Virginia born and raised, I've driven past old farm houses a hundred times, even lived in a few. In those travels I've seen old rusty anvils sitting out in yards and have thought nothing of it. That is, until I wanted one and realized those old rusty anvils were selling for $400 and up! I started reading about Peter Wright, Trenton, Vulcan, Hay Budden and other vintage anvils that are so sought after, these are also in the price range of $700-$1200 dollars. Harbor freight had conflicting reviews, it sounded like an okay possibility for someone like me who would be more of a hobbyist, but still not the best option. I knew that if I was going to get a quality anvil, I was going to have to think outside of the box.
I reached out to my friends on Facebook and asked if anyone had or knew someone that had an anvil that they wanted to sell at a "reasonable" price. I had some great people going out of their way sending me info on some anvils for sale and as much as I appreciated their help, the prices on the anvils were more than I wanted to pay. Then, I get a Facebook message from my brother's best childhood friend, Brad saying if I was interested in an anvil to call him within the next five minutes. I immediately call Brad and he says that he had an anvil at his shop that had been sitting there for years. He asked if I wanted him to grab it and in a cool calm voice, I said, "sure". Meanwhile, on the inside I was as excited as a fat kid getting cake, and my wife can tell you, couldn't stop smiling!
That Saturday I went to Brad's house armed with a 12 pack of Bud Light and the family. I saw Brad a few months ago at my Dads funeral, but didn't get much of a chance to catch up with him for obvious reasons. I went there to get the anvil, but the real gift was getting to catch up with Brad and his family. We spent a couple of hours talking about old times and what was going on in each others lives now and just had a great time. We wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to get home and get the little ones fed and put into bed. With the help of two young men, we got the anvil loaded up and we made our way back home. The anvil is better than I could ever imagine and I am very appreciative for Brad getting it for me. I hope to be hammering away on some steel very soon on my new treasure. Until then, I am happy that I was able to reconnect with an old friend.
I don't have much information on my anvil, but I did find a little bit on anvilfire.com. American Wrought is a fairly rare anvil brand. They were located in Brooklyn, NY near Hay-Budden, as they were started by a former Hay Budden employee, Walter F. Ring. They were in business from around 1899-1910.
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