Product Model

Name/Title

Product Model

Entry/Object ID

1983.10.2

Description

Miniature potato hoe. The scale model consists of two wooden shafts, two metal wheels, a metal seat, and two wooden blades oriented into a V shape at the ground beneath the seat.

Use

Product models were used both by traveling salesmen and within storefronts as examples of large goods available for purchase.

Context

Made by David Mayo of Montpelier, Vermont. From an exhibit label: "David Mayo was born in 1847 or 1848 in Chazy, New York. He moved to Montpelier in 1867 to apprentice as a wheelwright in the carriage-making shop of H.N. Taplin. Several of the inventors in this exhibit were wheelwrights, or wheel makers. They learned how to work with both wood and metal, two materials essential to most inventions of the time. Mayo opened his own shop on Elm Street in 1871 and remained there for 42 years. He is a prime example of the ingenious Yankee, and his many models and drawings show his solutions to his customers' needs. When Mayo retired, the local newspaper reported on "the many models of things manufactured by him such as dump carts and sleds, snow scrapers, potato planters and potato hoes, hay wagons, sheep rack and snow roller, also election booths." To our knowledge, Mayo never patented any of his creations."

Acquisition

Accession

1983.10

Source or Donor

Templeton, Earl

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Artist

Mayo, David (1847-1934)

Date made

1870 - 1914

Place

City

Montpelier

County

Washington County

State/Province

Vermont

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Model, Product

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Hoe, Potato

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Harvesting Equipment

Nomenclature Class

Advertising Media

Nomenclature Class

Agricultural T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 04: Tools & Equipment for Materials

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Length

20-1/4 in

Material

Wood, Metal