Square Nails

Nails have been around for centuries if not millenia.  Until recent times they were hand crafted by a blacksmith, and were not inexpensive.  Hand crafted nails were square, and were made by pounding red hot iron on an anvil.  They were expensive enough that many old buildings were burned down in order to recover the nails to be used again.  Eli Whitney started his manufacturing career making nails during the Revolutionary War, and got a patent on a nail making machine in 1794.  The U of Vermont has a good site for detecting building age by nail type, at history is at "Clues to a Building's History."

In the 1820's nail making making machines were developed which automated the process, but it was still a heating and pounding process.  In the 1880's the availability of soft steel from the Bessemer process started a shift to nails made from steel wire. 

Comments

[cece hill]

I recently bought a small armoire (possibly a childs)made with square nails. It was made by a company called Dealcraft. Anyone have any idea how old it might be? A guesstimate would be appreciated.

[Handforged Nails]

In 1794 Thomas Jefferson awarded Whitney his patent for a cotton engine (and not the nail-making machine).

Eli Whitney doesn't have a patent on the nail-making machine (you can check that at patent database).

According to: "Maker of Machines: A Story About Eli Whitney By Barbara Mitchell":

"Fourteen-year-old Eli's nail business was such a success that by the second winter he needed to hire a helper. Then in 1781, the war ended. The colonies had won their freedom from Great Britain. There was peace. Harbors were open to ships again, ships that dumped cheap British nails onto American docks. Making nails was no longer profitable. That did not bother Eli. He would simply come up with another business idea."

As you can see he ended the nail business long before 1794 and turned into cotton industry.