Twix Manufacturing Company

[RTM]

So I just picked up a small universal bevel from a friend, as I have a few of these that I have found quite useful. When it arrived, I was surprised to see it was a Twix Bevel. Having never heard of them before, I immediately googled garage journal, and found a few squares have shown up in the 2019 and 2020 garage sale threads, and they are on a list of tool making companies, but not much info on the company itself. So away I went to see if I could dig up more info.

So far, what I see is they were formed prior to 1942, and maybe dissolved by 1974.

There is a NYTimes article 4/30/1924 in Archive.org (95 articles), with Twix Manufacturing in the article, but it has been taken down, and their Paywall is in the way of getting it directly? (Linked activities, nah?) Suspect it might be an article entitled BID AND ASKED QUOTATIONS. The clip shows the 40-09 part of their address from below, so guessing they did not move.

1941-06-25 has them listed in American Machinist magazine, with just text listings of name and address, saying they do Contract Work, 40-09 21st Street, Long Island City, NY,

Their name shows up a a few 1942? Naval Hearings. This wanders through some of Lugz' territory, as they were involved in some Naval hearing, probably about improper behavior, but snippet view keeps things short and guessing.

Then things go quiet until November 1945, when they start showing up in Hardware age at 40-09 21st Street, Long Island City 1, NY, advertising a combination square, with Level and Scriber!

Hardware Age 1945-11-22: Vol 156 Iss 11 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1945-11-22: Volume 156, Issue 11.Digitized from IA1574615-05.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1945-11-08_156_10.Next...

archive.org

Next up is a nail clipper, then back to the combo square every other issue (2 weeks)

Sept 12 issue pops up with a full page ad, with my bevel top left (F) sliding bevel B-105

Hardware Age 1946-09-12: Vol 158 Iss 6 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1946-09-12: Volume 158, Issue 6.Digitized from IA1574615-05.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1946-08-29_158_5.Next issue:...

archive.org

They alternate between full page and half page ads for the next few issues, then went to half page

Hardware Age 1946-12-05: Vol 158 Iss 12 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1946-12-05: Volume 158, Issue 12.Digitized from IA1574615-05.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1946-11-21_158_11.Next...

archive.org

In 1947, they had a presence at the National Hardware Show

In 1946 they may have unionized, but can't see the details, probably AFL from Snippet view.

In 1947 they were listed as having a work stoppage in Work Stoppages in New York State, not sure if Aug 1946 or 47.

Sept 1947 they featured a mitre box, vise type

Hardware Age 1947-09-11: Vol 160 Iss 6 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1947-09-11: Volume 160, Issue 6.Digitized from IA1574615-06.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1947-08-28_160_5.Next issue:...

archive.org

Nov 1947 they featured a favorite tool of mine, a universal measuring tool, great for depth, quick set measurements, and the skinny rule makes it much more useful than a combination square.

Hardware Age 1947-11-06: Vol 160 Iss 10 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1947-11-06: Volume 160, Issue 10.Digitized from IA1574615-06.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1947-10-23_160_9.Next issue:...

archive.org

End of Feb 1948 featured an adjustable Bench Level

Hardware Age 1948-02-26: Vol 161 Iss 5 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1948-02-26: Volume 161, Issue 5.Digitized from IA1574615-06.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1948-02-12_161_4.Next issue:...

archive.org

Late March featured a block plane

Hardware Age 1948-03-25: Vol 161 Iss 7 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1948-03-25: Volume 161, Issue 7.Digitized from IA1574615-06.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1948-03-11_161_6.Next issue:...

archive.org

Finally getting featured in Feb 1949, a cool twisty drill for fitting in small spots. It had shown up in the half page ads for a while.

Hardware Age 1949-02-10: Vol 163 Iss 3 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1949-02-10: Volume 163, Issue 3.Digitized from IA1574615-06.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1949-01-27_163_2.Next issue:...

archive.org

In 1953, they start advertising in Aviation Week, showing lots of bigger tools, now calling it tooling

Aviation Week 1953-04-27: Vol 58 Iss 17 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Aviation Week 1953-04-27: Volume 58, Issue 17.Digitized from IA1514330-01.Previous issue: sim_aviation-week-space-technology_1953-04-20_58_16.Next issue:...

archive.org

In mid 1953, they start advertising their take down square, claiming the Only 2 Piece Easy Carrying Square, "Take Down" Rafter and Framing Square, but I swear they were made much earlier by Eagle, I'll check later.

Hardware Age 1953-06-25: Vol 171 Iss 13 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hardware Age 1953-06-25: Volume 171, Issue 13.Digitized from IA1574615-07.Previous issue: sim_hardware-age-home-improvement-market_1953-06-11_171_12.Next...

archive.org

Their last Archive.org listing is in April 1961, a listing in Automotive News Almanac (They'd advertised there prior, but its a text only listing, kinda boring)

In 1966, they were listed in Queens in a Industrial Directory of New York State (Is L.I.C. in Queens?, no idea, I'm a West Coast guy)

1974 had them on a list of suppliers, previous number 06709, looked like they lost their number, suspect they were long gone by then.


They do have one entry in the ITCL, loaded April of this year, so way newer than I've been reading up on.

Twix Leaders : Quality Tools... : Twix Manufacturing Co., Inc. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

1 p., illus., 23.2 cm, advertisement

archive.org

Oh yeah, and here is my tool, the Bevel, 6" Overall length, marked out 0-4" on the one face, and 30, 45, 60 & 90° angles on the opposite.




And while not quite as sleek and well made as a Starrett #47 Universal Bevel, it seems pretty decent so far.



Well that's more than enough for now, I hear dinner calling my name (I gotta go order and pick up, so they will probably call my ## at least)

 

[four.cycle]

excellent.
thank you!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

but snippet view keeps things short and guessing.

If you're curious, you can ask the Google Books team to unlock it. My success rate is pretty good (around 75%). It all depends on their source. If you've never done it before, here are the steps...

1. Copy the URL and jot down the page number, which you will need for the inquiry form.
2. Click on "Where's the rest of this book?" found just under the snippet.
3. Scroll down to FIX COMMON PROBLEMS and click on the "You can't see the full book" carrot
4. Click on "Ask us to review it"
5. Fill out the inquiry form and select 'Other'. (I always write, "I'd like to see page ** for research purposes, please." in the last block.)
6. Submit

There is no record of Twix Mfg in my WWII contracts books. It goes from Twin Harbors Lumber in Olympia, WASH to Tycoon Tackle in Miami, FLA.

 

[woody 73]

Good write-up well done...

 

[RTM]

In April 1953, a patent was issued to Saul Shaler for a Method of Making Pinking Shears Cutters (2,636,402) and a second (2,676,401, April 54) for Self Adjusting Pinking Shears. Twix Manufacturing made a Peerless Pinker based on these two patents. Rumored to be from the early 50's, and a high end pinking shear. But why does this matter to GJ?

The next dive was into DATAMP, which revealed one patent for Twix, issued to S Shaler, Jackson Heights, NY, 2,512,177, Jun 20, 1950, prior to the Peerless Pinker patent. This was for the Take Down rafter square mentioned above.

US Patent: 2,512,177 - Steel square

US patent 2,512,177 Steel square was issued to Saul Shaler of Jackson Heights, NY. It was granted on 06/20/1950. This takedown square was manufactured by the Twix Mfg. Company, 40-09 21 Street, Long Island City, NY.

datamp.org

This is Saul's only patent in DATAMP, which is a bit of a shame, as he has several others, (including Canadian duplicates)

Google Patents

Search and read the full text of patents from around the world with Google Patents, and find prior art in our index of non-patent literature.

patents.google.com

including what looks like the nifty drill I noted above

US2546655A - Adjustable hand-drill - Google Patents

And an adjustable Level Patent, which may be related to the one above

US2439698A - Level - Google Patents

Back to work, more later

 

[bbbarracuda]

Which is better? Left Twix or right Twix?

Are You Left TWIX® or Right TWIX®? Pick A Side | TWIX® US

Do you prefer Left TWIX®’s smooth caramel flowed onto crispy cookie and bathed in chocolate? Or Right TWIX®’s crunchy cookie cascaded with soft caramel and cloaked in milk chocolate?

www.twix.com

 

[four.cycle]

This is Saul's only patent in DATAMP

The datamp.org site has pretty narrow parameters in respect to what does and does not get posted there.
If it is a TOOL and it's NOT listed, click on "report data errors or omissions" at lower right (just below the photo image) and shoot an email to the appropriate site steward. (There are several of them.) Be patient waiting for an answer.

 

[four.cycle]

^ follow-up to above post:
In some cases, the item may be considered less "tool" and more "machine", in which case the place to find it (and information on it) is at

VintageMachinery.org | Welcome

sometimes the "line" may appear to be a bit fuzzy. (or maybe it's just my eyes.)

 

[RTM]

I knew someone would go there BBarracuda. Was surprised it took this long. Was going to add this to my google maps stuff. Those candy things are really slowing me down, blocking search results via -mars -candy -chocolate still doesn't stop all their links from popping up.

My next data foray took me to the 1958 Industrial Directory of New York State, Dept of Commerce. The copy from Google Books was snippet view, and quite fuzzy, so I got lucky and found another copy in the Hathi Trust library, the full book, searchable. There were 6 hits in the google books version, pages 139, 438, 587, 609, 637 & ??, but they don't quite line up with the 3 in Hathi, but they mostly point to this listing, their big listing, with officers, addresses product lines etc.

Industrial directory of New York State 1958.

President Morris S Gipstein (1944 - 1961)
VP Daniel J O’Brien
Sales Mgr Joseph Albert (President 1962-63)
Chief Engr Saul Shaler (from above)
Purchasing Agent B Pilmer (VP 1962-63)

Twix Mfg Co, Inc, MO & P 40-09 21 St Long Island City 1, See 3543a

Street view at the address gives a 5 story building undergoing refurbishment (left Twix). The plant address, about 0.8 miles away, 37-25 33 St L.I.C (right Twix) looks like a recent construction site, so I didn't bother posting pics

Edit: added new trivial info from other sources

 

[RTM]

The datamp.org site has pretty narrow parameters in respect to what does and does not get posted there.
If it is a TOOL and it's NOT listed, click on "report data errors or omissions" at lower right (just below the photo image) and shoot an email to the appropriate site steward. (There are several of them.) Be patient waiting for an answer.

I've worked with the DATAMP crew before, generally great to deal with. Many years back, I found a vise patent that wasn't there, and struck up an email exchange with the vise steward. At that point, he had 600+ patents in an Excel sheet to add to the DB. I don't stress them too much. I suspect rather than telling them patent ##, which they may already have, offering to help as an assistant data steward might do them more good, helping to enter the data.

 

[four.cycle]

sounds like you already know the drill with them.
I would not want their job.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

would not want their job

That's part of the problem - it's not a paying gig!

Good guys. I have sent them a few photos for patents they had none and list as 'Not known to have been produced'.

 

[RTM]

Their lead contact just got back to me. They are hurting for people, so if you have a a passion for a certain flavor of tool, they'd love another set of hands, or six. A couple of their initial staff have lost interest, and a few are swamped, so not much moving forward right now.

I suppose starting its own thread might be a good idea. Guess I'll do that.

 

[four.cycle]

I had an interesting back-and-forth with one of their stewards on the "not known to have been produced" line.
Apparently that is the "catch-all default" when little or no information can be found on a particular item.
I've sent in dozens of examples (from ebay photos) of tools that were formerly listed at datamp.org as "not known to have been produced."

 

[RTM]

yeah, its the default check box, and if it doesn't get checked at initial entry, it'll stay that way 'til someone catches it.

 

[RTM]

Here is a recent addition, an extra item in a box lot of a few items. No idea who made any of the stuff in the lot, so was pleasantly surprised to see it was another Twix item

 

[RTM]

Wow, never heard of them before, and now I'm up to a third item. This is not a very collectible example, it shows signs of hard wear, like it was consistently held tight when closed, or bound in a tool belt pocket.





The side view doesn't look terribly sprung, but apparently it is. The 1's are on the left in that image. No number on it, but the ad linked above shows it as an RL-113 (Ruler Long? vs the RS-113 at 3')

 

[four.cycle]

1948 Hardware Age Twix Mfg. Co. ad pp 30

 

[RTM]

As the ad above says, “watch for additional tools”. Saturday I was picking up a bunch of tools to sell for a friend. He’d bring a box outside, set 1/3 aside to keep, and pass the rest to me. He pulled one tool out, which is similar to one of my favorite measuring tools for Woodworking. I asked to see his, and wow, it’s another Twix, a D-106 per 4.Cs ad. I did not give it much of a look, just grabbed two quick pix, and we moved on. This is a bit bigger than my favorites, but will probably work just fine.

Just like the other ones, protractor on one side, rule to act as a depth gage. Added bonus of a hook that looks like it can be used to mark, or maybe a caliper type function.

Have to figure out what the patent may be. The only one in DATAMP is for a takedown square.

 

[kwigly]

Found Two Twix Tools; a 10" level (with an inclinometer bubble), and a bevel like RTM's
(thanks for all your Twix research RTM ! )