For the Armand Hammer Museum, see Hammer Museum

Hammer Museum

The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center, or the Hammer Museum as it is more commonly known, is an art museum in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California...

The Hammer Museum, located in Haines, Alaska

Haines, Alaska

Haines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the area was 1,811. Haines was formerly a city but no longer has a municipal government...

, U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, is the first museum in the world dedicated to hammer

Hammer

A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. The most common uses are for driving nails, fitting parts, forging metal and breaking up objects. Hammers are often designed for a specific purpose, and vary widely in their shape and structure. The usual features are a handle and a head,...

s. The museum was founded in 2002 and became a non-profit organization in 2004. It features over 1,400 hammers and related tool

Tool

A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...

s, ranging from ancient times through the colonial days to the industrial era.

Mission

The mission of the Hammer Museum is to research, identify, exhibit, and preserve the history and use of hammers for the education of the general public.

History

The museum's founder, Dave Pahl, moved to Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 from Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 with the goal of becoming self-sufficient in 1973. He became a blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

and began informally collecting hand tools. His collection grew over the years through purchases, gifts, and "hammer hunting" expeditions. In 2001, Pahl and his wife Carol purchased a hundred-year-old building in Haines and intended to turn the space into a museum. If there was any doubt about the plan, Dave uncovered a ceremonial Tlingit warrior’s pick while digging a foundation for the building. The museum opened in 2002 and became a non-profit organization in 2004. Most of the hammers on display are on permanent loan from the Pahl collection, but the museum actively collects new acquisitions. For a complete history, see the website.

Collections

The Hammer Museum has several galleries featuring hammers used for Blacksmithing, early trades, industry, and specific materials such as metal, stone, and wood. The collection has traditional hammers such as those used in mining, ranching, carpentry, the railroad industry, and auto-body repair. Others include those that served bankers, nightclub goers of the 1920s and 1930s, barristers, cobblers, and musicians, as well as those in the medical profession such as doctors and dentists. Collection highlights include: an Egyptian dolerite ball, Roman battle heads, Tlingit warrior’s pick, over fifty hammer patents on display as well as both indoor and outdoor sculpture.