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.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

History of Martin Maurer of St. Louis

Martin Maurer operated a hardware store and machine shop in St. Louis, Missouri from 1875 to at least 1895. He invented and patented a stamped steel concrete edger and a groover in 1891,  and St. Louis city directories in the early 1890s show that he specialized in masonry tools. Maurer developed and manufactured a line of concrete tools which were still being sold in the 1904 catalog of Walter A. Zelnicker Supply Co., a St. Louis hardware wholesaler.

I have been unable to find this Martin Maurer in US Census records to get his birth date, or to find a death record. There is a mention of  him in the Cassville, MO newspaper 3 Oct. 1895, stating that he was to move to Louisiana. This could mean the state or Louisiana, MO.

Beginning in 1903, a Martin Maurer of Pueblo, Colorado received at least 8 patents for scales and improvements to scales. The first one used one of the same patent attorneys as the concrete tool patents. It may be the same person, but I have no verification of that.

US Patent 460,644  Device for blocking off artificial-stone pavements
US Patent 460,645  Device for rounding and smoothing the edges of artificial-stone gutters



Cassville, MO newspaper, 3 Oct. 1895