I know it's a 113 year old promotional hatchet, but what are the notches for?

[Bulucanagria]

Picked this up over the weekend. A promotional hatchet from the 1901 Pan American Exposition by The L. & I. J. White Co. Buffalo, N.Y., Manufacturers of Edge Tools And Machine Knives.

They were established in 1837 and won the Highest Award at the Paris-Exposition.

I know this because it's all on the hatchet.

I only wonder what the four notches are on the handle of the hatchet.

By the way, though not particularly sharp now, you can tell that it was made to take an edge.

[rusty]

>made to take an edge.

I wonder.

The "handle" part looks exactly like a planer knife.
I suspect it was an advertising piece...

[Bill Houghton]

finger grips for people with really, really thin fingers?

[Bulucanagria]

>made to take an edge.

I wonder.

The "handle" part looks exactly like a planer knife.
I suspect it was an advertising piece...

It absolutely was an advertising piece. I believe it was made for distribution at the exposition. The edge I was talking about was the blade of the hatchet. It's taken down to a very not quite sharp edge. I assume that that's how they'd ship a blade, ready to be honed down to a fine cutting edge. This was them showing off their expertise.

Your comment makes me think that possibly it was made to conform to a common industrial tool of the time, one that they were particularly expert at producing.

[bear_man]

My first thought was that the notches had something to do with mounting wooden scales on the handle-shaft.  I can't imagine actually USING it as a hatchet as-is.

[Bulucanagria]

My first thought was that the notches had something to do with mounting wooden scales on the handle-shaft.  I can't imagine actually USING it as a hatchet as-is.

Oooo. I like that one. It makes a lot of sense.

[mvwcnews]

Isn't it that the "handle" portion was the stamped blank for a planer knife -- they made a special die set incorporating  the stamping for one of their standard planer knives & added the hatchet head for the promotion.
You would not want this kind of thing to be really sharp & I doubt it was even intended to be anything more than a paper weight.

[Bulucanagria]

Isn't it that the "handle" portion was the stamped blank for a planer knife -- they made a special die set incorporating  the stamping for one of their standard planer knives & added the hatchet head for the promotion.
You would not want this kind of thing to be really sharp & I doubt it was even intended to be anything more than a paper weight.

 That's what I was thinking might be the case.

While they wouldn't want this to be too sharp, I'm sure they wanted to showcase the quality of their steel and so made it as keen as was safely possible, as if to say, "Imagine what this would be like if we really sharpened it!"

[leg17]

Agreed.
It is in the form of a machine knife of some sort with the hatchet end for promotion.
Very nice collectible.