[rollei_list] Re: Stillson Wrenches and Zerk Fittings
- From: FRANK DERNIE <frank.dernie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:44:33 +0100 (BST)
I was brought up in Lancashire in northern England.
The wrench you describe was referred to as a Stillson
on the farm FWIW. I have actually never heard such a
device called a pipe wrench, though there is a generic
English term which escapes me for the moment. Wrench
is actually an American term in England it would be
rarely if ever used. (Spanner is the UK word, often
used slang term "spaniard" in the motor racing
business, as in pass me that 12mm spaniard would you?)
FWIW
Frank
--- Marc James Small <marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> At 08:07 PM 7/21/2008, Richard Knoppow wrote:
>
>
> > I _have_ a Stillson wrench_. I think Alemite
> was first
> >with grease fittings and grease guns but am not
> sure. Its
> >curious how much stuff which is everyday familiar
> to me is
> >completely unheard of by the younger folks I talk
> to.
> >Sometimes I feel like Rip van Winkle. Of course,
> L.A. is
> >full of stuff that is not only gone but has left
> no trace
> >whatever. Even streets get moved.
> > Anyone remember Autolite stores? Just call
> Western Union
> >and ask for operator 25, "Your always right with
> Autolite,
> >Goodnight."
>
>
> I never realized that Stillson was a brand name
> peculiar to western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
> Michigan until I went into a hardware store in
> Williamsburg, Virginia, to buy one. The clerk
> cracked up laughing and said, "you must be from
> Pittsburgh!" I acknowledged this, and he told me
> that the generic term was "pipe wrench" -- and
> then sold me a Stillson brand wrench, which he
> stocked, he claimed, for Luddites such as myself.
>
> Sure, I remember Autolite stores. I also recall
> when Monkey Ward had outlets in every small town
> and when they would undercut Sears by 10% for
> better items. Sears tools were great but J C
> Penney beat them on price and quality. Them was the
> days!
>
> The patent for the grease nipple was granted to
> Oscar Zerk in 1929. Alemite was a company which
> manufactured these. It was absorbed into the
> Stewart instrument company, who made the
> speedometers for the Ford Model T, at the same
> time they bought out Warner to form
> Stewart-Warner, the guys who used to make the VW
> gasoline heaters, a necessity for those of us who
> drive air-cooled VW's in decent climes.
>
> So, yes, it is properly a Zerk fitting.
>
> Marc
>
>
> msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
>
> ---
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---
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