It is described in early 1880s hardware trade journals and an l. Various tool makers alloy artifacts tool history page. The famous line of coes adjustable monkey wrenches date slightly after the appearance of the dixie and hewet patents. I collect old tools and this book is an excellent reference for my research. After 1939 its successor companies manufactured monkey wrenches from coes designs until the mid1960s, yielding a production run of over 120 years. Worcester tinker loring coes invented the screw wrench, or as it is.
The boston wrench group is clearly a colonial or early republic era predecessor to the proliferation of adjustable wrench designs in. Lucas and son produced wrenches with a wide variety of markings, branded as girder, girder minor and girder major. In the early days, the wrench was made out of wrought iron. When a fragile peace breaks down between pakistan and india, the united states is forced to intervene. Others are can be located when offered for sale by antique tool and used book dealers or on online auction sites. Loring coes and his brother aury gates coes dominated the screw wrench business in the united states for many years. With the eccentric crew of an airship called the wind breaker, nita graus means to find that cure, whatever the price. Thomas johnson antique furniture restoration 23,283 views. Others, especially those reprinted by ken roberts, have had additional pages of background information added to them. The tool works as a lever with notches at the mouth for gripping. Some parts of the book made me feel uncomfortable and i wanted to put the book down, but im glad i didnt. Coes wrench in other collectible tools for sale ebay.
History facts world history we are the world in this world vintage pictures old pictures new orleans oldschool african american history. Antique coes 6 12 wrench co monkey wrench late 1800 era. The davistown museum has received communications from an owner of a wrench with the l. Oct 14, 2015 loring coes wrench, patented in 1841, solved two more problems. Wrench collecting books for sale the wrenching news. Some wrenches have mouths that can be tightened to better fit various objects that need turning. Wrench, tool, usually operated by hand, for tightening bolts and nuts. You are bidding on one coes adjustable wrench as pictured. Artisans and builders use hardware hand tools to carry out manual labor tasks such as chopping, chiseling, sawing, filing and forging. Featured texts all books all texts latest this just in smithsonian libraries fedlink us genealogy lincoln collection. Herb pages 2005 book, the brothers coes and their legacy of wrenches, notes the support sleeve feature in this patent was used on some l. Coes wrench company manufactured the screw type wrench invented by loring coes.
Coes wrench company was a tool manufacturing company based in worcester, massachusetts. Coes monkey wrench early patent dates 8 inch tools. Coes 8 monkey wrench early patent dates antiques, art, vintage. Coes wrench company was a tool manufacturing company based in. Monkey wrench charles moncky invented the monkey wrench around 1858. Antique 8 adjustable monkey wrench loring coes company worcester mass u antique coes wrench co worcester mass 10 monkey wrench june 1866 march antique 6 coes adjustable monkey pipe wrench.
Yet somewhere in that wretched land there is a cure for a dire disease. The lucas girder wrench was patented in great britain in 1897, and continued in production well into the 20th century. Basically, a wrench consists of a stout lever with a notch at one or both ends for gripping the bolt or nut in such a way that it can be twisted by a pull on the wrench at right angles to the axes of the lever and the bolt or. Some products were based on designs developed and patented by charles e. One side coes wrench co worcester, mass usa other side mfd under l coes pats steel condition. The historic coes knife company where the monkey wrench was invented in 1840. Coes wrench worcester, m antique coes 6 12 monkey wrench coes adjustable wrench co worcester ma antique.
His wrench was stronger and could be adjusted by the thumb of the hand holding the wrench. In 1841 loring coes received a patent for a screw wrench that could be adjusted with one hand. Search the history of over 411 billion web pages on the internet. Page 1 of a collection of tools from various hand tool makers, mostly from the. The same characteristics shine through in this book. However, there is no indication of who reprinted and if it is ed. This one is in good working condition with some minor staining and light pitting on. The wrench is pulled at a right angle to the axes of the leveraction and the bolt or nut. They eventually split the company, and operated independently for many years. A much more indepth account can be found in a short book called the brothers coes and their legacy of wrenches which clarifies a lot of confusing points and is my source for. Coes genuine screw wrenches trade catalogue by coes. According to a volume of through the heartland, a series of books focusing on state history, tolmans invention of. Copies regularly turn up at old tool swap meets and in estates of tool collectors.
No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. If you have any questions, please contact me and i. If you are old enough, you might be familiar with a phrase that goes something like well, thats thrown a spanner in the works. A second owner has a bar wrench crescent wrench with this patent date. The metal has some sign of pitting but not rusty now. It was widely used in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but is now seldom used in the mechanical trades, having been mostly replaced by the newer style of shifting adjustable spannerwrench. Coes wrench vintage catalog advertising the garage journal. Get the best deals on coes wrench in other collectible tools when you shop the largest online selection at. Ratchet wrench robert owen, jr 1881 1956 invented the ratchet wrench. The pipe wrench side of a combination wrench works like a screw pipe wrench. Add to cart buy now more shipping options email a link to this book. Morrill of dayton, ohio and assigned to the dayton malleable iron company also of dayton with the most commonly seen marked dayton but also found with names of several buggy manufactures. Restoring an antique tilttop table thomas johnson antique furniture restoration duration.
Pipe wrench on september, 1870, a patent was granted to daniel c. Charles monk, monkey wrenches and a monkey on a stick a gripping history and etymology of monkey wrench in orson welles classic film, citizen kane, a newsreel crew spends the entire film looking for the meaning of kanes dying word, rosebud. The forgotten story of americas most famous tool the. Advertisement for the coes wrench company published in the january 1901 issue of the worcester magazine a monkey wrench based on the coes wrench design late 1800s or early 1900s. I felt all of her shame and disrespect and how the wench was regarded. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. The first wrench had a s shaped handles and a straight angle. The soldier who invented the monkey wrench soldiers tales. The history of old time farm implement companies is a 520 page, hardcover book. This scan is by papaws wrench member johnsironsanctuary who identified it as a reprint. It is marked coes wrench co worcester mass usa on one side, and made in usa under l coes pats steel on the other.
Vintage logos worcester massachusetts company logo retro mid century. Now wrenches are made out of metal people loved how the wrench worked because they liked how that you dont need to use that much power to use the lever. Coes and his brother aury gates coes worked for the firm of kimball and fuller, a firm that made machinery for the woolen industry. The emf electrical year book for 1921 listed besco as a trade. All of the monkey wrenches in the tison tool barn are derived from that design. Worcester was established as a town on june 14, 1722, chosen the shire town or county seat of worcester county in 1731, and incorporated as a city on february 29, 1848. I give this book 4 stars because by the end, it all came together for me. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Click to read more about coes genuine screw wrenches trade catalogue by coes wrench company. The boston wrench group is clearly a colonial or early republic era predecessor to the proliferation of adjustable wrench designs in the 19th century. Oct 26, 2015 a combination wrench is a combination of a monkey wrench and a pipe wrench. The historic coes knife company where the monkey wrench was invented in 1840 formerly occupied the site. Following a list of wrench patent dates with the names of their makers is the catalog of wrenches, organized alphabetically by maker.
Sep 02, 2015 loring coes and his brother aury gates coes dominated the screw wrench business in the united states for many years. Over 3000 wrenches are pictured with the company that issued the wrench. Coes wrench company manufactured the screw type wrench invented by loring coes, this wrench is commonly known as the monkey wrench. Oct 05, 2018 this was one of my favorite beforeafter restorations. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers all about coes genuine screw wrenches trade catalogue by coes wrench company. Some of the reprints listed here were recreated from damaged originals. Herb drew on a wide range of resources to compile and publish the brothers coes and their legacy of wrenches. Note the style of the split wood handle on this one. This logo is most often seen on a style of buggy wrench patented april 23, 1907 us pat no 51,428 by horace e.
The coes wrench company would go on to develop wrenches for 87 years. A wrench, also called a spanner, is a typically handoperated tool thats used for tightening bolts and nuts. Jul 16, 2014 beyond the islands of caldera the world is a vicious place. In 1909 the coes wrench company advertised a sixfootlong key wrench, shaped like a monkey wrench, for use on railroads. It contains the history of over 500 companies along with over 500 old advertising pictures. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search.
Search millions of objects in the collections including photographs, artworks, artifacts, scientific specimens, manuscripts, sound records, and transcripts. The two firms merged again in 1888, forming the coes wrench co. Worlds first african american heavy weight champion and inventor of the wrench jack johnson was born in galveston, texas and spent his teenage life working on boats and city docks. With purchase of the book comes a 176 page supplement that matches over 3300 wrenches. Cleaning my favorite antique coes wrenches youtube. Jaws top and bottom and screw mechanism are in great working shape does show typical and expected.
The history of hardware tools who invented wrenches, gauges and saws. Coes worcester mass adjustable wrench tool excellent. The markings on this are worn and hard to read, the coes wrench coworcester is still legible, the other side has a pat date of which you can read july 6 1xxxcant make out the last three numbersi know on july 6 1880 coes did file a patent on a screw wrench of this type, there is also a date listed below of july 8 18xxagain hard to read so i. Coes wrench company worcester, ma company logo, worcester. Guide for identifying markings found on collectible wrenches. Coes reservoir is a 100acre property at the worcester headwaters in the tatnuck brook watershed. History facts world history we are the world in this world vintage pictures old pictures new orleans oldschool african. It was later changed to have a thin center strip of metal running the lenghth. This was one of my favorite beforeafter restorations. This is a good clean 8 monkey wrench marked coes wrench co. I try to describe all items as best i can but im no expert so please do not assume. See here for some early wrench history a short history of coes wrench can be found here.
In 1841, loring coes, another springfield resident, improves on merricks wrench by making it possible to adjust the jaws with one hand. The handle is the 1 piece wood type in good condition with wear and a small dings, some hairline cracks in the wood, and chips from overtightening, still solid and in one piece. Coes wrench company manufactured the screw type wrench invented by. If you are old enough, you might be familiar with a phrase that goes something like well, thats thrown a spanner in. Coes introduced a separate screwassembly, mounted at the top of the handle, alongside the shaft. An appendix contains an interview with loring coes. I will not attempt to list these here as there are literary thousands of wrench parts numbers for farm implements alone rathbone lists over three thousand agricultural related wrench numbers in the supplement to his book the history of old time farm implement companies and the wrenches they issued and there are still many farm wrenches with. Trade literature at the american history museum library collection smithsonian libraries. Charles monk, monkey wrenches and a monkey on a stick. Coes and his brilliant book power down hero, dewey andreas, are back in fine form in coes latest thriller, coup detat. While the date of the earliest tools is uncertain, researchers have found equipment in northern kenya that may be about 2. Coes patent adjustable screw wrenches by trade circular.
This one the wood handle pieces touch directly together. Type of material trade catalogs trade literature date 1900s company name coes wrench co. For more information on coes wrenches see the discussion in our information file on boston wrenches. Stillson invented the pipe wrench sometimes called the stillson pipe wrench. Dec 06, 2019 globe magazine the forgotten story of americas most famous tool 150 years ago, charlestowns daniel stillson invented a wrench yes, a wrench that changed everything. I highly recommend this book for tool collectors and those interested in the history of tools. Amounts shown in italicized text are for items listed in currency other than canadian dollars and are approximate conversions to canadian dollars based upon bloombergs conversion rates. Worcester is located in central massachusetts, and is known as the heart of the commonwealth. The monkey wrench is a type of adjustable wrench, a later american development of eighteenthcentury english coach wrenches. The historic coes knife company where the monkey wrench was invented in. I felt like i came facetoface with my history as a black woman in america. The book combines family history, industrial history, and patent and advertising history to help us understand and appreciate all the details that appear on the tools. The soldier who invented the monkey wrench soldiers.
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