Larco Wrench & Manufacturing Company

Table of Contents

Introduction

Company History

Larco Wrench & Manufacturing was founded in Chicago around 1919 as a maker of pipe wrenches, pipe cutters, and related tools. The founder was John V. Larson, whose surname put the "Lar" in Larco. The company was initially located at 213 West Austin Avenue in Chicago.

Fig. 1. 1920 Listing for Larco Wrench & Manufacturing. [External Link]

Fig. 1 shows the entry for Larco Wrench & Manufacturing on page 537 of the 1920 Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations, published by the State of Illinois.

Fig. 2. 1922 Listing for Larco Wrench & Manufacturing. [External Link]

Fig. 2 shows the entry for Larco Wrench & Manufacturing on page 677 of the 1922 Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations, published by the State of Illinois.

The officers are listed as John V. Larson and Winsor Chase.

Note that by 1922 the capital for the company had increased from $150,000 to $250,000, suggesting that a new investor had joined the company.

Fig. 3. 1919 Ad for Larco Pipe Wrench. [External Link]

Fig. 3 shows a full-page ad for the Larco pipe and monkey wrenches, as published on page 46 of the June 28, 1919 issue of Domestic Engineering.

Somewhat curiously, the ad was taken out by John V. Larson personally, suggesting that the company was still getting organized at this point.

The Larco pipe wrench was based on patents by Charles A. Dies, an inventor with a number of patents related to pipe fittings and pipe wrenches.

Patent 1,155,136 was issued in September of 1915 and describes a pipe wrench that can also be used as a pipe cutter. One of our readers reports that this patent date is marked on the jaw of every Larco pipe wrench.

Patent 1,389,581 was issued in September of 1921 with assignment to John V. Larson. This latter patent was filed in March of 1919, around the time that Larco Wrench was being formed, suggesting that it may have provided the basis for the company.

Fig. 4. 1920 Notice for Larco Pipe and Monkey Wrench. [External Link]

Fig. 4 shows a notice for the Larco pipe and monkey wrenches, as published on page 165 of the December 1, 1920 issue of Automobile Trade Journal.

Despite the claims of a "new principle of design" or "greatest improvement in wrench construction", the Larco wrench was basically a Stillson-pattern variant. The main difference between the Larco wrench and the countless Stillson copies extant at the time was that the Larco jaw carrier was constructed of folded sheet metal instead of a malleable iron casting.

The ability to construct the jaw carrier from sheet metal might have given Larco a small cost savings, but also raises questions about whether their wrenches would hold up under hard use.

At some point Larco began using interlocking dovetails on the folded seam of the carrier, a detail not shown in the patents. This suggests that earlier production might have had problems with the seam separating under load.

Fig. 5. 1922 Ad for Larco Pipe Wrench.

The scan in Fig. 5 shows an advertisement for the Larco pipe wrench, as published on page 137 of the October, 1922 edition of Rock Island Magazine. (The ad has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise from its published orientation.)

This ad has a stunningly clear illustration that shows an interesting production detail for the Larco wrench. Note that the seam where the jaw carrier closes has meshing dovetail cutouts to provide extra strength.

Acquisition of Cochran Pipe Wrench

In 1920 Larco purchased the plant and wrench business of Cochran Pipe Wrench Manufacturing, including the Cochran pipe wrench and the "Speednut" wrench. By that time the Cochran company had changed its name to Cochran Manufacturing & Forging, and the forging business had recently been reorganized into the Great Lakes Forge Company.

Fig. 6. 1920 Notice for Larco Wrench.

Fig. 6 shows a notice of the purchase by Larco Wrench of a forging plant on Woodland Avenue, as published on page 40 [External Link] of the July 31, 1920 issue of Chicago Commerce.

A later notice clarifies that the purchased plant was that of Cochran Manufacturing & Forging, and that the purchase included the Cochran wrench business as well.

Fig. 7. 1920 Notice for Larco Wrench. [External Link]

Fig. 7 shows a notice of the purchase of the Cochran Mfg. and Forging plant and business, as published on page 1707 of the December 23, 1920 issue of The Iron Age.

The text notes that the forging business of the Cochran company had been reorganized as the Great Lakes Forge Company at 119th Street and Racine Avenue in Chicago.

Based on notices in trade journals, it appears that the purchase of the Cochran factory and business was primarily intended to increase the production capacity for Larco's own products. But Larco Wrench did announce its intention to continue production of the Cochran pipe wrench and Speednut wrench.

A Management Change

By 1923 the management of Larco Wrench had changed. An entry for Larco Wrench & Manufacturing on page 528 [External Link] of the 1923 edition of the EMF Electrical Year Book notes the company as a maker of wrenches and drop forgings, and lists the management as president F.F. Corby, vice-president B.T. Bochtel, secretary-treasurer Winsor Chase, and general manager H.E. Robertson.

Note that John V. Larson, the company's founder and president in 1922, is no longer listed at all.

The Second Life of the Speednut Wrench

Within a few years of the acquisition of the Cochran company, it appears that Larco's founder John V. Larson had become keenly interested in (if not downright obsessed with) the Speednut wrench. Larson made a minor improvement to the wrench by adding an external spring to bias the head, and then worked on a more refined switchable spring mechanism.

By 1924 Larson had gone a far as setting up the Speednut Wrench Corporation to promote the improved wrench.

Fig. 8. 1924 Ad for Speednut Wrench.

Fig. 8 shows a full-page ad for the Speednut wrench, as published on page 165 of the August, 1924 issue of Popular Mechanics.

A close look at the illustration shows that it cites a May 2, 1916 patent date as well as noting a pending patent. The pending patent was 1,602,620, filed by John V. Larson in 1924 and issued in 1926.

Another close look at the illustration shows a small tab protruding from the handle, visible just to the upper right of the "D" in "GUARANTEED". This tab allowed an external spring to be used to bias the head in the closed position, which made the wrench somewhat easier to use.

Larson developed a more elegant spring bias mechanism and filed a patent for it in 1924 (the pending patent noted), but the earlier wrench in the illustration used the outboard spring.

We think that the establishment of the Speednut Wrench Corporation is closely connected to the management change noted previously. There seem to be two main possibilities: Larson may have resigned from Larco to spend more time on Speednut marketing his Speednut obsession, or Larson may have been booted from the company by the other investors, for the same reason.

In either case the question comes up as to whether Larson was able to acquire the patent and trademark rights (and possibly production equipment) for the Speednut wrench as part of his departure. Copyright records indicate that Larson was the owner of the Speednut Wrench Corporation, but we haven't found any records to indicate a transfer of patent or trademark rights.

Financial Failure

By 1928 Larco Wrench & Manufacturing had gone bankrupt, and the assets of the company (including patents) were sold at auction on March 2, 1928.

Fig. 9. 1928 Notice of Bankruptcy Auction. [External Link]

Fig. 9 shows a notice of the sale of the assets of Larco Wrench, as published on page 667 of the March 8, 1928 issue of the Iron Trade Review.

But wait! There's more ... please see our article on Chicago Manufacturing & Distributing to learn about the third life of the Speednut wrench.

Postscript: The Larc-O-Matic Wrench

The failure of Larco Wrench seems not to have daunted Larson's enthusiasm for the Speednut wrench. Within a few years he had received patent 1,830,033, ostensibly for improvements to the Speednut design, but really just a codification of the design differences from the original Eifel patent. This patent seems to have been intended primarily to keep the wrench under patent protection.

A decade later Larson got yet another patent for the Speednut design, and the wrench went back into production under the name Larc-O-Matic! We'll add details as time permits ...

Fig. 10. 1945 Notice for Larc-O-Matic Line of Tools.

The scan in Fig. 10 under the heading "New line of Hand Tools" describes a new series of tools to be offered by the Oscar W. Hedstrom Corporation, as published on page 30 of the September, 1945 edition of Mechanical Engineering.

The tool series was developed by John V. Larson and includes the "Larc-O-Matic" wrench, a companion "Speed-O-Matic" wrench, the "Rockerench" pipe wrench, the "Fulco-Matic" automatic "plierench", the "Grip-o" companion to "Rockerench", and the "Over-Grip" nut wrench.

Fig. 11. 1946 Notice for Larc-O-Matic Wrench.

The scan in Fig. 11 describes the new "Larc-O-Matic" self-adjusting wrench available from the Oscar W. Hedstrom Corporation, as published on page 106 of the May 13, 1946 edition of Steel.

Patents

Trademarks

References and Resources

Photographs and observations of particular tools are based on items in the Alloy Artifacts Collection.

Catalog Resources

Currently we do not have any catalogs for Larco Wrench.

Selected Tools

Larco Wrench & Manufacturing has been added to our coverage as an important bridge between the early Cochran Speednut wrenches and the later production by Chicago Manufacturing & Distributing. An example of this later production can be seen as the C.M.&D. Speednut Wrench.

Products by Larco Wrench & Manufacturing itself would include Larco brand pipe wrenches, as well as Speednut wrenches showing the 1926 Larson patent, but without the later 1931 patent.

Pipe Wrenches

Larco 8 Inch Stillson-Pattern Pipe Wrench

Fig. 12. Larco 8 Inch Stillson-Pattern Pipe Wrench, with Insets for Back Side and Bottom View, ca. 1919-1921.

Fig. 12 shows a Larco 8 inch Stillson-pattern pipe wrench, stamped with "Larco" over a "W" outline on the jaw carrier, with "Pat. Pend." below.

The paneled shank is also marked with "Larco" and "Chicago U.S.A." forged into the front panel, with "Drop Forged" forged into the back panel.

The top inset shows the wrench viewed from the bottom, illustrating the dovetail-like tabs securing the seam of the jaw carrier.

The overall length is 8.0 inches closed and approximately 9.2 inches fully extended. The finish is plain steel.

The patent pending notation refers to patent 1,389,581, filed in 1919 and issued in September of 1921.