THE COLLINS COMPANY - AXES, MACHETES, & MORE

THE COLLINS COMPANY - AXES, MACHETES, & MORE....

The Collins Company began in 1826, in the section of Canton, CT known as South Canton.
Because of the vast amount of mail that the company received, the area became known as
Collinsville in 1832. Samuel Watkinson Collins, age 24, his brother David, age 21, and their
wealthy cousin, Williams Wells, pooled their money and purchased a saw mill property along the
banks of the Farmington River, with the idea to mass produce high quality axes. Their first
employees were local blacksmiths.
The Collins product line grew to include 1,300 types of edge tools including: axes, hatchets,
hammers, adzes, picks, shovels, machetes, cane knives, wrenches, hoes, bush hooks, swords,
knives, and cast steel plows. Their tools were known around the world, and they supplied
millions of machetes, shovels, picks, knives, swords and axes to the U.S. and Canadian military
for all major wars between 1826 - 1966. They also manufactured bayonets for the Civil War,
most notably for the Colt Firearms.
Their machetes, of all types and sizes, were so well respected in South America, that a customer
would hold his hand up in a fist to signal that he wanted a Collins Company made tool. The
company closed its doors in 1966, but many of the factory buildings remain today, and are
inhabited by local businesses such as: antiques, offices, artists, t-shirts, and woodworkers.
Collins axes were manufactured by the Mann Edge Tool Company of Lewistown, Pennsylvania,
until about 2003 and are now made by Truper Herramientas in Mexico.
There are too many tools to feature here, but click below to access selected pages from a 1923
company catalog. For more information, listed below are books, reference websites, and
information about the Canton Historical Museum, located in a former Collins Company building.

Selected Pages from the 1923 Collins Company Catalog

THE COLLINS COMPANY - AXES, MACHETES, & MORE....

Selected Books:

Collins Machetes and Bowies 1845 - 1965 by Daniel (D.E.) Henry - This book is Out of Print,
but there are copies for sale at a high price. Very comprehensive! Check out
www.amazon.com
Canton and Collinsville - Images of America by Donna M. Miller. Published by Arcadia
Publishing
The Axe and Man by Charles A. Heavvin. Published by The Astragal Press, Mendham, NJ
Rum & Axes by Janet Siskind Published by Cornell University Press
The Last Undiscovered Place by David Leff. Published by University of Virginia Press
Present & Past History of Collinsville

Canton Historical Museum http://www.cantonmuseum.org/
11 Front St., Collinsville (Canton), CT 06019 860-693-2793
www.cantonmuseum.org
Open: April - Nov. - Wed-Sun 1 - 4
Open: Dec - March - Weekends 1 - 4
Call to set up private or group tours
Extensive collection of Collins
Axe Company tools, General Store, Barbershop, Indian Artifacts, Victorian & Civil War
Era Items, Bridal Salon, Toy Display, Antique Collins Company Fire Engine, Train
Diorama

THE COLLINS COMPANY - AXES, MACHETES, & MORE....

NEW BOOK ABOUT THE COLLINS COMPANY- Published by the Canton historical museum
in 2013. Available online at www.cantonmuseum.org

Collins Tools can also be found on eBay, Auction Houses, Antique stores, and at Knife shows, as
well as various military weapon websites.
Great Website:
http://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears%20Tools/Home.html
Books available for sale