History of Kramer Brothers Foundry, Gem Brand Cement Tools

Kramer Bros. catalog

Beginning in 1893, Kramer Brothers Foundry, Dayton, Ohio, made high quality cement (concrete) worker's tools with the brand name Gem. Kramer Brothers' tools included nickel-plated cast iron, brass, and bronze edgers, groovers, inside and outside angles, out-curve and in-curve edgers, gutter tools, jointers, and imprint (indent) rollers. In 1914 they claimed to be the largest cement tool manufacturer in the US.
Kramer Brothers Catalog cement tools 6 pages

Kramer's other cast iron products included parts for cooking and heating stoves, coal furnace parts, piano mover casters, sewer fittings, street lamp standards (posts), floral urns, lawn settees and chairs, and garden statuary. Their garden and decorative products are in the US Smithsonian collection and sold in high-end auctions.

My scan of Kramer Brothers 1955 Highway, Street, and Sewer Castings Catalog is on Archive.org.

More about Kramer Brothers Foundry is available on the website of a successor company:
Talladega Foundry Company History

Kramer's operation was between Dell St. and Keifer St., between Deeds Ave. (formerly Daller) and the railroad tracks. The building and site are occupied by what appears to be a junkyard, and "THE KRAMER BROS. FDY. CO." is still painted on the building.

Kramer Brother's tool line was sold to Bon Tool Co., date unknown. "Bon Tool Co. announced that it has acquired the operating assets from Kramer Brothers Foundry Co. of Dayton, Ohio. Kramer Brothers was the exclusive manufacturer of Gem Cement Tools, many of which Bon will continue to produce."
Bon Tool Corporate News

Kramer Brothers Foundry Gem No. 27 groover

Kramer Brothers Gem No. 27 groover

The history at the below is from "History of the City of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume 1" by Augustus Waldo Drury (1909).

Kramer Brothers in 1909

Kramer Brothers No. 24 brass groover