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

  

History of E. Tressing & Co.

A History of the Norwegians of Illinois, A. E. Strand, 1905, pg. 505

E. Tressing & Co. was a Chicago, IL,  manufacturer and dealer in locks and hardware specialties, including cement tools. The company was located at 179-181 Lake St. in 1904. The principal was Eric Tressing (1866-1937), who was born in Oslo, Norway and came to the US with his parents when he was a boy.

E. Tressing & Co. No. 1 groovers

History of Wonder Manufacturing Co.

Wonder Manufacturing Co. groover

Wonder Manufacturing Co., Washington Court House, Ohio, was a small manufacturer of ranges, heating stoves and a few other products, operating from the 1890s into the 1910s. The company took advantage of their iron foundry to make cast iron cement tools of a conventional design. Although no advertising has been found for the tools, a few of them have survived.

The company president and treasurer in 1906 was Richard S. Quinn, vice president J. W. Brown, secretary W. W. Hamilton. The president and treasurer in 1912 was George Suskeep (possibly misspelled), vice president A. M. Bush, secretary and plant manager Harvey C. Wilson. The company entered receivership that year, and was reorganized in 1913 by E. L. Bush and others as New Wonder Co.

Stoves and  Hardware Reporter, Vol. XXIX, No. 14, 30 Sep. 1897, Pg. 11

 

History of Adamite Wheel & Manufacturing Co.

Hardware and Metal, 11 July 1914

Adamite Wheel & Manufacturing Co. is the only known Canadian manufacturer of concrete tools, including indent roller. Their primary product, which gave the company its name, was grinding wheels made from the mineral adamite. Their address in 1920 was 44 Ferguson Ave., Hamilton, Ontario.

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

Union Tool Company of Union, New York

Union Tool Co. identification

Union Tool Company of Union, New York, manufactured a line of cast iron concrete tools in the early 20th century. Their tools sell occasionally on eBay and other outlets, but I have been unable to locate any other documentation about the business. Union is a town in Broome County, west of Binghamton. The only similar business there was Union Forging Co., which operated in Union and Endicott from 1883 to 1995.

Part of the difficulty in researching this company is that Union was a very popular name for tool manufacturers. In addition to other variations of the name, "Union Tool Company" was used by businesses in these cities and possibly more:

Augusta, Maine
Boston, Massachusetts
Goshen, Massachusetts
Torrances, California
Orange, Massachusetts
Providence, Rhode Island
Rochester, New York
St. Louis, Missouri

Union Tool Co. was also a brand name of American Fork and Hoe Co. So far as I can determine, none of these other companies made concrete tools.

Union Tool Co. No. 38 curb tool 

Union Tool Co. No. 29 narrow groover

 

History of Sturgis Cement Worker's Tools

Sturgis cement tool advertisement, date unknown

Sturgis cement worker's tools were a secondary brand sold by the large hardware wholesaler Baker, Hamilton & Pacific Co. of San Francisco. The firm was the result of a 1918 merger between Pacific Hardware & Steel Co. and Baker & Hamilton Co. Their first quality tool brand was Stiletto, but I can't find a record of Stiletto cement tools.

A Google Books "snippet view" from page 571 of their Catalog No. 8 stated, "The jointer and edger illustrated below are not intended for skilled mechanics' use. They are inferior in construction to the regular line of tools...." Despite that, the tools advertised appear to be as well made as any other steel concrete tools, and the Safetred Step Tool is cast bronze, as is the bottom of the jointer pictured here.

Sturgis cement tools are quite rare. The steel tools were probably marked with a paper label which would have washed off. The adjustable jointer has "STURGIS" stamped into the edge of the bronze.

Sturgis adjustable finishing jointer, bronze

History of Louden Machinery Co. Cement Tools

Louden No. 2 curved edger

Louden Machinery Company is best known for cast iron barn hardware and fittings, and they also designed barns for their customers. Louden made and sold at least 7 cement tools designed for building dairy barns. As shown in their 1918 barn plans catalog, these tools supplemented the conventional edger and finishing trowel in constructing concrete floors and stalls. Tools shown in their 1918 catalog are the No. 1 straight edger, No. 2 curved edger, No. 4 small curb tool, No. 5 and No. 6 curved steel trowels. Louden's 1928 catalog features the No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 radius trowel, the No. 8 cut-out smoother, and the No. 9 curved edger. The 2 small tool are very similar to foundry molding tools.

Wikipedia has an excellent history of the business. "The Louden Machinery Company was an American engineering, manufacturing and design company based in Fairfield, Iowa. Founded by William Louden, the company in its early years manufactured and sold the patented hay carrier that he invented in 1867. The company later expanded into a wide variety of farm equipment and, in 1906, began an Architecture Department that reportedly designed more than 25,000 barns from 1906 to 1939." Louden also had a Canadian location in Guelph, Ontario.

Louden 1918 dairy barn plans catalog

Louden 1928 catalog

Historic Iowa Postcard Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Grinnell College Libraries

History of Sands Level and Tool

Sands (or Sand's) Level and Tool Co. has been manufacturing levels and other tools since the late 1890s, with an emphasis on masonry applications. In addition, Sands made cement tools for an unknown time.

J. Sand & Sons advertisement, Feb. 1914 

Julius Sand, a bricklayer, started the business in Detroit, Michigan. He was born 28 May 1858 in Danzig, Germany, and died 13 Dec. 1929 in Detroit. According to the Sands website, Sand invented the solid-set vial and a lightweight aluminum level. Julius Sand and Julius Sand Jr. received US Patent 1,087,555 for a cast aluminum level on 17 Feb. 1914. By 1922 the firm was operating as J. Sand and Sons. In 1943 it was purchased by Unit Rail Anchor Co., the parent company of Hubbard Tool of Pittsburgh, PA. In early 1948, Sands relocated from Detroit to 601 Clinton St., Clinton, Indiana.

While in Detroit and Clinton, Sands made a line of cement tools, primarily of conventional cast iron design. They also made cement and corner tools from stamped steel, with the brand name "Clinsteel". I was unable to determine the date that this name was introduced, but it was between 1948 and 1957. There are 4 Sands tool catalogs on the Internet Archive.

Harmon Machine Co. of Wichita, Kansas purchased Sands around 1957, and Kraft Tools bought Sands in 2005.

Sands groover, Detroit, MI

Sands groover, Clinton, IN

Sands Clinsteel corner tool, Clinton, IN 

Sands Clinsteel groovers

History of W.S. Godwin Co.

W.S. Godwin edger and groover

W.S. Godwin manufactured road contractor's tools, equipment, and supplies from about 1897 to after 1950, with a break in the late teens. The businesses were named for William Selby Godwin (1875-1944), a mechanical engineer and inventor from Philadelphia, PA. Their line included a variety of cement tools designed for street and sidewalk work.

W.S. Godwin & Company was making cement worker's tools in Philadelphia in 1898. Godwin also sold asphalt tools and machinery beginning in 1899 from New York City. While in Philadelphia, he invented a brick and block molding machine, and filed for a US patent in 27 Jan. 1903.

He closed the Philadelphia business and moved to New York City to manufacture the molding machine with a partner, as  American Block Press Company of Brooklyn, NY. In a 1904 professional directory, he was listed as general manager of that business. Godwin recommended the machine for asphalt paving bricks. The most famous American street still paved with asphalt bricks is Monument Avenue in Richmond, VA, paved from 1907 to 1910.

American Block Press Co. either failed or was renamed, because Godwin sold paving machinery from New York as W.S. Godwin for about 10 more years. By 1918, he had left New York, and was chief engineer for the International Steel Tie Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. Godwin continued to work on inventions for concrete paving.

By 1920, Godwin had moved to Baltimore, and as W.S. Godwin Company, was making steel paving guards at 2111 Garrison Ave. In 1924 W.S. Godwin was located at W. Race and McComas Sts., Baltimore. Today, 222 W. Race St. in Baltimore houses Schuster Concrete, commercial and industrial construction. W.S. Godwin's steel paving guards catalog is on Archive.org.

Unlike his fellow business owners, William S. Godwin did not put down roots anywhere, and lived in hotels or apartments. He married late, in 1912, to Christine Keller of Brooklyn, and they had 1 child.

William S. Godwin had at least 9 patents relating to paving streets and around railroad and streetcar tracks. All are in his name as the inventor, but the last 3 are not signed by him and are after his death in 1944.

Molding-machine, publication date 28 Feb. 1905
Paving-guard, publication date Dec 9, 1919
Paved railway, publication date Aug 25, 1925
Paved or similar railway structure, publication date May 6, 1930
Curb guard and facing, publication date May 22, 1934
Shield and dowel assembly, publication date Dec 23, 1941
Dowel supporting assembly [for concrete road joints], publication date Jan 25, 1949
Road joint, publication date Apr 14, 1953
Dowel apparatus for paving joints, publication date Oct 30, 1956

William S. Godwin also wrote a poem which was printed in asphalt paving publications in 1901 and 1908, Asphaltina's Soliloquy.

W.S. Godwin groover

W.S. Godwin bronze indent roller

History of C.H. Baum & Son

Cement World, 1910 

C.H. Baum & Son was in the metal plating, polishing, and buffing business in New Britain, CT, in the early 1900s. New Britain, home of the famous Stanley Works, was a tool-making center. In 1910 Charles H. Baum (born about 1862) and his son Henry C. Baum entered the concrete tool market with cast iron jointers, edgers, and other tools. Baum offered them in polished, nickel plated, and another unspecified anti-rust finish. There is a Baum Peerless No. 3 groover for sale on eBay as of this writing. Baum was advertising concrete tools in the 1913 New Britain city directory, and the electroplating business was in the 1923 directory.

Baum groover

Cement World, 1910

Cement Tools by Bonney Vise & Tool Works

Bonney No. 9J jointer

Bonney Vise & Tool Works, renamed Bonney Forge & Tool Works in 1921, was a manufacturer of wrenches and other automotive-related hand tools. In the early 20th century they also made what may be the largest known line of cast iron and bronze concrete tools. Their Bonney Cement Tools Catalog No. 19 was issued in 1915, and a scan is at the site Tool Archives. Bonney also made beaders and 6 different indent and grooving rollers, also in iron and bronze. It's unknown when they stopped making masonry tools.

Bonney No. 1CE bronze curb edger

Bonney Vise & Tool Works began in Philadelphia in 1877, and moved to Allentown, PA in early 1909, while retaining a sales office in Philadelphia. The plant was at 716 N. Meadow St., between Tilghman and Green Streets. Bonney remained in Allentown through several ownership changes until the plant closed in 2001. Now called Bonney Forge, the company makes forged industrial valves and pipe fittings instead of hand tools.

Bonney was known for using alphanumeric codes on their tools. Cement tools had a number with one or 2 letters, like 2CE being  a #2 curb edger.

A full article on Bonney and their wrenches is at Alloy Artifacts, another history is on Tool Archives, and a short article is on Wikipedia. The 1919 Bonney Vises & Wrenches Catalog No. 19 and others are on Tool Archives. Bonney's 1967 catalog is on Archive.org.

Bonney advertising sign

History of Crescent Tool Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis

Gazette of the U.S. Patent Office, 1919

Crescent Tool Manufacturing Co., 1002 Cass Ave., St. Louis, MO, made cast iron and steel cement worker's tools beginning around 1919. A 1920 manufacturer's directory lists Crescent as also making carpenter's tools, caulking tools, and edge tools. Frederick William Grundmann patented an edger with an upturned edge, issued 25 Feb. 1919, US Patent 1295735, assigned to Crescent Tool Manufacturing Co. He was a physician with another masonry tool patent and 2 orthopedic brace patents.

Abraham Backus of St. Louis and his son Charles M. Backus of St. Louis and Alton, IL, were early shareholders and executives of Crescent Tool Manufacturing Co., Missouri Pressed Steel Co., and Savidge Tractor Co.

In 1925 the firm reorganized as Crescent Tool & Manufacturing Co., with Dr. F.W. Grundmann (1858-1927) as president and his son Dr. William H. Grundmann (1901-1994) as vice president.

By 1932, Attilio Marcelli (1885-1964) was running the business, after working there as a machinist. Crescent Tool was listed in St. Louis city directories through 1939.

Crescent probably made the Bridge Tool Co. brand sold by Shapleigh Hardware of St. Louis.

Crescent Tool No. 70 edger 

Crescent Tool No. 70 edger

Crescent Tool No. 153 edger

Crescent Tool outside corner tool

History of Orr & Lockett Hardware Co.

Cement and Engineering News, Vol. 18 ,1906

Orr & Lockett Hardware Co. of Chicago, IL, manufactured door and window hardware, knives, and hardware specialties around the turn of the 19th century. Their products included a complete line of cement tools as well as asphalt paving tools, which they advertised to the contractor trade from 1901 to 1906 and possibly longer.

Orr & Lockett was founded in 1872, with offices at 14-16 West State St., and its longstanding president was Oswald Lockett. His sons Harold and Kenneth were active in the business by 1916. When both young men were called to active military duty that year as the nation prepared for the World War, the company decided to liquidate.

Their building hardware was used in structures designed by noted Chicago architects Burnham and Root, including the famous Rookery Building.

Orr & Lockett cast iron groover

The American Artisan, Vol. 72, 1 July 1916

History of Reading Saddle & Manufacturing Co.

Hardware Dealers' Magazine 1913 (note misspelling)

Hardware Dealers' Magazine 1922

Reading Saddle & Manufacturing Co. was one of many U.S. makers of cast iron cement tools at the beginning of the 20th century. They were organized in 1900 to take over the American Saddle Company's works, which made bicycle saddles. They occupied a 2-story brick plant surrounded by housing in the industrial city of Reading, Pennsylvania. The 45 by 60 foot building at 316-318 Maple St. was built for Reading Nickel Plating & Electrical Co., founded in 1883, which did electroplating and manufactured electric motors and dynamos and sold those made by others. American Saddle may have replaced the electrical side of the business before closing. Reading Saddle & Manufacturing's organizers included one of the plating company's officers, and Reading continued to operate the metal plating side of the business. Their cement tools were nickel plated.

By 1922, Reading Saddle & Manufacturing Co. had expanded their plant to 316-332 Maple St., and added a weeding hoe, block planes, and a hacksaw to their large line of hardware specialties. Specifically, this included box and can openers, butcher knives, carpet stretchers, cast hammers, cement tools, chisels, clamps, cleavers, coat and towel hooks and racks, glue pots, hatchets, ice picks, levels, lunch boxes, pincers, pliers, plumb bobs, pulleys, putty knives, sad iron handles, screwdrivers, shears, spading forks, tongs, vises, wall scrapers, window sash hardware, and wrenches. Reading Saddle's products may be identified with these variations in spellings and letter spacings:

Reading Saddle #63 curbing edger 

R.S.&MFG.CO.
R.S. & MFG. CO.
R. S. & MFG. CO.
Reading Saddle & Mfg. Co.

The 1929 Reading city directory lists Reading Saddle at 316 Maple St. By the end of 1929 Ennis Manufacturing Co., which also manufactured hardware specialties, had replaced Reading Saddle at 316 Maple St. John L. Ennis had been one of the organizers of Reading Saddle in 1900.

Reading, PA was also the location of the larger and older Reading Hardware Co., which had no known connection with Reading Saddle.

Reading Saddle & Mfg. Co. Cement Tools

Reading Saddle #2 edger, nickel plated

History of The Cleveland Formgrader Co.

Jasper G. Tullis during World War I

The Cleveland Formgrader Co. manufactured machinery and hand tools designed especially for road construction. These included edgers, finishing bridges, floats, formgraders, form tampers, rooters, scratch templates, strike-offs, straightedges, subgrade scrapers, and trailgraders. The formgrader, introduced about 1920 by Edward G. Carr of Chicago, IL, was a tractor equipped to prepare road grades for concrete forms.

The Cleveland Formgrader Co. was incorporated in 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio by Thomas W. Dieckman, Jasper G. Tullis, Elroy F. Schumacher, and Henry M. Toole. Jasper Garrett Tullis (1890-1964) was company vice president and head designer, with at least 4 US Patents, all assigned to the company:

US Patent 1929660 Method of making a road tool
US Patent 1952398 Road tool
US Patent 2155571 Road tool
US Patent 2425656 Conveyor mounting for trucks

Another 4 patents by others were assigned to the company:

The Cleveland Formgrader Co. 9½ inch edger

US Patent 2112349 Adjustable connection for tool heads and operating handles
US Patent 2928654 Stake puller machine
US Patent 3063676 Airport form pin puller
US Patent 3251281 Machine for forming and finishing concrete surfaces

Jasper G. Tullis was born in Kansas and worked there as a residential carpenter and as a gas engineer in California. His World War I photograph suggests that he worked in construction in the US Army. He moved to Cleveland after the war, and the 1920 US Census gives his occupation as gas and steam engineer in the machinery industry. His work with Cleveland Formgrader shows that Mr. Tullis had a talent for mechanical engineering. Later in life he moved to suburban Avon, OH, where he operated a small machine shop.        

Mr. Tullis's stepson Maurice E. Robinson (1922-2012) was a mechanical engineer for Cleveland Formgrader, and held one of the above patents.

During the 1930s, Cleveland Formgrader's plant was at 11517 Fruitland Ct., a mixed small industrial and residential area with a rail spur. By 1940, they were in a larger brick building at 6723 Denison Ave., also with railroad service. In 1955 they had moved from Cleveland to Mills Rd., Avon, OH. The company may have closed in the early 1960s. One of their machines is at the Historical Construction Equipment Association.

Cleveland Formgrader

Western Construction, Vol. 32, 1957