American makers of edge tools exhibiting at the Centennial showed the world not only examples of quality but of attractiveness as well. [Illustration: Figure 52.--19TH CENTURY: THE AMERICAN AXE WAS UNEXCELLED in design and ease of use. European observers praised it as distinctly American. At the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 Collins and Company of New York City was singled out as one of the outstanding manufacturers exhibiting these axes, a reputation that persisted. (_Tools for all Trades_, Hammacher, Schlemmer and Company, New York, 1896. Smithsonian photo 56625.)] [Illustration: Figure 53.--1876: DISSTON AND SONS LONG CONTINUED to remind prospective buyers of the company's success at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition by retaining the "Centennial Saw, No. 76" as a brand name. (_Illustrated Catalogue_, Baldwin, Robbins and Company, Boston, 1894. Smithsonian photo 56627.)] Change American hand tools in 1876 did not achieve the popular acclaim accorded the Corliss engine, yet few products shown by American exhibitors were more highly praised by foreign experts. It seems justified to suggest that American edge tools displayed at the Centennial had reached their high point of development--a metamorphosis that began with the medieval European tool forms, moved through a period of reliance on English precedents, and ended, in the last quarter of the 19th century, with the production of American hand tools "occupying an enviable position before the world."[11] [Illustration: Figure 54.--1809: THE INTRODUCTION of the gimlet-pointed auger followed Ezra L'Hommedieu's patent of 1809. From this date until its general disuse in the early 20th century, the conformation of the tool remained unchanged, although the quality of steel and the precision of the twist steadily improved. (Wash drawing from the restored patent drawings awarded July 31, 1809, U.S. Patent Office, Record Group 241, the National Archives. Smithsonian photo 49790-A.)] [Illustration: Figure 55.--1855: RUSSELL JENNINGS' improved auger bits, first patented in 1855, received superior citation at the Philadelphia Centennial; in the years following, the trade name "Jennings" was seldom omitted from trade catalogues. (Original wash drawing, patent drawing submitted by R. Jennings, U.S. Patent Office, Record Group 241, the National Archives.)] The tool most highly praised at Philadelphia was the American felling axe (fig. 52) "made out of a solid piece of cast steel" with the eye "punched out of the solid." When compared to other forms, the American axe was "more easily worked," and its shape permitted an easier withdrawal after striking.[12]