No rooting, period

(Page 2 of 2)

October 2002
Onie Sims 
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Hog tongs were another tool used in the process of fastening rings onto hogs' noses; today they are often found on the 'what-is-it?' table at shows. These were used to immobilize the hog's snout while the ring was applied. One of the first patents for hog tongs was from Hill, the creator of various hog ringers, and Charles P. Housum of Decatur, Ill. Housum is known to tool collectors as the inventor of both a rail fence barbing tool and its associated wire barbs. His patent for the tongs states: 'One jaw passes over the upper and the other beneath the inferior maxillary, the knob fitting between the ramii (bones on the bottom side of the hog's jaw, there are two bones that run up toward the front) of the latter to keep the instrument from slipping.' After securing the snout with the tongs, the rings could be applied.

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Hog snouters or slitters were the alternative to hog rings. W.I. Short patented one such hog snouter on May 15, 1900. The patent specification states that 'the function of the device being primarily to cut the nose of a hog across the tip and severing the same in the middle, making a small projection a little to each side of the nose to prevent rooting.' Similar patents go back as far as 1862; the 'Never Root' Hog Tamer was sold in the 1902 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog for 60 cents.

Although the process of 'fixing' a pig was never a popular one, it was a big part of farm life in the old days. FC

- Onie Sims is a collector of vintage farm tools who lives in Whittier, Calif. He is presently doing a patent study on hog control: ringers, holders, snouters and jewelry. Contact him at 10801 S. Pounds, Whittier, CA 90603; (562) 947-1452; e-mail: oniedot@aol.com



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