Swastikas from the American heartland

[Wrenchmensch]

As things turned out, the Louisiana, MO toolmaker appears not have been able to forecast world events in terms of branding their products. Anybody else got some Buffum tools?

[Papaw]

No misjudgment at all. Buffum and many others used the ancient symbol for luck and prosperity long before Adolf Hitler ruined it for the world. Matter of fact, I think Buffum went out of business before WWII.
I have several BUffum wrenches.
Buffum Tool Company
Reference- http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/other-makers.html#buffum

The Buffum Tool Company was founded by Frank W. Buffum and operated in Louisiana, Missouri during the early years of the 20th century. Their products included printing presses, adjustable wrenches, alligator wrenches, chisels, punches, bearing scrapers, and other forged tools. The exact founding date for the company is not yet known, but the earliest published reference to Buffum Tool is a 1908 advertisement for their printing press.
Buffum tools were generally marked with the company name and notably with a swastika logo, the design that later became infamous as the symbol of Nazi Germany. (Buffum's use of the swastika design predated the Nazi party by some decades.)

[Wrenchmensch]

Following a brief surge of popularity in Western culture, the swastika was adopted as a symbol of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (the Nazi Party) in 1920. After Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933 the Swastika became a commonly used symbol of Nazi Germany; in 1935 the Nazi Party Flag, which incorporated a Swastika, was made the sole State Flag of Germany. As a result in the western world the Swastika has been strongly associated with Nazism and related ideologies such as Fascism and White Supremacism since the 1930s. Its use is now largely stigmatized in the west.

[Donny B.]

Is it not correct that the U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division also used the swastika on their shoulder flashes? I gather that it was a tribute to the Native Americans of the south west region to whom it was a common significant symbol. In 1939, for obvious reasons,  the image on their shoulder flash was changed to that of the Thunderbird, another symbol significant to the Native Americans.

Donny B.

[Branson]

As things turned out, the Louisiana, MO toolmaker appears not have been able to forecast world events in terms of branding their products. Anybody else got some Buffum tools?

I have one.  Mine's a cold chisel that belonged to my grandfather.

[Branson]

As a result in the western world the Swastika has been strongly associated with Nazism and related ideologies such as Fascism and White Supremacism since the 1930s. Its use is now largely stigmatized in the west.

It's one of the most common symbols in the world.  It is even used by hills peoples in South-East Asia.  It's variant of the solar cross, also widely distributed.  One of its common meanings is good fortune.

[J.A.F.E.]

I'm not positive but I believe the symbol used by native Americans was a mirror image of the swastika - the arms went the other way.

[Branson]

I'm not positive but I believe the symbol used by native Americans was a mirror image of the swastika - the arms went the other way.

Some American Indian cultures may have done.   It's a matter of perspective, really.  "Good" is clockwise.  "Not good" is counter clockwise.  When the arms are seen as moving clockwise when the arms point right, that's "good."  Others may see the arms as trailing rather than leading, and that arms to the left indicate clockwise movement.

I remember from my student days in anthropology a bowl (woven basket bowl) that had a swastika woven into the center.  It's arms, when right side up, went to the right.  That was good.  When upside down, the arms were reversed, and went went to the left.  The symbolic understanding was that upside down meant an empty bowl, and that was not good.

[jimwrench]

 I like Buffum tools but don't see many locally. Have several barn door hooks marked Buffum, a bearing scraper and a concrete corner finishing tool. They evidently had a wide selection of tools. Was thru Louisiana,Mo last week on way to lake of the Ozarks but didn't see any tools. Fishing was great.

[skipskip]

Found one this week, alligator too

Amay 219 by Skip Albright, on Flickr

[Plyerman]

Nice one

[jimwrench]

 I;m always looking for Buffum Tools. Was thru Louisiana,Mo last week. Always wanted to meet Ed Johnson who was an avid Buffum collector. Don't know if he is living. I acquired his little booklet on "Tools of Louisiana,Mo" last year.

[Twilight Fenrir]

I had a shoemaker's stapler I picked up at auction that had the swastika on it, I donated it to a friend who is a shoemaker and had use for it.

[stanley62]

Some Swastikas from the Midwest that made it to California.

  Jim

[Plyerman]

Wow, nice set!