News
Hammer Collection - A Hit In Shrewsbury
By Eleanor O'Sullivan
From a three inch pine-handled mini-hammer, circa 1750s, to a New York Yankees hammer, complete with pinstriped grip, Frank Scordo's collection of rare and old (and some new) hammers and tools covers the gamut of sizes, styles and uses.
A small portion of Scordo's collection is now housed at the Shrewsbury Historical Society, 419 Sycamore Ave., Shrewsbury.
"Would you believe at one time, all of these hammers and tools were hanging in my basement?'' Scordo, Tinton Falls, said.
Now they cover several long tables in the second floor of the society's building, with a Styrofoam female mannequin, garbed in 19th century finery, standing watch. A couple of more tables in the main ground floor room also display Scordo's passion for the odd, unusual, one-of-a-kind and often humble tools once the mainstay of construction, farming, smithing and equine care. Most of the tools, which he has purchased on EBay, originated in Upstate New York, New England and Ohio.
"I'm a carpenter by trade and about 20 years ago, I went to a garage sale and found these old wood planes. I bought them, cleaned them up. Then I went to Englishtown and I became a member of a collection club, CRAFTS, which has members who know everything there is to know about old tools,'' Scordo said.
Then, about 10 years ago, he discovered the online buy and sell Web site and the collection grew like Topsy.
He proudly shows the first patented hammer in the United States, owned by Solmon Anderson of South New Berlin, N.Y., the patent being dated Aug. 20, 1845.
Its handle is smoothed down from passing years and wear as is its forged hammerhead. Herman Allen, a longtime historical society member, conjectured the handle was probably made of hickory.
Historical Society president Donald Burden said the Scordo items are tagged and numbered for cataloging purposes, and research is being done to pinpoint each tool's origin and purpose.
Scordo needs about an hour to give even a quick walkthrough of the tools housed at the society headquarters: there's the circa June 1862 hammer with multiple uses: hammer, screwdriver and ruler. Another hammer would have been folded and tucked into a saddlebag, perhaps used by cowboys.
There's a glazier hammer and ceremonial hammers with bronze heads in the shape of fish and goats. A gentleman's hammer is small with filigree work in its silver-plated handle, and can be used to remove staples; another hammer of much more recent vintage, bearing a TWA logo, was used to crush ice midair.
An adjunct collection of mallets dates from the mid-1800s to the early part of the 20th century; one weighs so much it's a wonder a worker could lift it at all. Scordo says the mallets were used to set up carnival and circus tents.
A level about two feet in length made of pine was used on railroad tracks to mark turns. Another mallet is identified as Panama Canal, 1943, (although the canal was completed in 1914).
Helping Scordo in dating and identifying his growing tool collection is a book on hammers that is worth $650 because of its rarity and scholarship. He estimates the collection is probably worth around $5,000.
Down the road, he wouldn't mind visiting a museum in Alaska that houses 5,000 hammers. Closer to home, he says there is a tool museum in Doylestown, Pa. that is impressive.
But for now, the most immediate place to see the Scordo collection is at the Shrewsbury Historical Society's headquarters, open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, and by appointment.
Admission is free. The headquarters also houses memorabilia and historical documents. Scale models of the Allen House, at Sycamore Avenue and Broad Street (Route 35), plus two local churches, are on display, as well.
Burden says the society has about 185-190 active members and is happy to welcome more. Its goal is to try to preserve and collect items of historical interest and to provide research to the public. It provides programs for school children, and a meeting place for homesteaders and senior citizens.
"We want to keep Shrewsbury interested in Shrewsbury,'' Burden says.
More information is available at (732) 530-7974.
