Joe in NH answers Chuck's questions:
Pike went out of business in 1932 in Pike, NH when they were gobbled up
by the Norton Co., who is still in business today. They used the Pike name for a
while after 1932.
And Tim S. adds:
That clears up a miny mystery for me...I've got a Pike stone's box (cardboard)
with a Norton stone in it. Came that way from an estate sale and I was never c
ertain it was correct. Looks like it probably is correct and dates from post-1
932 (about the right age for the other stuff I got in that sale if I recall corr
ectly).
Just to continue this thread, here's some more information about the beginning o
f the Norton-Pike relationship. The following is quoted directly from a book c
alled "The Norton Story", written by Mildred McClary Tymeson and published by th
e Norton Company in 1953 (notes in brackets are my additions):
In 1897, with its abrasive wheels and bricks, the Company [Norton]
introduced
the India oilstones. They were made of India corundum in three grit sizes and
had as their identification mark the head of a tiger. The company also adverti
sed Norton Emery Scythe Stones as "superior to natural stone. Can be used for
sharpening lots of other things besides scythes." [Hmmm... where have we heard
this lately? Randy? :^)]
It may have been just such an advertisement that provoked a letter from
Edwin Pike, the president of an oilstone factory in Pike, New Hampshire. He wrot
e:
"We know your oilstones and your regular scythestones, and notice you are
making quite a push on these goods. We are old hands in the business. You wi
ll find that the outcome, after you push the sale and send out samples and adver
tise and hustle, will be not enough sale or profit to half pay. These goods (n
atural stones) have been on the market many years and will hold a fair portion o
f the trade and what trade can be secured outside of these goods will not pay yo
u to bother with."
To emphasize his point Mr. Pike continued:
"One stone usually lasts a man a lifetime. There are only a few oilstone
s
bought." [If he could only see us now...]
Nonetheless, Norton Emery Wheel Company continued making its oilstones....
[and] the Pike Company again frankly wrote in 1899:
"Abrasives made by some of the emery people are rubbing the edges off from
some of our profits."
In the same letter it was suggested that a joint company by formed for the manu-
facture of "whetstones," in which the management would be Norton's, the sales b
e Pike's. [Meanwhile Norton had determined that their existing sales plan was
unsatisfactory.]
An arrangement with the Pike Company, which had a well-established hardwar
e
store trade, seemed a most logical solution. It was thus contracted in Novembe
r of 1899 that the Pike Company would take over all the sales of the India oilst
ones.
[Going back in time just a bit for a brief history of the Pike Co.:]
Person Noyes, in 1821, was chopping wood near Indian Pond in New Hampshire
when he chanced to pick up a stone to rub against the cutting edge of his axe. T
he results were so amazingly satisfactory that he later went back to the spot ag
ain and again to find more of this magic material which was in reality part of t
he finest mica schist deposits ever discovered.
In a few years Person Noyes died, but his wife remarried, this time to a m
an
named Isaac Pike who profited from his predecessor's discovery by establishing a
scythestone factory. The mica schist for his stones was found on the New Hamp
shire hillside in perpendicular layers of microscopically cemented natural abras
ives. (Today [1953] it is being taken from the same original deposit.) Its s
tructure prevented its being formed into circular shapes, so never did it compet
e with the old grindstone. Mr. Pike called his product the Indian Pond Scythes
tone and painted the end of each stone a bright red color.
In 1891 the Pike Company bought the Chase Brothers factory in New York who
se
specialty was fashioning stones of Arkansas rock, composed of 99 and a fraction
percent silica. Another of their stones was the Washita which was cut from Ind
iana sandstone. Two years later the Pike Company purchased the Labrador Oilsto
ne Company in Manlius, New York, another branch of the Chase Brothers.
It was thus that in 1899, at the time of the arrangement with Norton Emery
Wheel Company, the Pike Manufacturing Company offered four stones for sale: the
Washita, Arkansas, Indian Pond, and the India oilstone. A facetious advertisem
ent of the India oilstone read as follows:
Made right by the Norton Emery Wheel Company.
Sold right by the Pike Manufacturing Company.
Displayed right in all leading hardware stores.
Used right by all up-to-date mechanics.
India Oilstone - All Right.
[End of quote]
I've frequently seen the Norton and Pike names/logos together both on stones and
in printed material, at least as recently as 1930. Not sure for how long afte
r that that Norton used the Pike name. Anyway, I'm sure this is more than any
of you ever cared to know about it (except maybe for Joe)...
Paul Fuss
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