Except for Tom and Jerry, the anvil currently doesn’t have much use. It was on this heavy and hard piece that blacksmiths supported the material to be molded, based on hammer blows, usually after a period in the forge to make it malleable. As the anvil is more resistant than the material to be worked, it “returns” part of the energy of the hammer blow, reducing the blacksmith’s effort.
The stone anvil appeared in Prehistory, and the metal one in ancient Egypt. In the Middle Ages, it became essential to make the complicated armor of nobles (which cost the equivalent of a Ferrari!). At the end of the 19th century, when anvils fell into disuse and were abandoned by the US, some idlers played by throwing them in the air with the help of explosives. That’s where the cartoon joke came from.
Check out a video of world anvil throwing champion Gay Wilkinson in action: abr.io/bigorna
SOURCE New Edge of the Anvil: A Resource Book for the Blacksmith, by Jack Andrews; Anvil Magazine; IForgeIron, MetalSmith.org, AnvilFire websites