Proto (tools)
| Proto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | Los Angeles, California, United States (1907) |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | Industrial tools |
| Parent | Stanley Black & Decker |
| Website | protoindustrial.com |
Proto Tools (formally Stanley Proto) is an American industrial hand tool company. Founded as Plomb, it is presently a division of Stanley Black & Decker. The company is credited with creating the first combination wrench in 1933.
History
[edit]Established by Alphonse Plomb, Jacob Weninger, and Charles Williams as the Plomb Tool Company, the company started in 1907 as a small blacksmith shop making chisels in Los Angeles. In 1933, Plomb released what is commonly credited as the first combination wrench.[1]
Plomb acquired a number of companies during the 1940s, including Cragin Tool of Chicago, Illinois in 1940, P&C Tool of Oregon in 1941, Penens Tool of Cleveland, Ohio in 1942, and J.P. Danielson of Jamestown, New York in 1947.[2] Penens Tool would produce tools under the Fleet and Challenger brand names after its acquisition.[3]
In 1946, Plomb was sued by another tool manufacturer—Fayette R. Plumb, Inc., now a brand of Apex Tool Group[4]—for trademark infringement.[5] The company began manufacturing its tools with the Proto name, a portmanteau of "professional" and "tools," in 1948. In 1957, the company began operating as Pendleton Tool Industries.[6]
In 1964, Proto was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand, and in 1984, it was acquired by Stanley and became Stanley Proto Industrial Tools.[7]
Gallery
[edit]
A 1933 5/8" Plomb combination wrench.
A Proto "Big Dawg" ratchet.
A Proto adjustable wrench.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Plomb: A Gallery of Tools". Alloy Artifacts. p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
- ↑ Stanley Proto. "Company History". Retrieved March 14, 2014.
- ↑ "The Proto Empire". Alloy Artifacts. p. 1. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
- ↑ Lamond, Tom. "Fayette R. Plumb Co". YesteryearsTools. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ↑ "CORPORATIONS: Plumb v. Plomb". Time. December 6, 1948. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Plomb: A Gallery of Tools". Alloy Artifacts. p. 1. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
- ↑ Thomas, Bob. "Company History". Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2010.