Early American Industries Association
Celebrating Trades, Crafts, and Tools in American History and Their Impact on Our Lives
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Ten Things You Might Not Have Known About Lowell, Massachusetts
With the 2019 Early American Industries Association Annual Meeting coming up in a few months, here are some interesting tidbits of information about Lowell, Massachusetts that will hopefully entice you to join us for our Annual Meeting next May. The young mill girls in the title photo above invite you to learn more about them […]
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Leonard Bailey’s Last Vertical Post?
Leonard Bailey appears to have begun experimenting with and manufacturing vertical post planes sometime in 1860. These planes are called “vertical post” planes because of the two vertically positioned threaded rods located behind the rocking frog. The rocking frog is held in place by a pin that is inserted through the sidewalls of the plane […]
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The 2019 EAIA Annual Meeting – Put It On Your Calendar!
It’s time to start thinking about the 2019 EAIA Annual Meeting Wednesday, May 15th thru Saturday, May 18th, 2019! We will be based at the Westford Regency Hotel in Westford, Massachusetts (https://www.westfordregency.com/). Room rates at the hotel are $125/night. Come and join us for another great meeting full of great activities and great people. On […]
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EAIA’s BIG Sponsors Regional Meeting
The Blacksmith Interest Group (BIG) of EAIA held a regional meeting at the reconstructed Moses Wilder Blacksmith shop in Bolton, Massachusetts on July 28th. The purpose of the meeting was to provide hands-on demonstrations and give participants an opportunity to try basic blacksmithing using coal forges. There were 30 participants which was the number that […]
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Little-Known Anvil Makers
By Clayton Ray Postman’s 1998 book, Anvils in America, is a landmark in the study of American anvils. He documented all of the major makers and many minor ones. It would, however, be too much to expect that he could have exhausted the subject, but not too much to suspect that some among the varied […]
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EAIA’s 85th Anniversary Annual Meeting Was A Great One!
After over a week of heavy rain, the skies began to clear on Wednesday morning May 23rd in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania just in time for the tailgating activities in the Comfort Suites University Hotel parking lot, signaling the start of EAIA’s 85th anniversary Annual Meeting. It didn’t take long for the rather vigorous tool sales to […]
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EAIA’s 2018 Annual Meeting Photo Gallery – 85 Years Young!
The Lehigh Valley was a great place to celebrate the Early American Industry Association’s 85th Anniversary during our 2018 Annual Meeting! Beautiful weather, fantastic historic sites and museums to visit, great workshops, ,demonstrations,tool trading, and member displays. All done while we enjoyed lots of learning, friendship and fun in and around Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Watch the […]
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Stanley Model Shop Tools: A Transitional Furring Plane Prototype
This is the first of what is intended to be an occasional series describing some of the Stanley Model Shop tools in my collection and sometimes giving opinions and historical tidbits relating to them. Many of the Model Shop tools are prototypes and, thus, are either one-offs or very limited production models. Although information about […]
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Tales, Teasers, and Enticements – Part II
The 85th Anniversary Early American Industries Association Annual Meeting is not far off. Join us in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania as we explore the diverse and fascinating history of the Lehigh Valley May 23rd through May 26th, 2018. We guarantee you’ll have a good time, make new friends and learn more about early American industry and the […]
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Tales Teaser and Enticements – Part I
The Early American Industries 2018 Annual Meeting is only about 3 months away. On May 23rd through May 26th, 2018, we’ll celebrate EAIA’s 85th anniversary during our annual meeting in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. What follows are a few historical facts, some teasers, and hopefully an enticement or two that will convince you to […]
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A Maritime Blacksmith of Lamu
In my professional travels in developing countries, I’ve been amazed how analogous work methods are to those used in America in the early period of our trade history. Several years ago we had the opportunity to join our son in Kenya where he was finishing his junior year at UMass. As Peace Corps volunteers in […]
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Branded Wooden Planes in India
Branded Wooden Planes in India – American Analog….150 Years Later During my professional career I’ve spent much of my time overseas including a 3-year period running an engineering and construction company in India, many of the projects of which were in the south. Due to the 1100 mile commute back to my family in New […]
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85th Years Young! EAIA’s 85th Anniversary Annual Meeting
It may be hard to imagine right now in the depths of this long hard winter, but spring is coming and before we know it we’ll be gathering from all over the country for the 2018 Early American Industries Association Annual Meeting. It’s EAIA’s 85th Anniversary, so come and celebrate with us in the Lehigh […]
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American Anvils
An Unwritten Chapter in the Annals? by Clayton E. Ray I believe that a significant epoch of anvil-making in colonial North America has yet to be recognized and documented. Postman’s pioneering 1998 book, “Anvils In America”, the first comprehensive coverage of the subject, provides a solid foundation for further research. Its greatest value is not […]
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Model Shop Chamfer Planes – Part II
Part I of this post introduced you to Justus Traut’s patent No. 316,079 granted on April 21, 1885. This patent very clearly illustrated and described what became the Stanley #72 Chamfer Plane (See Figure 1). The patent also included a drawing of the “spokeshave” style chamfer plane discussed in Part I (http://eaiainfo.org/2018/01/06/trauts-model-shop-chamfer-planes-part-1/). For consistency, the […]
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Traut’s Model Shop Chamfer Planes – Part 1
Justus A. Traut, worked for the Stanley Rule & Level Company for over 50 years, and churned out patent after patent from the time his first patent was issued on June 20th, 1865, until November 3, 1908, when his last patent was issued posthumously, almost eight months after his death.[1] Traut was just one of […]
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Brown’s 51st International Antique Tool Auction
Brown’s 51st International Antique Tool Auction was held on October 28th, 2017, at the Radisson Hotel in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. There was active bidding in the room as well as from absentee bidders. The prices realized that are listed in this post include a 13% buyer’s premium. Prices shown below enclosed in square brackets are […]
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The History of the Early American Industries Association
Our Purpose: The Early American Industries Association Preserves and Presents Historic Trades, Crafts, and Tools and Interprets Their Impact on Our Lives The Early American Industries Association was founded in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. The following is a summary of the early history of our organization. Loring McMillen who was Vice-President […]
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EAIA’s 2018 Annual Meeting – Save the Dates!
The 2018 EAIA Annual Meeting Will Be Wednesday, May 23rd thru Saturday, May 26th, 2018 – Save the Dates! Come and join us at the Early American Industries Association’s 85th Anniversary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and we’ll celebrate in style as we experience the industrial and cultural history of Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and the equally fascinating […]
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A Picture Gallery From Old Sturbridge Village – The 2017 EAIA Annual Meeting
What a fantastic 2017 Early American Industries Association meeting at Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts on May 17th thru May 20th! We enjoyed a beautiful venue, sunny warm weather, amazing displays, wonderful lectures, workshops, auctions, great demonstrations, and fascinating displays. We learned, had fun, relaxed, renewed old friendships and made new ones. We savored wonderful food […]
EAIA Awards Nominations
The EAIA Awards committee is asking for nominations from the membership for the J.D. Hatch Award and the Long Time Service Award to be presented at the annual meeting in Bethlehem, PA in May of 2018. By our policy and procedures, the committee must seek out nominations from the membership at large. This is your […]
Annual Meetings
Annual Meeting 2018 Click here for a full 2018 Annual Meeting description Lehigh Valley/Bethlehem, PA May 23-26, 2018 Meeting Brochure Register today Registration Options Full Registration $240.00 USDYouth 13-18 $100.00 USDTool Table Registered $35.00 USDTool Table Not Registered $50.00 USDDoll Presentation $10.00 USDBlacksmith Workshop $10.00 USDMoravian Traditions $50.00 USDTextile/Kemerer $40.00 USDBrewery Talk $25.00 USDDollhouse […]
Membership
Learn more about the benefits of becoming a member of the EAIA: Click here:Become an EAIA Member or Renew today Member Benefits: The Chronicle Shavings Invitations to the Annual Meeting Regional Meetings 10% discount on direct purchases from the Astragal Press (Details below) Opportunities to participate in the Eastfield Historic Trades Sampler Access to information […]
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Ten Things You Might Not Have Known About Lowell, Massachusetts
With the 2019 Early American Industries Association Annual Meeting coming up in a few months, here are some interesting tidbits of information about Lowell, Massachusetts that will hopefully entice you to join us for our Annual Meeting next May. The young mill girls in the title photo above invite you to learn more about them […]