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.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

History of Macco Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Benn's Encyclopaedia of Hardware, 1951, p. 1024

Macco Manufacturing Co. Ltd., St. John's Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK, manufactured builders' trowels and tools. The firm appears to have been established in 1947 and was exporting in 1950. They were liquidated in 1969.

In 1950 Macco's products were listed as trowels, saws, screwdrivers, chisels, wall scrapers, putty knives, shave hooks, planes, mortice gauges, spirit levels, builders' levels, joiners' squares and levels. They also manufactured kitchen tinware for the home market.

Photos of unused Macco brick trowels show they were forged, properly ground, and with well-fitted handles and ferrules.   



  

Official Gazette of the US Patent Office, Vol. 646, 1 May 1951, p. 36

Macco trowels in new condition


Tuesday, December 1, 2020

History of Lansing Co.

American Builder Vol. 43, No. 1, Apr. 1927 p. 350
Lansing Co. was founded in in Lansing, MI in 1881 as Lansing Wheelbarrow Co. The name changed to Lansing Co. around 1 Nov. 1911. By 1927, they had sales branches in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and New York City. Lansing Co. made a range of contracting and concrete equipment, from wheelbarrows and concrete tools to concrete mixers, hoists, concrete block machines, tile machines, and fence post molds. 

History of P.F. Connelly

Concrete, Vol. 11, No. 4, Apr. 1911, pg. 90

P.F. Connelly, El Reno, Oklahoma, manufactured long-handled concrete tools in the 1908-1911 period. Their adjustable handle fit 6 tools, including adjustable finish trowel, "edger, jointer, pointing trowel and combination curbstone finisher, which at one operation finishes the curb, cuts curb joint and turns the edge." The business was owned by Patrick F. Connelly (c. 1873-1932), a native of Ireland, who also owned a paving company.

Cement World, Vol. 2, No. 6, 15 Sep. 1908, pg. 436