It is true that in no country in the world does merit in hardware command both price and popularity as in the United States, and the his tory of manufacturers who have been successful has been the history of merit and not because of cheapness in quality or price. The only manufacturers who have been successful for any length of time have been those who have based their products primarily on quality and who have had the faith and courage to main tain this quality in the face, often, of dis couraging circumstances. It may be stated as an axiom that no hardware item of the day survives for any length of time on any other basis. The temptation to lower the standard of the quality, after reputation is established and built upon quality, has, whenever it had been yielded to, met with sure and permanent disaster.
The blacksmith of the smaller town and of the country was among the earliest makers of tools and implements, and even to this day in many localities there still survives a call for his hand-made products. The hardest fight which the manufacturers of machine-made ar ticles have had to face has been to overcome the feeling, and often prejudice, in favor of the tool that was made by hand and that seemed consequently superior — and, as a matter of fact, the reverse has usually been the case.
Appearance counts for much—probably more in America than in any other country; attractive packages, handsome labels and beau tiful finishes are as much apart of hardware to-day as the adaptability and merit of an arti cle. There have been numerous strides in this regard, particularly when one contemplates the old-fashioned method of tying up the hard ware in heavy paper with string, a package that was both clumsy and unsightly. The question of the size and nature of the package is one of moment in the appeal to the public, and e general tendency has been to pack the goods in smaller and smaller boxes all the time, to en sure their ready sale and prevent breaking the packages, which is always so detrimental to the goods themselves, and so expensive to the dealer.
The importation of hardware is almost at an end, being confined, as before stated, to some few specialties which are slowly but surely los ing their hold upon the public of this country; but, on the other hand, the exportation of American hardware — and particularly Ameri can edge tools — to all parts of the world is a large and growing business, and one of great value to the home manufacturer. The foreign
business has been obtained entirely by the merit of the American article; its attractiveness, its novelty, its merit and its adaptability to the purpose intended have, after much opposition, opened the way for American hardware in all parts of the world, so that it has steadily gained ground at the expense of the foreign article.
The steady substitution of machinery for hand labor has been the most potent cause of thereat success that hardware has made in the United States. The American manufac turer is never content with present conditions, but is always endeavoring to find a more effi cient and more economical method of produc ing the finished article, and consequently en deavors to substitute machinery for hand labor. American hardware has, therefore, been placed within the reach of all, and has largely con tributed to the comfort and welfare of the people.
The production and the use of hardware cannot be intelligently considered without ref erence to some of the leading conditions of the country— conditions of soil and climate, as well as the temperament and nature of the peo ple. The most far-reaching and enduring change has been the substitution of what is known as mild steel for wrought-iron, due to the invention of Sir Henry Bessemer. It has rendered possible the production of hardware in all brands at very much lower prices and much more numerous forms since the produc tion of open-hearth and of Bessemer steel. which thus supplanted those of cast-iron and of wrought-iron.
On the other hand, hardware has been very adversely affected by this change because of the consequent substitution of steel for wood, and this is most marked in the erection of the mod ern sky-scraper, as it is known, where there is but comparatively little hardware used, either in the erection of the building or in its subse 'nent finishing. These buildings having prac tically little or no wood in them have small use for either the carpenter or his various tools, and all that is left of hardware is a small amount of locks and trim to decorate the building and to give it security. This process has gone on in many ways until apparently it must seriously affect the continued use of hardware in all branches of life; but, on the other hand, the growth of the population has been so great that this can be safely set down as a discussion of only academic interest at present.