History
Over one hundred years ago, nails were individually hand-made by blacksmiths, and were therefore far more valuable than the wood they were driven into. The book Nail Pullers with Patent Reference by Raymond P. Fredrich says that in the mid-19th century, wood was viewed as so plentiful in North America that if it became necessary to change one's location, "you might even burn your house down and pick up the nails in the ashes". Back then, nail pullers were designed to preserve the condition of the nail for reuse, and thus the design of most nail pullers ended up being what is known as the slide hammer type, which is still used today.
Old lumber has now become much more valuable than the nails that might hold it in place, so there has been a move toward designs that take out nails with less damage to the old growth wood. The cat's paw is still in use, but due to its design, which features an open "V" shape out at the end of a pry bar, the opening is widest right at the point where it is driven into the wood, and it causes a fair amount of damage to the wood fibers.
Read more about this topic: Cat's Paw (nail Puller)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)