Reply To: Old Tools Marked "Foreign"

I don’t think that’s true. In 1887 Parliament mandated that items from Germany be stamped “made in Germany” it eventually became a mark of quality and sort of backfired on the intent. Don’t forget the close ties between britain’s House of Hanover and the Kingdom of Hannover until 1871. After that, Victoria didn’t do well with the Prussian arm.

The Word “ foreign” stamped into the tool is probably due to the USA McKinley tariff acts of 1890-93 which mandated that all tools imported into the USA be so stamped for tax reasons. (Trump isn’t the first Republican to impose tariffs. Originally, the rate was 50%)

I’ve also seen the mark on porcelain.

as part of this and the retaliation all tariffs eventually engender, Disston opened saw operations in Canada around 1910. Almost all brass backed Disston Backsaws were made in Canada intended for Britain. USA backsaws are almost exclusively steel backed.

Stanley opened its Canadian operations in 1907 for the same reason.

Britain had retaliated with its own tariffs.

I suspect the tools you got were so stamped by making it into Britain by way of the USA, possibly as part of the war effort. Either that, or the tools were made in Britain intended for the US market. Both are possible.

The act also specified that after 1923 the actual country of origin had to be stamped. The word “foreign” was an interim device. So it dates your tools.

Items from Japan were mandated to have Roman style lettering. At first it was marked “Nihon”, then “Nippon” , and finally “Japan”, as transliteration from the Japanese changed.