What does "Foreign" on a chisel mean?
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10 August 2016 at 9:51 pm #139255
I like to ask, espacially the britisch members, a question about a marking on a chisel (3/4″) i own. It is stamped with “Forreign”, there are no others markings on the chisel. Is this the result of some kind of trade regulation? Maybe there was once a marking on the handle, but it is very worn. The handle itself is made out of copper beech, while the german chisels i am used to usually have a handle out of hornbeam. I got this chisel from my grandfather, together with a couple of old german chisels stamped with D.R.G.M. (Imperial German Petty Patent). In the town were i live in, were once a lot britisch soldiers garrisoned and maybe my grandfather aquiered it from this source.
Please excuse any mistakes, i am not used to write in english (i have the tendency to write every noun with capital letters…).
Your answers are very much appriciated – thank you very much.Hey there buddy,
I was told by a collector that items stamped ‘Foreign made’ were typically ones made shortly after the second world war in Germany as it was thought people would be put off if it said ‘Made in Germany’ on it!
I have a few tools with these markings and all are of good quality!
10 August 2016 at 10:49 pm #139258Thank you very much for your answer, the antpathy towards german products after the war might be the explanation for the marking. But the shape of the handle is definetly not of german origin and i have never seen a copper beech handle on a german chisel. Another point is, that i have never seen a german made tool after 1872 with imperial measurements. I can hardly imagine that the german companys installed imperial forging dies into the left over machines after the war.
11 August 2016 at 6:47 pm #139329This from Hansard:
HC Deb 27 February 1939 vol 344 cc921-2W 921W
Mr. Errington asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is satisfied that his present powers are sufficient to require that all foreign goods should be marked with the name of the country of origin instead of merely the word foreign; and, if not, whether he will introduce legislation to make marking with the name of the country of origin compulsory?
So, if I read this correctly, ‘foreign’ just means ‘not made in Britain’ and is not specific to German goods. It looks as though the chisel was made somewhere for import into the UK.
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