% 



Figure 37. — Wooden ax torch 

 HANDLE, 1884 and 1888, as shown 

 in a sales catalog. 



Figure 38. — Tin torch, 1884. 

 (Smithsonian photo 49g26-D.) 



Figure 36 



COMBINED TORCH AND 

 BATTLE AX, 1 884 

 No identical example found. 



This combined torch and battle ax first appeared in 

 1884, as a part of the Plumed Knight's Armor and 

 was patented by Abraham Wolf of New York City. 

 It was designed especially for use in torchlight proces- 

 sions. The ax is made of two plates soldered to each 

 other at their front and rear edges and provided 

 with sockets to receive the staff; to the upper socket 

 is soldered the torch. Many confuse this combination 

 torch and battle ax with the rail-splitter's ax used 

 during the Lincoln campaigns of 1860 and 1864, 

 examples of which are preserved in the Lincoln 

 Museum, Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. National 

 Museum. No patent model was submitted at the 

 time of the patent request. 



WOODEN-AX TORCH HANDLE, Fitiure 37 



I 884 AND 1888 

 Example from a sales catalog. 



This is one of many wooden axes which sold by 

 the hundreds during the 1880's. The torches were 

 not included with the ax, and thus one could attach 

 any type of torch desired. An example of the com- 

 bined battle ax and torch is in the Becker Collection 

 and bears a torch patented by John Dunlap and Ewalt 

 Riedel in 1884. Still others are illustrated in The 



Figure 39. — Union torch, 1884 

 and 1888, as shown in a sales 

 catalog. (Smithsonian photo 

 5381 1.) 



Unexcelled Fireworks catalog of 1884, having metal 

 ax heads either polished or painted red, white, and 

 blue with a spear at the top instead of a torch. 



TIN TORCH, 1884 Figure 38 



USKM 227739 (Becker Collection) 



This torch patented ijy A. J. Duncan of Pittsburgh, 

 Pennsylvania, in 1884 (patent 304919, issued Septem- 

 ber 9, 1884), is an impro%-ement in the manufactur- 

 ing of torches in that the cups containing the burning 

 fluid are supported by revolvable arms, fastened to a 

 socket that turns on a pin in the end of the staff. The 

 arms and the socket were made of one piece of sheet 

 metal without ri\ eting or other means of attachment. 

 Although the torch illustrated on the patent request 

 is of an inverted funnel shape, others were produced 

 using the same supporting device. The one illustrated 

 has a somewhat rounded bowl, is 4K inches high, and 

 has a diameter of 4 inches. 



UNION TORCH, 1 884 AND 1 888 Fioure 39 



USNM 332319 (Patent model) 



This torch was known both as the"L^nion torch" and 

 as the"telescope torch." It was sold in lots of lOOduring 

 the campaigns of 1884 and 1888. The overall length 

 of the torch is 4 feet 2 inches and closes to half its 

 length. The handles are turned and stained. 



Similar to the Union torch was the colored torch 



PAPER 4 5 : POLITICAL CAMPAIGN TORCHES 



31 



