It’s called the Lickity Splitter.
I found it in, of all places, the WACO Air Museum and Aviation Learning Center in Troy, Ohio. While that museum is dedicated mostly to the WACO airplanes made in town a century ago, they also have a few pieces related to general local history.
Note: I dug a little deeper after I wrote that line and the internet tells me the man who patented the design was a fella named Clayton Brukner who was once the head of the WACO Air Company. This rings a bell for me – I think I read it on a museum sign and then promptly forgot.
Anyway….
This is a log splitter that was produced by the Piqua Engineering Company. The sign says they started making these things in 1958 and it was basically the Cadillac of log splitters back in the day.
The Piqua Engineering Company opened in 1942 as a manufacturer of airplanes and producer of parts for the US government during the war. Postwar years led them in different directions to make neon signs, dumbwaiters, paper bailers and log splitters, among other things.
Oddly enough, there’s one for sale in an online auction. Click here if you wish to place your bid but do it soon as the auction ends on March 22, 2023. It’s in Brooklyn, Mississippi. I found one that sold a while back for $1,100.
By the way, I never thought that I would be writing about a log splitter but I found the picture from my day at the WACO museum and couldn’t resist asking the question that so often travels through my mind. What the heck is that?
Make the Journey Fun 