A treasure trove of historic hand tools

Normally, I'm not the "read a waiting room magazine" type, but the other day I picked up an issue of Maine Ahead, which I'd never heard of. Having written a bit about and researched green building, trends and technology, the cover story on the attainability of sustainability was just too interesting to ignore.

I never got to that cover story. As I flipped through the pages, I came across a photo that stopped me, and made me want to devour this article on the Davistown Museum. Thanks to the museum, historic tools don't die. They find a home in a cozy, out-of-the-way Maine town called Liberty.

For H.G. "Skip" Brack, the museum is a labor of love. In addition to building, collecting and curating the vast array of tools in the "An Archaeology of Tools" exhibit, he owns Liberty Tool Company, which is - naturally - the museum's sponsor. That he also happens to be an expert on historic tools is apparent in the wealth of informative publications and essays he's written. You can read essays on the website, and publications can be purchased online or at the museum.

The museum's mission is "the recovery, identification, evaluation, and display of the hand tools of the maritime culture of coastal New England from the first European visitors in the 16th century to the fluorescence of the Industrial Revolution." The collection also includes Native American artifacts, "accidental durable remnants of ancient peoples," old paintings and artwork by some well-known Maine artists like Albrecht Durer and Milton Avery.

At some point, I plan to make the two-plus-hour pilgrimage to the museum, but for now I'll have to be content to live vicariously through the museum's site. I strongly encourage you to do the same.