Pawn Shop on Thursday

[lbgradwell]

It must be the same company; you can't convince me there are/were two companies based in Erie, PA in the same line of work, with such similar names and both using an "L-in-a-keystone" mark!

[rusty]

I'm wondering if they got in a trademark dispute with a certain mail order company....

As a weird coincidence, while going through the stuff in the dungeon this morning,
I found the auto wrench in the photo, tho with the other (bridge) logo...

[eddie hudson]

Looks like I have to change my inventory back to Lakeside. I was checking AA and found this.
http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/Photos/tools/lakeside_oe1824_wrench_raised_logo_f_cropped_inset.jpg

It is definetly marked Lakeside with a "Keystone L"
I'm guessing that if Bus is correct then Lakeside and Lakeview are the same company.

[rusty]

Ahh, here we go.

Iron Age, 1925
  "The Lakeview Drop Forge Co., Erie, Pa., has been organized to succeed the Lakeside Forge Co., Erie, which has been In the drop forging Industry for many years..."

I can' read the entire article on google, but that's the hint at least...

[eddie hudson]

Mystery solved.

[lbgradwell]

Good work!

As an aside, I inherited my grandfather's Erie Tool Works No. 1-R Yoke Vise a few years back. The PDF file Bus links to on the history of Lakeside/Lakeview nicely explains what became of this company too!

The article reads, in part, as follows:

A FAMILY BUSINESS FOR FOUR GENERATIONS

Frank Bacon founded Erie Tool Works in Erie, PA, in 1902 to produce hand tools. He and his descendents have managed the successor organizations for 100 years. Except for a half dozen years beginning in the late 1960s, the business was family-owned also. Frank’s son, Edwin Warner Bacon, and grandson, F. Warner Bacon, served at the helm of the business, and currently, Frank’s great grandson, Matthew L. Bacon, is president and CEO.

For much of its history, Erie Tool specialized in hand tools and vises for the plumbing trade. In fact, for more than 30 years, Erie Tool produced a line of plumbing tools for Sears. Another significant chunk of the business involved producing hand tools under private brand names.

In the early 1950s, Erie Tool moved to larger quarters in Erie and acquired Lakeview Forge, also in Erie, to serve its growing need for forgings.

In the late 1960s, the Bacon family sold the companies to Textron, which was looking for a captive forging operation to serve its defense contracting needs.

F. Warner Bacon bought back the companies from Textron in 1973 and created Lakeview Forge Corp. with Lakeview Forge Co. and Erie Tool Works as divisions.

Later in the 1970s, the hand tool business was sold, but the Erie Tool Works name and operation was retained because it had a good reputation in defense contracting.

And if Mr. Lauver reads this, it appears we have a potential new lead for a Craftsman code related to vintage plumbing tools (although nothing "unknown" on the current list seems to fit with Erie Tool Works)...

[bird]

wow, thanks guys! i have a number of wrenches with all variations of the 'keystone' logo.... glad to figure out what's what!
cheers, bird