The Stanley Tool Works made this complex and technologically advanced combination plane sometime around 1900. Earlier ones were made of wood with a metal blade; each plane created a single shape. After the Civil War metal ones began to appear, and later complex planes such as this one had multiple interchangeable blades, which allowed the same plane to cut a variety of shapes. The decoration seen here is not essential to function, but since the casting of such decoration cost little more, it was included on this technologically advanced tool at a time when workmen took great pride in their tools.