Alligator Wrenches

Alligator wrenches were used primarily with the square nuts that used to be more common than hex-sided nuts.

  

 On the stamped wrench above, the M inside a diamond indicates that this is a product of the Frank Mossberg Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts.   In 1899 Frank Mossberg and other investors founded the Frank Mossberg Company to manufacture tools, with the intended production of pipe wrenches, bicycle wrenches, and related items. The company was initially located in Providence, Rhode Island and operated independently of Mossberg's earlier business(es), but by 1900 the company had moved to Attleboro, and then in 1901 the earlier business operations were merged into the Frank Mossberg Company. By the early 1900s the company was producing bicycle wrenches in a number of styles, with names such as Sterling and Diamond.  In 1927, the company merged with APCO (the Auto Parts Company) to become APCO-Mossberg, and later specialized in the manufacture of torque wrenches.

 The forged wrench above is stamped “Neverslip”, which was the store brand for the E. C. Simmons Hardware Co. of St. Louis, Missouri.  Edward Campbell Simmons went from lowly clerk to president of a huge hardware firm, with tool plants in New Hampshire and the largest pocket knife factory in the U.S.  He introduced the “Kleen Kutter” like of tools and knives, and then extended the alliteration to King Koaster children's wagons; Klipper Klub ice skates; Korn and Koffee Krushers; Karpet King sweepers; Kool King ice boxes; Klear Krystal lamp chimneys; Kar King accessories; King Kord tires, and Keen Klipper lawn mowers.  The company’s 1901 catalogue had over 5000 pages!  The company went bankrupt in 1939 and its assets were purchased by the Shapleigh Hardware Company which continued to market its trademarked Simmons lines into the early 1960’s, living up to E.C. Simmons’ slogan, “The Recollection of Quality Remains Long After The Price Is Forgotten.”