That's the "Pocket" model, the smallest they made. They didn't number it. The No. 1 (several examples on the thread) and No. 10 (no examples yet) are much larger. See post #33 for relative sizes.
That's the "stepped" cutout I was referring to in post #40, page 1.
Note that several "JAR" examples were posted on page 1.
...D27,471, showing and describing the smaller wrenches, refers to the openings only in terms of the shape of what he calls "figures" ("triangular" and "substantially rectangular") to be "cleft" into the wrench. He makes no mention of function, which is not that unusual for a design patent. The first was granted in 2 months. The second in 4 months.
Not sure if it was already posted, but this was going to be turned into a movie studio a few years ago. Thats why the water tower has (or had) been painted with branding for a movie studio. Would have pretty neat to see something come back to Trenton. Unfortunatly the only thing keeping this city relevant is the state offices
Sadly true. I'm there fairly often, though, driving right through it to get to the flea market in Lambertville, picking up or dropping off kids at the train station, and I go to a couple Thunder games every year. And the wife and I love the Grounds for Sculpture, which is just outside the city to the west.
...to include Bonney.
Agreed. Bonney also made this model, which they called "Vixen." I've said it before in this thread, but it never fails to amuse me that Bonney called their early "Alligator" type wrenches "Crocodile" wrenches to avoid litigation. Only Roebling owned that name.
Today, a Roebling #5 Alligator wrench made the triumphant return to its birthplace, at the Roebling Museum in Roebling NJ. The museum's Executive Director, Lynne Calamia was there today to receive the wrench, and along with several staff, was excited to accept the elusive old #5. It will soon be added to the display board, leaving just one more missing wrench: the size 1 1/2. Please help Lynne find this final wrench to make the board complete.Last Saturday my wife and I went on a house tour in Roebling, NJ and visited the Roebling Museum. The museum was established to chronicle the history of the Roebling manufacturing ventures in Roebling, NJ. Essentially, when the Roeblings needed more space than was available in Trenton they bought, around 1900, a few hundred acres downriver near Kinkora. There they built a steel mill, known as the Roebling Kinkora Works, and other supporting functions to support and augment their Trenton operation. Since they needed thousands of people to staff the mills, the company essentially built attached and semi-attached housing and rented that housing to those, primarily eastern European immigrants, for a modest amount. They built 700+ units of housing in the very early 1900's This became the town of Roebling, NJ. These houses were eventually sold in the early '50s primarily to the occupants. Many are still occupied, with pride, by the descendants of those workers.
The Roebling Company was sold in 1952 to Colorado Fuel and Iron and was closed permanently in 1974. The site, with the 70 buildings, was designated a Superfund site by the EPA. All the buildings were demolished with the exception of a Gatehouse that has been remodeled to house the museum which focused on the village of Roebling, life of the workers and the accomplishments of the Roebling family in not only providing the wire rope for the Brooklyn Bridge and other bridges but also engineering the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
I was excited to see that the museum had a display of the Roebling "Alligator" wrenches. The display board reflected what I believe to be all the Alligator wrenches they made, along with examples of most. They were missing the #1 1/2 and the #5. Remembering that one of our members, PSCo186, had a #5 I reached out to him to see if he would have an interest in donating it. Rich was very enthusiastic about the possibility of helping the museum fill out there collection. Hopefully that will work out and I look forward to updating my photo in the near future. If anyone has a #1 1/2 that they might like to contribute please call the museums's Executive Director, Lynne Calamia at 609-499-7200; I am sure she would love to hear from you!!
BTW, for those not far, this was a great day trip; great little community, quiet, nice people and a museum to tour!! Also museum's hours are Thursday, Friday, Saturday 11:00- 4:00.
A reminder that Lynne Calamia (Executive Director @ Roebling Museum) is still looking for a Roebling size 1 1/2 alligator wrench to complete the museum's display board. If you stumble onto one, please grab it! Thanks.Today, a Roebling #5 Alligator wrench made the triumphant return to its birthplace, at the Roebling Museum in Roebling NJ. The museum's Executive Director, Lynne Calamia was there today to receive the wrench, and along with several staff, was excited to accept the elusive old #5. It will soon be added to the display board, leaving just one more missing wrench: the size 1 1/2. Please help Lynne find this final wrench to make the board complete.
Lynne sent out a big thanks to GJer rallenc! Without the visit from rallenc and his wife, I would not have know this wrench was missing and needed for the display.
The Roebling museum is a treasure. Put a visit on your to-do lists!
Pictured with me is Lynne Calamia, Executive Director of the museum:
These V&B catalogs are a great illustration of the broken record point I was making throughout this thread about the "Alligator" name being trademarked and vigorously protected by Roebling. Because I am a Bonney guy, and because I think it was as boldly infringement-challenging as it was clever, I have often alluded to their production of "Crocodile" wrenches. Interesting how V&B played it much safer with their "Handy" branded clones.
The "Always Ready" wrench on page 118 of the 1895 A. Tredway & Sons Hardware catalog bears the Whitman & Barnes logo.
I am not sure I want to derail my own thread with a deeper "Always Ready" wrench discussion, but I suppose it's as good as a place as any. They are, like so many other take-offs (Forsyth, Vixen, etc), a sort of double-alligator.
The V&B catalog implies that they were used for something where "across flats" sizes were important:
The words "jump in" and "High Bridge" don't belong in the same sentence (nyuk nyuk nyuk!
), but that is a great find! Had it not been for Mr. Roebling, we might not have a Brooklyn Bridge.
With binder twine. lol.
See Currier & Ives postcard depiction in post #1.
I have run the Pittsburgh Marathon three times, and I have had some friends that where iron workers back in the 1950s and 1960s and they would talk about the bridges that you cross during the marathon. A bunch of alligator and spud wrenches lay at the bottom of the Monongahela and Allegheny and Ohio rivers. The Marathon zig zags the bridges and is a sight to see.
My bad. RTM.
