Mastodawn

The Underwood Multi-tool (c. 1850)

Decades before the first Swiss Army knife (1891), London’s Underwood of Haymarket crafted this "harped" pocket kit. Designed for Victorian sportsmen, it features a hoof pick, saw, and corkscrew. A rare 19th-century masterpiece of portability.

By #SteampunkTendencies
#Architecture #Design #Style #Nature #Art #Artist #Photo #Photographer #Urbanism #City #Village #Staircases #History #Histoire #Abandoned #AbandonedPlaces

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skua

@Adrenochrome
#Alttext
Left to right the tools are:
Large hoof cleaner
Small hoof cleaner (?)
Narrow corkscrew (?)
Gimlet
Wide corkscrew
Narrow awl
Saw
Flatblade screwdriver
Wide awl
Hook

Sherlock would have had a separate set of lock picks.
#SherlockHolmes

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nowhereman (nicht der andere!)Mar 8

@skua @Adrenochrome
But no knife, what probably means, that a knife is not needed because everyone had one. This gives me a different look on old pictures from that time.
Knifes everywhere?

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skua Mar 8

@Nowhereman @Adrenochrome
Yes.
And yet "knife crime" wasn't usually seen as a big problem? (Though the Sydney razor gangs were.)

Today a lot of rural manual workers would usually have a knife still I think.

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Claudia Zahn Mar 8

@skua

#2 is not for extinguishing candles?

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skua Mar 8

@Adrenochrome

I don't know.

Others have suggested #2 is a measure for powders, or a hole-punch for leather. A photo showing it end-on would help decide.

https://www.core77.com/posts/128506/A-19th-Century-Multi-Tool-Design

A 19th-Century Multi-Tool Design - Core77

This 19th- or early-20th-century multitool, posted on the Tools subReddit, is by British cutler Underwood. Image: special_evan Underwood, a London-based family concern, was in business from 1820 to 1925. While that postdates the Industrial Revolution, this object appears to have been hand-forged rather than mass-produced. The design is

Core77

Thank you!

I wondered, "What powders?" and then thought of gunpowder (as muzzle loading was still the standard in 1850).

But every antique black powder measure I see on the internet is made from brass. Sparks caused by iron weren't wanted near gunpowder.

As for a hole punch - the flare our appears far beyond what a hole punch would have.

Edit: The photos of the Barrett version weigh against both hoof cleaner and small roundish spokeshave/scraper.