Tiny hatchet?

[Twilight Fenrir]

I bought a box lot at auction, because it had a 100+ year old Cat's Head hammer in it... There were a few other interesting tools in the box, but the Cat's head is what I was after... However, this other little piece was in the box and has my stumped...

It's a hatchet head, but unless it was used to make matches and popsicle sticks, I can't figure out why it exists this small. The blade is 2" across, and 3" from bite to heel. It is drifted just like a regular axe... but proportionate...

Is this a saleseman sample? Or was this actually made to be used for something in particular?

[Yadda]

Possibly a child's toy back before everyone wimped out and started considering eyesight and ten fingers as being necessary parts of later life.  (I hope I channeled Aunt Phil properly.)

Maybe a a souvenir or promo? 

[donald_wa]

Roy Underhill had a small hatchet he said was for chopping dovetails. LOL

[Northwoods]

It is not distinctive enough to represent a particular hatchet, and so it would not be a good salesman's sample.
It looks like it was never sharpened, and so that seems to suggest a toy.
What is the purpose of the hole, and what happened to the handle?  Puppy chewed it to pieces?

[Twilight Fenrir]

It is not distinctive enough to represent a particular hatchet, and so it would not be a good salesman's sample.
It looks like it was never sharpened, and so that seems to suggest a toy.
What is the purpose of the hole, and what happened to the handle?  Puppy chewed it to pieces?

I would say it was probably sharp at one point or another.... The back of the head is slightly mushroomed from being struck by a hammer. But it is dull as a froe at the moment....

The hole is probably to help keep the handle on, seeing as how the eye isn't much wider than a wedge,  traditional means wouldn't be as practical?

I dunno, it could very well be a toy, but it feels like a real tool, and I get the impression that it is probably very old, but I've been wrong on that befofe :P

[international3414]

maybe for busting up candy or ice,back in the day?

[wvtools]

Belt axes were carried by hunters and others in the 1700s and early 1800s.  Is it 3 piece construction (2 iron and one steel) or later all steel construction?  It looks like a little more modern kindling ax from the one photo.  If it is 3 piece, then I would lean towards a belt axe. 

I had a friend who had a Ft. Miegs ax that looked similar to that one.  Google Kentucky belt axe and Ft. Miegs axe; a few look like it, although most of those were more elongated.

[kwoswalt99]

Take a top view pic, that can give hints as to age.

[Bill Houghton]

I dunno, it could very well be a toy, but it feels like a real tool, and I get the impression that it is probably very old, but I've been wrong on that befofe :P

Time was, kids got real tools, just small ones.

[rc.moto]

I just returned from an antique mall that had one about this size. It was labeled as a child's hatchet and had an L.L. Bean label on the head. It looked almost new. If I had seen this thread earlier, I would have taken a picture of it.

Bob Culp