The Point of it All is a thoroughly documented, researched book about the history of the designs of antique barbed fencing. This book describes hundreds of patents and over 2,000 patent design variations found in antique barbed fencing. Varieties such as mild steel barbed wire strands, sheet metal barbed strips, barbed metal rods, and barbed wooden rails. Antique barbed fencing evolved from the wooden fences and plain wire fences of the 1850s. The major antique barbed fencing period occurred from the late 1860s and mid-1870s to early 1900s when inventors in the Midwest and Northeast designed hundreds of new ways to corral livestock. Using US Patent and Trademark Office records and other information sources, the author describes how the inventors considered their patent designs unique, what their purpose was, and what factors influenced the changes in these designs over time. The author describes the common patterns found in the structure and form of these patent designs. Because of the complexity in these designs the author provides a proposed classification system for antique barbed fencing which can be used for sorting, organizing and indexing barbed fencing patents into similar patents and design groups. This book is intended for collectors, farm historians, and those of us who have ripped our pants crossing barbed wire fences.
