From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
LB2007.1.72111
Group of Lumbermen Winter scene of lumbermen posing for a photograph at their logging camp. The image also shows several teams of horses which were used to move logs on sleds. The building in the background is presumably used to house and feed the lumbermen. The lumbermen are pictured with their axes and Peaveys. A peavey or peavey hook is a logging tool consisting of a handle, generally from 30 to 50 inches long, with a metal spike protruding from the end. The spike is rammed into a log, then a hook (at the end of an arm attached to a pivot a short distance up the handle) grabs the log at a second location. Once engaged, the handle gives the operator leverage to roll or slide or float the log to a new position. The peavey was named for blacksmith Joseph Peavey of Upper Stillwater, Maine, who invented the tool as a refinement to the cant hook (also known as a "cant dog") in the 1850s. Many lumberjacks use the terms interchangeably, though a peavey will have a spike in the end of the handle, and a cant dog will have a blunt end or possibly small teeth for friction. The Peavey Manufacturing Co. is still located in Eddington, Maine and manufactures several variations.
