OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

263327 Mark Pfeifer <markpfeifer@i...> 2017‑09‑19 Re: Shovel vs spade and internet plagiarism
I think this is the right distinction, for no other reason than it’s the one
I’ve always used. :)

Before they sold out to The Man, Smith & Hawken used to sell an English Garden
Spade. The business end was beefy and I could see why sharpening it with a file
would make a lot of sense. The beefy wooden handle was trapped in two beefy
tangs and fixed with two beefy rivets.

Sadly back then I couldn’t afford the Spade, so for me the S&H catalog was
largely pornographic. But I do sometimes search that auction site for antique
spades and I’m committed to the hunt. I have a couple of crap-axes for grubbing
roots but the beefy and sharpened edge of a spade sure looks like it would tame
the Godawful bull tallow clay that passes for soil in my part of NC.

MPf.

Recent Bios FAQ