I have an old mattock my grandfather made and it appears to have a some markings on it.I am looking to find out what they mean. Hope you can help me.

 

Kathy, welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

We need pictures of the markings to venture any opinion.  Also, posting the query on a tool collector forum would probably be more likely to give you what you want.  Mattocks are not comminly blacksmith tools.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Kathy, you might try the Tool Talk forum...google it.  They have a section (scroll down the list of topics) on farm implements and tools.  The info there is mostly for commercially made tools, but one can still give it a look.

My grandfather was a wheat farmer in Spokane Wa.

He made a lot of his own tools.

Welcome aboard Kathy, glad to have you. Hopefully Needing a mattock isn't a testimony on his wheat! 

If you dust the markings with flour or white chalk, etc. and rub the surface off it will make the markings stand out, I can only make out the anvil on my monitor. 

If you'll put your general location in the header I can stop wondering if my older Sister, Kathy dumped Ron and assumed a new name.

Frosty The Lucky.

Welcome from the Ozark Mountains.

If your grandfather made the mattock, the mark may be his. Was he also a blacksmith?  Can you read the letters above the anvil?

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

I am in Phoenix Az.

The letters above the anvil appear to be VERSIDT or VEREIDET.

Still working on it.

But thank you all for your suggestions.

You might ask at the "Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop," in Scottsdale, it's been around since the turn of the last century and in the same family's hands. My Brother and I visited in the 91 and it was a fascinating place, I could've spent many hours. There were LOTS of old tools and hardware from their decades in business.

Frosty The Lucky.

15 hours ago, Frosty said:

You might ask at the "Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop," in Scottsdale, it's been around since the turn of the last century and in the same family's hands.

Frosty, I just googled the name, out of curiosity.  The sidebar had a red banner that said, "Permanently Closed".  Some links on the google page had several photos of the shop, however.

The last hit I looked at said the Grandson had inherited it from his Father was lived in the neighborhood, etc. etc. so I called it good and posted the name.

I should've read farther my bad, scratch asking them. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, seems like too much/many of the past family shops and businesses in the trades are disappearing.  My dad had to have his cowboy boots custom made due to a high instep...that was some 50-60 yrs ago.... made by a Mexican family in W. TX that had been in business for decades.  During a nostalgic moment the other day, I was curious to see if it had been kept up by his sons (on the business' name; "Ramirez and Sons").  Alas, the last son closed the shop a few years back...sad to see.  I still remember the smells of the leathers in that shop.

Sure does, heck some of the "new places" have closed and gone. I remember how excited we all got when the milk man came down the street, every once in a while he'd give away pints of chocolate milk. One of my jobs was to bring the milk in and put it in the fridge as soon as it came. We had a wire milk bottle carrier, supplied by Edgemar dairies of course. It really brings home that most of my memories really are in the past. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

Carl Martin had CM Leather in Berryville Ar. He made very good boots and police duty leather. This was back in the '70s-'80s. He had a contract with the State Police for all their gear. When I joined the PD in '84 I bought all my leather gear and Wellington style boots from him, still have the leather duty gear. Sadly he retired sometime in the late '90s He also did repairs on all kinds of leather including resoling boots & shoes. I sure miss him to this day.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

On 12/12/2023 at 5:50 PM, arkie said:

I still remember the smells of the leathers in that shop

  Tandy leather stores kind of have have the smell.   Not quite the same, I know.  I remember as a child how barns smell when you walk into them.  Cattle yards.  Hog pens.  A lot of people pinch their nose but they smell good to me and bring back memories.  Stoers nowdays pipe perfume and "scents" through the air handler to "entice" you.