On Jan 2, 2012, at 12:24 AM, Ray Gardiner wrote:
> Well **almost** all that's left :- except to determine who actually
> made the saw? For that we still await the presentation of pictorial
> evidence.

>>      I guess all that's left is to let Martin know that Lakeside Saw
>>      & Tool and Montgomery Ward: all same no difference.

Oh, Ya--I was sorta focused on Martin's uncertainty about the
relationship betweenLakeside Saw & Tool, and Montgomery Ward. That seems
pretty well nailed, so who actually made the saws? The $1,000
capitalization does seem like a token amount, even if it would be nearly
$24,000 today (per online inflation calculator). Hardly enough to start
up actual manufacture of saws in 1908, I think. Erv. Shaffer's *Hand-saw
makers of North America*, p. 46, says that Montgomery Ward sold saws
made by Disston, Woodrough & McParlin, and Wheeler-Madden- Clemson. BUT
the source of that data point is the MW catalog for 1894-95, some 14
years before the formation of Lakeside Saw & Tool in 1908. On p. 54 Erv
says that in 1893 Henry Disston Co. absorbed Wheeler-Madden- Clemson and
Woodrough & McParlin, along with Richardson Bros. and Harvey W. Peace,
and operated "them all under a new enterprise called National Saw
Co.,Newark, NJ. Then on p. 17 Erv says the National Saw Co. operated in
Newark, NJ from 1890 to 1906, i.e., ending before Lakeside's 1908
starting point. And as reported earlier, on p. 15 Erv lists Lakeside Saw
& Tool in his "maker" lists, for the 1909-19 period, with locations in
Chicago, St. Paul, Ft. Worth, Portland, and Kansas City (asZach reported
from a saw in his stash). One thing this exercise suggests is that
probably other firms Erv lists as "makers" were, like Lakeside, not
really manufacturers, but distributors of products made by others with
their name on them. Josh votes for C.E. Jennings as the maker of
Lakeside saws. On p. 14 Erv gives CE Jennings dates as 1878-1932, so
that's inclusive of Lakeside, and notes that as of 1913 CE Jennings made
saws sold under several other brand names, but Lakeside is not one of
those listed. Negative evidence is not really evidence, and the fact
that CE Jennings was a maker for multiple brand names suggests that
Lakeside could have been one of the names--for marketing by Monkey
Wards. Still circumstantial. So, Ray: everybody's welcome to join the
hunt. Whatcha got? And Doc: Got a picture of the saw that started all
this? Tom Holloway

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