Tools for gentlemen.

The 1770 inventory of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, taken at the death of Norborne Berkeley (c. 1718-1770), baron de Botetourt and the penultimate royal governor of Virginia, includes among a host of household goods, "1 Chest of tools" in the butler's pantry. [1] The inventory of Mount Vernon, taken some years after the death of George Washington in 1799, notes that the study contained "1 Chest of Tools." [2] Thomas Jefferson purchased "a chest of tools" from the London ironmonger Thomas Robinson in 1786. [3]

That these gentlemen had tools in their houses is not surprising. Whether wielded by members of the household staff or the master himself, a few basic tools facilitated small decorating and maintenance tasks. Men like Jefferson also carried on a long-established tradition of gentleman artisanry (see Pl. II) and tool collecting. Augustus (r. 1553-1586), elector of Saxony in Dresden, acquired exquisite tolls; [4] George III (r. 1760-1820) was interested in horology, and Louis XVI (r. 1774-1792) enjoyed locksmithing.

In the eighteenth century genteel householders and dilettante artisans obtained tools in several ways. Those who had the purse to support their desires could patronize makers catering specifically to this high-end market. On the Continent there was a tradition of highly skilled artisans who created beautifully made and decorated tools for wealthy amateurs (see Pl. IV). Beyond the growing popularity of ornamental turning and its associated apparatus during the eighteenth century, there is little evidence of such conspicuous consumption among the British gentry. The British systems of patronage were different, and aesthetic taste tended toward more perfunctorily functional designs. Moreover, by the second half of the eighteenth century the everyday products of the English hand-tool industry were of such high quality and variety that they probably fulfilled the needs of gentlemen hobbyists as well as professional artisans. In Britain, these tools were available over-the-counter from ironmongers and tool merchan ts. In the colonies, the tools that local stores did not stock could be ordered.

Ironmongers, specialist tool merchants, and general storekeepers retailed the products of a large and complex toolmaking industry. As the demand for goods of all types increased during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, so did the demand for the tools to make them. The Birmingham region, long a center of English metalworking, emerged as the primary source for many types of iron, steel, and brass tools. By the late eighteenth century Sheffield was also well on its way to becoming one of the world's major centers of edge tool production. Liverpool and Lancashire to the east produced finely made and finished tools for watch- and clockmaking and other precision metalworking trades. London, once the supplier of all sorts of tools, slowly gave way to many of these outlying centers of production but remained an important supplier of planes, saws, and mathematical instruments.

As toolmaking shifted to major centers, producers and consumers lost face-to-face contact, and toolmakers realized they had to inform potential customers of their products, particularly at the wholesale level. The Lancashire watch and clock toolmaker John Wyke was the first English manufacturer to produce an illustrated catalogue of his wares (see Fig. 3). [5] Birmingham and then Sheffield toolmakers and merchants followed suit by distributing catalogues of their products. Traveling salesmen carried copies of the catalogues and sample tools. Trade cards and city directories informed customers of manufacturers' locations and products. Most of these marketing efforts were directed toward retail merchants. In urban areas where retailers competed with each other, they advertised their wares in shop windows, trade cards, billheads, and newspaper advertisements. It grew customary to mark tools with their maker's or seller's name to build recognition of brand names.

In another effort to expand sales, makers offered an ever-increasing variety of tools. Mechanical improvements and better materials resulted in more effective products (see Pl.. III). Quality ranged from "common" to "best" finishing from unpolished "black" to "bright" allover, and sizes from small to large. Many tools were made in a variety of patterns, each of a slightly different shape. Toolmakers began to sell drill bits, planes, hammers, and chisels in sets of graduated sizes, encouraging customers to buy tools in quantity (see Fig. 2).

A third phase of marketing involved selling tools to a wider audience than workaday artisans, taking advantage of the eighteenth-century fascination with gadgets, sets, kits, and attractive packaging. For centuries mechanical novelties had appealed to affluent buyers, ranging from elaborate clocks and watches to scientific apparatus and firearms. All sorts of luxury objects were packaged as sets, including writing implements, mathematical and scientific instruments, and travel accessories. The presumed completeness of the kits was important, but another appealing feature was the packaging. Each component had its place in an attractive compact container, be it a pocket-sized silver case, shagreen-covered etui, leather-covered box, or mahogany chest. The appeal, and status, of having a place for everything and everything in its place is reflected in all manner of objects of the period from desk interiors to spice cabinets.