OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

24117 Ted Scott <ted@m...> 1997‑08‑14 Re: Sweetheart History??
On 15 Aug 97 at 0:17, Tom Holloway wrote:
> 	Before 1920 the Stanley Rule and Level Co. and Stanley Works
> existed as two separate companies (it's a long story...) 
 
Well, I could use some bedtime reading, where is it written? (the 
long story that is)

-Ted


24114 David Hegedusich <dhege@e...> 1997‑08‑15 Sweetheart History??
Can someone explain a little about the history and significance of the
Sweetheart logo, used on Stanley tools? I've heard mention of it here
before, either in gloats or FMM listings. I'd be interested in learning
a little lore behind the logo, how it came to be, when, etc.

Today I bought a Irwin patent auger with Sweetheart logo (along with
some other strays), so now I have a personal reason for inquiring.

Thanks!

David


24115 Tom Holloway <thh1@c...> 1997‑08‑15 Re: Sweetheart History??
At 9:47 PM -0500 8/14/97, David Hegedusich wrote:
>Can someone explain a little about the history and significance of the
>Sweetheart logo, used on Stanley tools?

	Well, I can crib from John Walter with the best of them, and he and
other respected purveyors of tool lore, notably Roger K. Smith, after all,
learned it somewhere else themselves, so here's a shot:
	The S.W. in the heart design appeared "according to my sources", in
various configurations below the notched rectangle STANLEY logo, from c.
1920 to c. 1934.  It was preceded by the "V logo" and followed by the
simple notched rectangle.
	Before 1920 the Stanley Rule and Level Co. and Stanley Works
existed as two separate companies (it's a long story...) For some time
before the merger of the two firms in 1920, Stanley Works had been using
the heart logo with SW inside, in recognition of company stalwart William
H. Hart, who served the firm for 61 years and was Chairman of the Board
from 1915-18 (when he "retired" at age 84 and died the following year!).
After the merger, tradition has it that employees were invited to suggest a
new logo for the now united operation, and what we now call the Sweetheart
logo on Stanley tools was born.  Although the use of the SW in the heart
was formally dropped in favor of the simple notched rectangle in 1934, the
older combination logo still came out of the plant on various product lines
until the old stock was used up over the next several years.
	The rest, as they say, is history.
		Tom Holloway


24135 Tom Holloway <thh1@c...> 1997‑08‑15 Re: Sweetheart History??
>On 15 Aug 97 at 0:17, I wrote:
>> 	Before 1920 the Stanley Rule and Level Co. and Stanley Works
>> existed as two separate companies (it's a long story...)

	To which Ted Scott quickly replied:
>Well, I could use some bedtime reading, where is it written? (the
>long story that is)

	The version I drew from is in John Walter, ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE
STANLEY TOOLS: GUIDE TO IDENTITY AND VALUE (2nd ed., 1996, The Tool
Merchant, PO Box 227, Marietta, Ohio  45750, ISBN 1-878911-01-5).  Pp.
62-93 of this 885-page book contains the essay "A Brief History of the
Stanley Companies."  Walter acknowledges Roger K. Smith, PATENTED AND
TRANSITIONAL METALLIC PLANES IN AMERICA, 1827-1927, Vols I and II as an
important source on the early period.

	And this, of course, prompts another query:  Walter lists the
closing date of manufacture of most of the standard bench and block planes
(#3-8, 9 1/2, 60, 110, etc.) in the period 1979-1984, more or less.  A scan
of the "Brief History" essay doesn't provide a definitive statement on when
Stanley stopped making real planes (ie, not talking about Surform rasps) in
the USA. Can anyone out there answer that question, for sure?  Are *any* of
the newly manufactured Stanley bench and block planes now available made in
USA?  If not, since when?
	TIA
		Tom Holloway,
thinking that some of the tool merchants, collectors, and historians on
this list, including the one prominently listed with Frank Klausz's AWW
article on reconditioning vintage planes, might be of some help in these
matters, in view of OldTools policy that those who take advantage of the
commercial benefits of list membership should *also* contribute to the
discussions on the porch in other ways....



Recent Bios FAQ