hardware Company, Cleveland, Ohio. "Columbian All-Steel Anvil" Columbian' on body.

Hay-Budden Mfg. Co., Brooklyn N.Y. "Hay-Budden solid Wrought Anvils. Gold Medal Award in 1898 at Omaha and 1901 at Pan American. Made of the best American Wrought Iron and faced with best crucible cast steel. Hay-Budden Manufacturing Co. Brooklyn, N.Y. U.S.A.'

Soederfors Bruks Aktiebolog, Falan, Sweden. General Sales Agent, Hrace T. Potts & Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A.

Paragon Solid Anvil. Made of one piece of steel. There are no welds to come apart. Paragon [enclosed in rectangle] Sweden'

All of the above except Peter Wright are advertised in the Jan. 1915 issue.

In March 1922, only Trenton Solid Wrought and Hay-Budden run advertisements.

October 1922, only Trenton Solid Wrought with Eagle inside a horseshoe.

Other Anvils manufactured in the early 20's.

Vulcan, made entirely of tough untempered steel. The body is charcoal iron, and the face is covered with one solid piece of tool steel welded to the body.

Montgomery Wards in their 1894-95 catalog, list "An American Wrought 'Horse Shoe' anvil and the Peter Wright Blacksmith Wrought Anvil.

In 1908 Sears lists the Acme anvil forged of two pieces of wrought iron welded at the waist; face is made of one piece of tool steel, electrically welded to the body. "Acme Guarantee" on the body.

In a 1916? Reichman-Crosly Co. advertises the Peter Wright Wrought, the Vulcan with Arm and Hammer inside a circle in raised letters, the Columbian All-steel, and the Hay-Budden.

According to the 9th ed. of Encyclopedia Britannica, 1878, "the common blacksmith anvil is built up of six pieces [plus the face and core] welded to a central core, viz, four corner pieces, a projecting end, with a square hole for the reception of a chisel with its edge uppermost, and a conical end for hammering curved pieces of metal. These six pieces are first roughly welded to the core, and the whole is then thoroughly hammered and suitably shaped. A thin facing of steel if next welded on and carefully tempered; the surface of this is then ground perfectly flat, and, if need be, polished."

The six piece anvil is really an eight piece anvil, the core and plate being the 7th and 8th part.

I have two Mouse Hole anvils. Mouse Hole was an early trademark, or the Armitage foundry in England, which went out of business before 1850. Most of these anvils were in the 100 to 150 pound range, with most around 120-125 lbs. The 175 is a bit, but not extremely, unusual. The price I paid was about $1 per pound, give or take.

I am passing on a rough guide to age that I am got from Jim Wallace at the National Ornamental Metal Museum. If the anvil does not have a step, and has an even smaller horn than the small one on other Mouse Hole anvils, and is attached directly under the end of the face, then it might not have a steel face, but could. This anvil would have been made in the 1750-1775 time frame. If it has a step, and is made by Armatage, marked as an Armatage Mouse Hole, then the face is hard steel. If there is no pritchell hole, it was made before about 1790-1795. If it has a PUNCHED pritchell hole, it is in the 1795-1850 manufacture range. Some of the older Mouse Hole anvils had pritchell holes drilled in them, to bring them up to a more "modern" configuration.

The punched hardy and pritchell holes leave a slight bulge on the bottom, as they seem to have been through punched from the top, with no counter punching from below. Some of the Mouse Holes had no horn. This indicates it is older, from the early 1750 period, but is not conclusive. If there is a steel face, judicious grinding or filing on the side of the anvil may reveal a weld line, and different colors of metal, between the steel face and the wrought iron body. These anvils were hand forged with a drop hammer, and some still show a faint line where the horn was welded on, and/or where multiple pieces of iron were welded together to make the body.

Every time I use one of them, which in my case is weekends only, and then not all of them, I allow my fantasy free rein, and wonder who used them over the past two hundred years. The size was considered to be just right as half the load for a pack mule, and many were brought over the Applilatchians (sp?) in this way. How many houses in the early wilderness had nails made on this anvil, how many plows were sharpened on it, etc. It give me a real feel of continuity with the past, if a bit on the mushy romantic side!

One of the ones I bought had a damaged face. One of the other guys in River Bluff Forge Council here in Memphis repaired the face with hard-face welding rod of some type. This is a common repair, so someone in your area may be familiar with doing it. If not, I am sure the guy that fixed mine would be glad to talk with a welder in your area to share his experiences. Even larger swayed areas can be built up, and then ground flat. Some of the edges are deliberately reduced somewhat. It was common to radius much of the edge, leaving a spot on the far side of the anvil as you use it, near the step, as a hard, sharp edge. The heel was also left sharp.