Ward's Lakeside Pipe Wrench

[Conductor562]

Awhile back I was under my Grandma's house doing some duct work and while under the bathroom I found this gem of an 18" pipe wrench. It was very rusted and I wasn't sure it was even salvageable at first. I assume it was either my Grandpa's or my great uncle's as they're the one's who put the bathroom in back in 1973 and from the shape it was in it could have very easily been there nearly 40 years. After bead blasting it I discovered it was stamped "Ward's Lakeside quality" with the number "6251" beside it. I gave it a couple coats of industrial krylon and it turned out quite nice considering the shape it was in. I'd never heard of the brand but assumed the "Ward's" probably meant Montgomery Wards as my Grandpa was a big Montgomery Ward's shopper. Research confirmed this and I found out that the Lakeside brand was actually the top tier of the Montgomery Ward's line with the lower tier being "Riverside". This surprised me because my Grandpa was an extremely "frugal" guy (that's being nice) and anything he owned that could be associated with quality was either given to him or stolen from Fyke Chemical where he worked. This does not bother me in the least because if ever there were a son of a ***** that deserved any bad thing that happened to him it was Elmer Fyke. Other than what I've stated I wasn't able to find anything else and I would have thought there would be more information out there about the house brand for a retail giant like Montgomery Ward's and I honestly don't recall the brand ever coming up ANYWHERE. I was hoping to date the wrench but no such luck. My main reason for posting this was just to share my story but if anyone knows more about the Lakeside line I'd be happy to hear it. I checked Alloy Artifacts but didn't have any luck there either.

 

[woody 73]

My Father had the same model in the 1960's, if I know Dad he found it at some garage sale for 50 cents.

 

[Conductor562]

My Father had the same model in the 1960's, if I know Dad he found it at some garage sale for 50 cents.

My Grandpa was the same way. I was guessing it was probably bought sometime in the 1960's because of the design and the fact it had probably been there since 1973.

 

[Conductor562]

Quality seems to be good, I'm surprised how little information is out there though. I don't think I've seen Lakeside come up in any conversation ever. There was a brand called Lakeside at one time but they were not associated with Montgomery Ward's.

 

[Provincial]

I have a much older Lakeside pipe 24" wrench. The marking is stamped in script on the fixed head, rather than cast into the handle. Again, it came from my Grandfather, who probably got it used.

 

[chrenan]

I have a Lakeside vise. I also understood it came from Montgomery Wards. It's a nice vise and I use it regularly, cost me nearly nothing used.

 

[lbgradwell]

Is there a maker's mark of any kind? Likely an L-in-a-Keystone or maybe an E-in-a-circle-in-a-diamond..?

In either case, the wrench would have been made by the Lakeview Forge Company/Erie Tool Works which are interconnected companies.