According to an article in Smithsonian Magazine, the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska, comprises of four rooms, tracing the origin of humankind’s first tool back through centuries of history.

It houses a rock hammer believed to have crafted the Pyramid of Menkaure in Egypt, a Roman battle-ax infantry soldiers used as a weapon, billposter hammers used to tack up advertisements, bank teller’s hammers of the late 1800s used to cancel checks before the advent of the hole puncher, and small mallet drink hammers bar-goers in New York’s 1960s used to summon a refill or offer applause hang on the walls and rest in glass cases.

Pahl told Jenna Kunze in an interview that there is something for everybody at the museum:  “Everybody uses a hammer, but a lot of us don't even realize how often, or where we'd be without it”.

His collection shows that every profession, somewhere along the line, utilised a specific hammer.

Some 2 500 hammers are on display in the museum, with another 8 000 in storage.

According to Kunze, Pahl is recognised as one of the foremost hammer collectors in the world, and draws regular inquiries from everyone from children looking to identify hammers for a school project to professionals from the History Channel asking for expert advice on which hammers to use for re-enactments.

Pahl’s hope, he says, is twofold: to preserve the history of the hammer, while also encouraging young people born into a world of automation to “become a bit more hands-on” and maintain its use.

Smithsonian Magazine