In 1907 Mr. Alphonse Plomb, Jacob Weninger and Charles R. Williams founded the Plomb Tool Company in Los Angeles, as a modest three man blacksmith shop, making chisels and punches on an anvil with hand hammers, heating their steel in a hand-bellows coke forge.
Early tools were sold generally to the master plumbers and retail hardware stores in the West.
In 1917 John L. Pendleton joined the company as a partner. Much of the dynamic growth of the firm came under the leadership of his son, Morris B. Pendleton, who started in 1918 as a forge helper, between semesters at Pepperdine College. He joined the company permanently in 1922 as General Manager and Partner. In 1936 he became president of the Company, later known as Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc. His drive and energy kept the company in business through a major depression and disastrous fire in the early 30's. Pendleton remained president until 1968 and Chairman of the Board until 1969.
About 1921 the company started in a very small way to manufacture tools for automobile mechanics. In 1927 the company instituted the Automotive Jobber as a customer.
In 1922 the insignificant wrench line was expanded. The few wrenches made at that time were made out of Model T Ford axles which were suitable in size and metallurgy for the company's purposes.
In 1928 the first acquisition was completed with the purchase of the Paschall Tool Co. of Long Beach, CA. This company had previously been a competitor and produced many of the same products. The Paschall brand Ball Pein Hammer with the Paschall stamping was the only ball pein produced by the Plomb Tool Company right up to the end of Plomb production. Plomb did not put it’s logos on hammers pursuant to an agreement with the Plumb Tool Co which produced hammers, hatchets and axes. (A manufacturer of striking tools). This similarity in name was to become a major problem for Plomb.
A branch plant was established in Chicago in 1940 through the purchase of the assets of Cragin Tool Company.
Further expansion was done in early 1941 by acquiring P & C Hand Forged Tool Company in Milwaukie (Portland) Oregon. Mr. John Peterson & Mr. Charles Carlborg established P&C in 1920. The facilities augmented contract production and continued producing P&C tools until about 1964.
In 1942 a "Contracting Company" was formed in Los Angeles with the acquisition of Penens Corporation. This acquisition increased Plomb’s manufacturing capacity for the large scale Wright Field contracts during World War II (see Wright Field Catalog page). In 1947 Penens moved to Schiller Park (Chicago), IL where it continued tool production introducing two brand names; Fleet and Challenger.
Strong gains were made during World War II. The Company geared up for production, contracts, and full scale output for the Armed Forces. It earned five Army-Navy "E" awards - and became a leader in the industry. In 1945 and 1946 the company made inroads into the Latin American countries and resumed exporting overseas.
J. P. Danielson Company, Jamestown, NY was purchased in 1947. J. P. Danielson was another manufacturer of hand tools, including a large variety of pliers.
Proto Tools of Canada, LTD. was established in May of 1952 to keep pace with a rapidly expanding Canadian market.
Protomex, S. A. was incorporated in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico in 1963 as an affiliate.
In January 1957 the company name changed from Plomb Tool Company to Pendleton Tool Industries Inc and was listed on the New York and Pacific Coast Stock Exchanges in 1962. Ingersoll-Rand acquired Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc. in February, 1964 as a wholly owned subsidiary. It operated as a division of Ingersoll-Rand known as the Proto Tool Division. Manufacturing plants were located in Los Angeles, CA; Jamestown, NY; Schiller Park, IL; Portland, OR; London, Ontario, Canada; and an affiliated company, Protomex, S.A., in Guadalajara, Mexico. Distribution Centers were in Columbus, OH and Tucson, AZ.
Ingersoll-Rand sold the Proto Division to the Stanley Works in May 1984. It is, as of this writing, the Stanley - Proto Industrial Tool Division, headquarters in New Britain, CT.
This information came partially from a pamphlet sent to Ed Boudinot by Mr. Tom Burnes.
Mr. Burnes was an employee of Proto Tools going back to the Plomb days. This historical pamphlet is one of the few that Ed discovered. It provided insight into the company as it grew and evolved. Our focus is primarily on the years between 1907 and 1947, although the Plomb Tool Company did not change it's corporate name until January 1957.