I was working near the livestock chute today, and found this partially buried next to it:
It's a case for a hex wrench, otherwise known as an Allen wrench. It should have occurred to me that the name of the tool came from the name of a company, which was the name of a person. I also had no idea that it was invented/patented in Hartford.
But that's the case, The Allen Manufacturing Company was yet another Connecticut tool manufacturer. There's little reason for me to write up more since there's an excellent overview of the company on this blog.
But I will note that they opened a manufacturing facility in Bloomfield in 1958, although it appears it wasn't directly served by the railroad, based on the location of their plant.
Regardless, it was interesting to see yet another common tool comes from a Connecticut company.
Cyclists use them a lot and still call them "Allen keys"
ReplyDeleteYes, I've always known them as Allen wrenches. I've used plenty for things like Ikea furniture and locking nuts on guitars.
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