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In response to the Great Depression's stalled economy, Disston refocussed its marketing strategy in 1931 by introducing a "new standardized line" with a "greatly simplified line [of saws] at new and lower retail prices." Just three year earlier the company had already taken measures to simplify its product line and eliminated slow-moving saws. There had been a duplication of features in saws that were very similar, such as the No. 7, No. 8, and No. 76; or D-8 and D-100; or No. 12 and No. 9. The series of D-20, D-21, D-22, and D-23 was cut to D-23. In the ten years between 1921-31, the Disston handsaw line shrunk from about 18 models to seven, not counting regular and lightweight or ship point varieties of most models.

Emphasis was put on the reduced price of saws in advertising. Home-handyman saws were featured next to the Disston-brand saws for tradesmen. The sales literature boasted, "a saw for every type of user -- greatest values at $1 to $5."

1931 Prices Keystone Saws 16" $1.00 20"  1.50 26"  2.00   Disston Saws D-7 $2.75 D-8  3.25 D-23  3.50 D-12  4.25 D-15  5.00

Just three years earlier, the entire Disston handsaw line was remodeled. After the stock market crash of '29 led to at least a quarter of the nation's workforce being unemployed, Disston had to cut production and reduce prices to stay in business. These are retail prices for the same model saws in 1928; they were somewhat higher.

1928 prices D-7 $3.10 D-8  3.45 D-23  3.85 D-12  4.50 D-15  5.85

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