Please note

Because of the lack of published trowel and masonry tool histories, the information here is based on other sources that may be less reliable and certainly are incomplete. These include eBay and tools that I purchase myself that are the starting points for my research. I will write what I know as I learn it. If what you read here interests you, please check back often and look for revisions and corrections. Scanned catalogs are on Archive.org as pdf files. A few are links to other websites. Your photos and information are welcome. Please click on any picture to enlarge it. Comments are welcome, but any with links will be deleted as possible spam.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

History of Peugeot & Compagnie, Pont-de-Roide

Peugeot & Cie. was a major French tool manufacturer in Pont-de-Roide and Bourguignon, in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, near Switzerland. The company's founders were descendants of the Peugeot family of industrialists, and children of James Jackson (1771-1829), an Englishman who emigrated to France in 1814 to make steel. In 1838 William Jackson married Louise Peugeot, and Georges Léonard Peugeot married Anna Jackson, establishing a union of families and business.

In 1842, 4 sons of Jean-Frédéric Peugeot joined with 4 Jackson brothers, establishing themselves at Pont-de-Roide to make tools and other articles. Their enterprise changed names several times over the following decades:

1846 Peugeot Aînés et Jackson Frères (Peugeot Elders & Jackson Brothers)
1866 Peugeot Jackson et Cie. (Peugeot Jackson & Co.)
1889 Peugeot Aînés et Cie. followed by Peugeot Frères et Cie. (Peugeot Brothers & Co.)
1907 Peugeot et Cie.

In 1933 Peugeot & Cie. merged with Les Fils de Peugeot Frères, but production continued at Pont-de-Roide until 1936. There 1932 catalog is on the Internet Archive.

Peugeot & Cie. works at Pont-de-Roide 
Peugeot’s products included a variety of trowels for masonry and brick, masonry hammers, a full line of saws from back saws to large circular and band saws for mills, wood chisels, planes, and coffee mills. Their coffee mills are actively collected, and most internet resources are about their coffee mills.

Pont-de-Roide is at the confluence of 3 small rivers, the Doub, Roide, and Ranceuse. The availability of water power to operate trip hammers and grindstones made it an attractive industrial site. By 1932, the Peugeot & Cie. catalog shows large, modernized plants with their own hydroelectric plants.  


Peugeot & Cie. masonry trowels
Peugeot & Cie. brick trowels