Artifact: Illustration of an Awl
Materials: Illustration
Dimensions:
Date:
Origin:
Collection: Pearson Scott Foresman via Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Ledger Entry: Awl
Department: Tool
Customer: Samuel Smith
Ledger Page: 166
Imported From: While tools could be produced by local blacksmiths, the availability of raw materials and skilled labor limited the large-scale production of tools in the American colonies. Specialized tools were typically imported from British production centers in London, Birmingham, and Sheffield.
Product Description
Awls are spiked tools with knob-like handles. These can be used for marking, stitching, or making holes. The tip is pushed into a material and then twisted in order to achieve the desired result.
Citation: James M. Gaynor and Nancy L. Hagedorn, Tools: Working Wood in Eighteenth-Century America (Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1993).;
Historical Price: 6 pence per dozen; Modern USD: $5.6
Product Variations
The databases record six purchases of awls. They were sold by the dozen and their prices range from five to six pence.
