History of Meriden Cutlery Co.

 Meriden Cutlery Co. manufactured good quality cutlery in Meriden, CT, from 1855 to 1918, when Landers, Frary & Clark purchased it. As the catalog image below shows, Landers, Frary & Clark continued to make Meriden Cutlery Co. products until 1924. Meriden's products included the Anvil Brand line of putty knives with tropical hardwood handles.

W.P. Fuller & Co. Catalog H, 1924

Meriden Cutlery Co. factory, c. 1900 Source

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 C.A. Maynard

C.A. Maynard's Hoe and Shovel Works, of Northampton, Massachusetts, manufactured several styles of brick trowels in the late 1800s, along with agricultural tools. Their output was carried as far west as Simmons Hardware Co. in St. Louis, MO.

The works was on the banks of Mill River, below Paradise Pond. The business was originally Clement, Hawkes & Maynard, making cutlery and hoes. C. A. Maynard was Mr. Clement's son-in-law. Maynard died 1 May, 1922, age 80. His obituary stated that he had retired 3 years before, after 53 years in business.

The caption under the picture below reads:

The engravings on this page... represent what is now one of the picturesque objects in the city — the hoe and shovel works of C. A. Maynard, with a few of its products. This factory was badly injured by fire, in 1886, and will probably never again be built in its old form, but Mr. Maynard’s business is increasing so that enlargement must soon be had on the ground floor. The factory is always running full, turns out the highest priced goods in America, and gives the most value for their cost.

This photograph at Digital Commonwealth shows the back of the works before the 1886 fire.

Picturesque Hampshire by Charles Forbes Warner, 1890

 Clement, Hawkes & Maynard cutlery 1869