Between May 10, 1876, and November 10, 1876, Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hosted the Centennial Exhibition, a world's fair showcasing scientific, technological, and artistic developments in the United States and around the world. The exposition had seven main departments, and each department was further subdivided into more specific classes of goods. Charles Staples, Jr., of Portland, Maine, served as a judge of exhibits in Department II, Manufactures, housed in the exhibition's Main Building. Among the items in Group XV, classes 280-284, he assessed cutlery, nails, hand tools, and other items made of metal.
From the guide to the Centennial Exhibition Judge's Notebook, 1876, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
