Duro Metal Products &

Indestro Manufacturing:

The Tools of Progress

Table of Contents

Introduction

Duro Metal Products and Indestro Manufacturing, two companies with common management, were important makers of hand tools during the middle part of the 20th century. In this article we'll look at the company history and their extensive patent and trademark activities, discuss the somewhat complicated issues of tool identification, and of course show lots of examples of their tools.

Company History

Before examining the history of Duro Metal Products and Indestro Manufacturing, we first need to clarify the relationship between the two companies. A casual observer might at first think that Duro and Indestro were unrelated businesses, but on closer examination Duro and Indestro look and behave more like a single company, with a dual organization set up to promote the branding of their products.

For example, both companies listed their headquarters at the same address, 2649 North Kildare Avenue in Chicago, and both companies' catalogs show the same two illustrations of their factory buildings. Numerous items in the Duro catalogs were actually products branded Indestro, and Indestro products often listed patents granted to Duro Metal Products. The Indestro catalogs show most of the same products as the Duro catalogs, but with different model numbers assigned to the Indestro pieces.

From these considerations, for our present purpose Duro and Indestro can be treated as a single company with two major product brands. In fact, it appears that the main reason for Indestro may have been to allow production of inexpensive or economy lines of tools, without diluting the high-end reputation of the Duro products.

Although Duro and Indestro acted in concert for most of their history, the companies began separately and with very different products, then began to converge as each evolved into a tool company. For a period in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Duro and Indestro would have been fairly direct competitors, as each sought business from major retailers like Sears Roebuck and Western Auto Supply. Based on our historical findings, the companies finally joined forces in mid 1933, and afterwards became a potent force in the tool industry.

With the above in mind, let's explore the early history of these companies.

Duro Metal Products

For most of its history Duro Metal Products used 1916 as its founding date in the company catalogs. However, a check of public records gives 1917 as the actual year of incorporation, and it's unclear whether this minor discrepancy is simply company folklore, or whether it indicates that operations commenced prior to incorporation. (It's not unusual for a company to begin operations as a partnership and then later become incorporated.)

Fig. 1. 1918 Notice of Incorporation. [External Link]

Fig. 1 shows a notice of incorporation for Duro Metal Products, as published on page 61 of the February, 1918 issue of Mill Supplies.

The text lists the founders as Alfred W. Bays and Albert N. Powell, with $5,000 in capital. The listed capital was rather small for a manufacturing company, even in 1917, and as we'll see shortly, the company capital increased substantially over the next few years.

Fig. 2. 1919 Notice for Duro Metal Products. [External Link]

Fig. 2 shows an entry for Duro Metal Products listing the incorporation date as December 24, 1917, as published on page 79 of the 1919 Biennial Report of Secretary of State for Illinois.

The company's rapid development during the 1920s and 1930s was under the management of Norris F. McNaught and William H. Odlum, both of whom played an active role in product development for many years. Although apparently not present at the company's founding, by 1921 W.H. Odlum was listed as the general manager of Duro Metal Products, as noted on page 64 [External Link] of the February, 1921 edition of the Transactions of American Society for Steel Treating.

Fig. 3. 1922 Notice for Duro Metal Products.

Fig. 3 shows the entry for Duro Metal Products on page 331 [External Link] of the 1922 List of Foreign and Domestic Corporations, published by the State of Illinois.

The text lists Wm.J. Casey and W.H. Odlum as officers, and gives the capital as $25,000. The company address is listed as 361 East Ohio Street in Chicago.

By 1924 Norris F. McNaught had joined W.H. Odlum at Duro Metal Products.

Fig. 4. 1924 Notice for Duro Metal Products.

Fig. 4 shows the entry for Duro Metal Products on page 370 [External Link] of the 1924 List of Foreign and Domestic Corporations, published by the State of Illinois.

The officers of the company are now listed as W.H. Odlum and N.F. McNaught, and the capital has increased to $100,000.

Note the significant increase in capital for the company, from $5,000 in 1917 to $25,000 by 1922, and to $100,000 by 1924. These sequential capital increases occurred around the times that W.H. Odlum and N.F. McNaught become officers of the company, which strongly suggests that both men had made substantial investments in the company.

Early Products

The words "metal products" in the company name leave open the possibility of a wide range of products, as the reader will see from the description of Duro's early products.

Fig. 5. 1921 Listing for Duro Metal Products Lilly Hoist Controller. [External Link]

One of Duro's earliest products was the Lilly Hoist Controller, a mechanical and electrical controller for use on safety hoists in mines. Based on notices in trade journals, the Lilly equipment was being offered by 1919 and remained in production for a number of years. Duro Metal is noted as attending some trade conferences for mining equipment during this period. The controller was based on patent 1,153,124, issued to William J. Lilly on September 7, 1915.

Fig. 5 shows a catalog listing published in the 1921 edition of The Mining Catalog, providing an illustration and description of the Lilly hoist controller. The company's address is listed as 361 East Ohio Street in Chicago.

Fig. 6. 1922 Notice for Duro Metal Products Lilly Letterograph. [External Link]

Another of Duro's early products was quite different: a set of stencils for doing hand lettering.

Fig. 6 shows a notice describing the "Lilly Letterograph" stencil set, as published on page 13 of the September 14, 1922 issue of Geyer's Stationer. This notice gives the company address as 360 East Grand Street in Chicago.

The seeming discrepancy in the company's address can be explained by noting that East Ohio and East Grand streets run parallel one block apart, so that a large building could have an address on each street.

Advertisements for the Lilly Letterograph appeared in some issues of Popular Mechanics beginning in August, 1922.

Fig. 7. 1923 Notice for Duro Metal Products. [External Link]

Fig. 7 shows a notice regarding a new building for Duro Metal Products, as published on page 883 of the December 7, 1923 issue of Sheet Metal Worker. The text states that Duro Metal Products had awarded a contract for a new building, to be constructed at 2649 North Kildare Avenue in Chicago.

Fig. 8. Illustration of Duro Metal's Kildare Avenue Factory.

This was the address that Duro Metal (and later Indestro) would occupy for many years.

The scan in Fig. 8 shows an illustration of Duro's Kildare Avenue factory, as found on page 1 of the 1935 Duro catalog.

The Origin of Indestro

If the two products noted in the previous section provide little indication of Duro Metal becoming a leading tool company, the origin of Indestro Manufacturing will seem even more improbable. According to information discovered in trademark applications, Indestro actually began as the maker of a bottle-capping machine!

Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company

An early logo found on a wrench set provides an interesting (and unexpected) view of the origin of the Indestro brand and company.

Fig. 9. Early Sure Seal Bottle Capper Logo, ca. 1920s.

Fig. 9 shows the detail from an early Indestro nut and tap wrench set, marked "Sure Seal Bottle Capper Co." and "Chicago" around the outside, with "Mfrs. Indestro Products" in the center.

This suggests that the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company was the earlier entity using the Indestro mark, and that bottle-cappers were an important early product. Several patents for bottle-cappers were issued to Harold G. Rice before and after 1920, and some of the later patents were assigned to Indestro.

Additional research has confirmed that the Sure Seal entity was the originator of the Indestro mark. A trademark search found that the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company filed an application on September 10, 1921 for an "Indestro All Steel Capper" mark in a graphic design. The trademark was issued as #156,066 on June 13, 1922, with the first use date listed as January 20, 1921.

Fig. 10. Indestro All Steel Capper Logo, 1922.

Fig. 10 shows the graphic design included in the trademark application. The information from the trademark application shows that the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company was using the Indestro brand during the early 1920s, and that the trademark was used on bottle-capping machines.

The trademark application noted that the Sure Seal company was a copartnership of Harold G. Rice, Louis M. Rice, and Landor Penne. Two of the partners are listed in the notice below, found on page 1161 of the 1923 Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations, published by the Illinois Secretary of State.

Fig. 11. 1923 Notice for Sure Seal Bottle Capper Corporation. [External Link]

Fig. 11 shows the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company at 552 West Harrison Street in Chicago, with the officers listed as L. Penne (living in Oregon) and H.G. Rice. The capital was listed as $10,000.

Fig. 12. 1923 Ad for Sure Seal Bottle Capper Corporation. [External Link]

Although Sure Seal started out as a bottle capper company, it soon became interested in automotive tools.

Fig. 12 shows an ad for products including a valve lifter and a set of wrenches, as published on page 155 of the December, 1923 issue of Hardware Retailer.

The address is listed as 552 West Harrington[sic] Street, a misspelling that should be "Harrison".

An even earlier ad for just the valve lifter can be found on page 188 [External Link] of the September, 1923 issue of Ford Owner and Dealer.

We've seen a similar full-page ad in the 1924 Hardware Buyer's Catalog for the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company, but with the later Coyne Avenue address.

Indestro Manufacturing

By late 1925 there were references in trade publications to an Indestro Manufacturing Company in Chicago.

Fig. 13. December, 1925 Ad for Indestro Tools.

The scan in Fig. 13 shows an advertisement for Indestro Manufacturing with the Indestro logo at the top, as published on page 97 [External Link] of the December, 1925 edition of American Exporter. This is currently our earliest known ad for tools from Indestro Manufacturing.

The illustration shows a nested set of open-end wrenches held together by a screw, plus a socket wrench set with six sockets stored on a hexagonal Ell handle.

The text notes the company's products as "automotive accessories", and gives the company address as 2650 Coyne Avenue.

A later notice from 1928 confirms the 2650 Coyne Avenue address and mentions H.G. Rice as the company president.

These notices show that by the mid 1920s Indestro Manufacturing had become the successor to the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company.

In addition, a 1928 notice on page 386 of Volume 122 of Iron Age lists Indestro Manufacturing at 2650 Coyne Avenue as a maker of universal joints, valve lifters, and other tools, showing that Indestro had become a tool company by this time.

The piecemeal discoveries in the previous paragraphs are neatly corroborated by the recently discovered (June, 2010) document for "Indestro" Trademark #229,445. The application was filed on March 13, 1926 by the Indestro Manufacturing Company and states that the mark "Indestro" was being used on a variety of tools, including nut wrench sets, socket wrench sets, ratchets, universal joints, valve lifters, and others.

The company address was listed as 2650 Coyne Avenue in Chicago, the application was signed by H.G. Rice as president, and it even mentions the former operations as the Sure Seal Bottle Capper Company.

From late 1925 onward tools from Indestro Manufacturing were being advertised and offered in catalogs.

Fig. 14. 1926 Advertisement for Indestro Socket Sets.

The scan in Fig. 14 shows a newspaper advertisement for Indestro socket sets, published on page 5 of the November 5, 1926 edition of the Edwardsville Intelligencer of Edwardsville, Illinois.

The larger set in the ad is noted with nine sockets and a "positive locking container", which is believed to be a reference to the Indestro No. 19 Socket Set, a popular model also listed in the 1926 Western Auto Supply catalog.

Fig. 15. 1928 Catalog Listing for Indestro No. 600 Socket Set.

The scan in Fig. 15 shows a catalog listing for an early Indestro socket set, found on page 10 of the 1928 McMaster-Carr "Industrial Merchandise" catalog.

The contents of the set included a ratchet, an "L & T" handle, two speeders, two universals, extensions, 19 hex sockets, and 8 square sockets, all for the bargain price of $4.95.

A careful look at the illustration shows an odd mix of hexagonal and square drive pieces, including an adapter from hex to square drive.

The L & T handle and the ratchet definitely are hex drive, but the presence of adapters suggests that some of the sockets could have been square drive.

Note that although the illustration of the L & T handle looks a lot like the Hinsdale TL-1 Convertible Handle, it's actually the recently (2019) discovered Indestro T-L Tee and Ell-Handle. This is one of the earliest known catalog listings for Indestro products.

By 1929 Indestro had moved again, this time to 3429 West 47th Street. The 1929 Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations, published by the Illinois Secretary of State, lists the company at this address, and the 1930 Blue Book of Chicago Commerce confirms the address. The latter publication lists the company's products as socket wrenches, auto tool kits, polishing grinders, valve lifters, and a number of other tools, plus their original bottle cappers.

The move to West 47th street put Indestro practically next door to Sherman-Klove, at that time a contract manufacturer of screw machine products.

Duro Becomes a Tool Company

After exploring Indestro's development in the late 1920s, let's now try to fill in some details on Duro's transformation into a tool company. Unfortunately we're hampered by a lack of catalogs or advertisements covering the mid to late 1920s, but in 1929 and 1930 Duro socket sets started appearing in the Sears Roebuck catalogs. The Duro sets sold by Sears show a high degree of mastery of the relevant manufacturing technologies, including screw machine operations, metal forming and bending, and metal stamping for the cases.

In late 1929 Duro filed an application for the "Duro-Bilt" trademark, with the first use given as October 12, 1929. The application listed the covered products as socket wrenches, socket wrench kits, valve reamers, and valve-grinding machines. The trademark application is consistent with the noted Sears activity, and we have two examples of Duro-Bilt socket sets that were probably sold through Sears.

In the absence of catalog resources, we can get a good handle on Duro's activities in the late 1920s by looking into their patent filings. When we look at the Duro Patents, we see a flurry of patent filings from 1927 to 1929, all related to automotive service tools. There are patents for reciprocating valve grinders (#1,749,300, #1,751,657), lever action ratchets (#1,798,481, #1,798,482), a convertible L-T handle (#1,744,413), and a socket kit holder (#1,788,535). All of these represent tools that would have been high demand at the time, and some of them show that Duro was looking closely at the activities of competitors like Hinsdale Manufacturing. For example, the L-T handle and lever action ratchets were basically knock-offs of Hinsdale designs, although possibly with improvements.

The patent and trademark records demonstrate that Duro was following a path similar to Indestro, so that both Duro Metal Products and Indestro Manufacturing were producing tools for the automotive service market by the late 1920s. Their early products included such items as hex-drive socket sets, 1/2 square drive socket sets, fixed socket wrenches, and specialty tools. (Indestro also produced a variety of other products, including bottle-cappers and kitchen utensils such as egg-beaters.) Examples of their early tool production can be seen in the Duro 634 Socket Wrench and Indestro Socket Wrench.

The Ownership Puzzle

What's missing from the public notices presented thus far is information on when Duro Metal Products and Indestro Manufacturing came to have common ownership. Our original assumption was that Duro Metal Products had acquired Indestro Manufacturing sometime in the early to mid 1920s, but given that the companies had separate addresses as late as 1930, the ownership change must have come some time after that.

We have found some clues in the public record. In particular, the entry for Indestro Manufacturing in the 1934 Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations lists both Norris F. McNaught and William H. Odlum as officers. In addition, Indestro's 1937 trademark application for the "streamlined" mark (#346,439) was signed by Norris F. McNaught as president.

A more subtle clue to the ownership change can be gleaned from the patent records. Harold G. Rice, the founder of Indestro, had a number of patents pending in 1932 and 1933, in particular #1,869,945, #1,904,328, and #1,912,725. Patents #1,869,945 and #1,904,328, issued on August 2, 1932 and April 18, 1933 respectively, both listed Rice as the assignor to Indestro Manufacturing.

But patent #1,912,725, issued on June 6 of 1933, lists Rice as assignor by mesne assignments to Indestro Manufacturing [emphasis added]. In property law "mesne assignment" is a term meaning an assignment that passes through an intermediary. In the context here, this means that by June 6, 1933 Harold Rice had already assigned his rights to the pending patent, presumably to the new owners of Indestro Manufacturing. This provides further strong evidence of the ownership change, and narrows the date of the transfer to sometime between April 18 and June 6 of 1933.

Barring further information to the contrary, we'll use mid 1933 as the date that the two companies joined forces.

Duro to the Rescue!

The refined timeline from the previous section allowed us to do more targeted research on the ownership issue, and we did an extensive search for references to Indestro in newspapers and trade journals in the 1932-1933 timeframe. We expected to find at least a small notice to the effect of "Duro Metal to Acquire Indestro Manufacturing", but what we found instead was that Indestro had fallen into unfortunate circumstances. In late 1932 Indestro apparently ran into financial difficulties and was unable to make payments on a bank loan, and as a result the company was forced into receivership.

We discovered this in a series of public notices in the Chicago Tribune, placed in late 1932 and early 1933 by the bank's receiver. The notices announced the liquidation of Indestro's assets and listed a variety of machinery and production equipment for sale.

Fig. 16. 1932 Notice of Liquidation for Indestro Mfg.

The scan in Fig. 16 shows a public notice of Indestro's pending liquidation, as found on page 37 of the October 23, 1932 edition of the Chicago Tribune.

The text provides an extensive list of the company's equipment and other assets, and the receiver is listed as W.F. Leimert, operating on behalf of the Central Manufacturing District Bank.

A number of similar notices were published in the early part of 1933, with the list of equipment remaining about the same, suggesting that the receiver was trying to sell everything in one lot. But it was probably difficult to sell used equipment in 1933, as the ongoing economic depression was causing many companies to fail.

The final notice was published on page 40 of the June 11, 1933 edition of the Chicago Tribune and announced a public auction to be held on June 13. The list of items to be sold included everything from production equipment down to desks, chairs, and filing cabinets, suggesting that basically all of Indestro's physical assets had been pledged as collateral for the loan.

With what we already know about Duro's acquisition of patent rights from Indestro, we can see now that the acquisition of the company was really just a transfer of intellectual property and intangibles. But we'd like to think that Duro also picked up some bargains at the public auction — and we can offer evidence that they probably bought some unsold merchandise as well as tooling such as stamping dies.

The 1935 Indestro catalog listed both the older Indestro Embossed Ratchet and Indestro T-L Handle, tools that overlapped Duro's own products. Given the overlap, it wouldn't have made sense to put them back in production, so the later sales likely came from old inventory bought at bargain prices.

Fig. 17. 1935 Catalog Listing for 36-Piece Socket Set.

Additional evidence of the acquisition of unsold merchandise can be seen in Fig. 17, a scan of page 81 of the 1935 Western Auto (Western edition) catalog.

The illustration shows an Indestro Embossed Ratchet along with sockets in the reduced-base style typical of Indestro in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The reappearance of these older tools was likely a "closeout sale" of inventory picked up at the auction.

It's also likely that Duro picked up tooling for some of Indestro's products at the auction. Later catalogs continued to offer some of Indestro's earlier products, including kitchen gadgets such as the "Whipit" egg-beater and various sets of stamped-steel wrenches. Keeping these products in production would have been much easier if the original stamping dies were purchased at the auction.

Development During the 1930s

With the ownership questions now more-or-less resolved, let's review the developments during the 1930s, as this was really a critical time for Duro/Indestro. By the early 1930s the two companies, although still operating separately, were both actively developing and marketing products for the growing automotive service market. Many patents were granted to Duro Metal Products during this period, covering both new product designs and better ways of producing existing items. By the time the 1939 Duro-Chrome catalog (#39M) was issued, the companies were offering a broad line of tools with both high-end and economy selections.

By the early 1930s Duro apparently had drop-forging capabilities, which was needed for products such as the forged body pressed-flange ratchet and drop-forged wrenches. Drop-forged parts had probably been required earlier for the production of their mine hoist equipment, or for their line of woodworking power tools. (Duro Metal Products also manufactured a well-regarded line of woodworking machines and other power tools, and produced a separate catalog of such equipment.)

During the 1930s, Duro and Indestro were suppliers to at least three major retailers: Sears Roebuck, Western Auto Supply, and Montgomery Ward. The tools supplied included socket sets, drive tools, and wrenches, and were sold both under existing Duro or Indestro brands, as well as private brands produced for the particular retailer. The paragraphs below will provide some examples of these supplier arrangements.

The 1931 Sears Spring and Summer catalog listed several "DuroBilt" brand socket sets, which are easily recognized as Duro production. The sets included a 45-piece carbon-steel socket set in a tool chest for $4.35, a carbon-steel 36-piece Wrench Set for $2.89, and the latest "Super DuroBilt" 40-piece alloy-steel set for $5.98. The latter set is particularly interesting, as it mentions the use of "Chrome Nickel Steel", and was also available with 12-point sockets for a slightly higher $6.75 price. In 1931 Sears had not yet extended its Craftsman brand to include socket sets, so sockets and drive tools were offered only under other brand names. (Other socket sets were sold under the Hinsdale, Merit, and "Bob Cat" brands.)

Indestro had found early success as a supplier to Western Auto Supply and had provided hex-drive socket sets (and possibly other tools) as early as 1926. By 1931 Indestro was also supplying alloy steel tools to Western Auto, as an Indestro "Chromium Vanadium" 17-Piece Socket Set was acquired with a Western Auto receipt dated in 1931. Indestro also supplied 1/2-drive carbon-steel socket sets to Western Auto, such as the 47-piece and 36-piece sets illustrated with Indestro's T-L handle in the 1932 catalog.

Duro was supplying valve grinders to Western Auto by 1929, and by 1932 Duro was providing "Perfection" offset box-end wrenches for the "Chromium Vanadium" line, in direct competition with Herbrand's "Multi-Hex" wrenches. By 1933 Duro was probably supplying knock-offs of Herbrand's "Obstructo" obstruction wrenches as well. The ability to compete head-on with Herbrand, on old-line merchant drop-forging company, is strong evidence for Duro's in-house drop-forging capabilities.

The Western Auto catalogs show that the Duro-Indestro "merger" in 1933 was quickly reflected in their tool production. The 1933 Western Auto (Eastern edition) catalog (copyright in 1933, so presumably published sometime in that year) lists an Indestro chrome-vanadium 17-piece socket set, with a Duro pressed-flange ratchet replacing the Indestro ratchet adapter supplied in the previous year. In addition, the 47-piece and 36-piece economy socket sets are shown with a Duro lever-action ratchet and L-T handle, replacing the Indestro Lever-Action Ratchet and Indestro T-L Handle that had been illustrated in the previous year.

Later in the 1930s, Duro/Indestro was a major producer for Western Auto's ChromeXQuality line, and continued to supply products for the later Wizard and Westcraft tool lines.

For Montgomery Ward, Duro/Indestro produced sockets and wrenches for the company's "Riverside" line, and some examples of these tools will be shown in a later Riverside section. A 1935 Montgomery Ward catalog shows a 35-piece chrome-vanadium steel socket set in a toolbox for $8.45; the set can be recognized as Duro production by the socket design and the pressed-flange construction of the ratchet. The catalog also offered a chrome-vanadium "Compact Utility" Socket Set, as well as chrome-vanadium box-end wrenches and an older 36-piece carbon-steel socket set for just $2.69.

Hot-Broached Sockets

In May of 1935 Duro filed for an important patent on their new hot-broaching method for making sockets, and the patent was issued as #2,027,922 in January of 1936. The patent document has an excellent discussion of the prior art (cold-broaching) and the advantages of hot-broaching, and is highly recommended for anyone interested in the how and why of such things. Among the advantages cited are the increased strength of the sockets, the smooth broach free of chatter marks, and the relieved lip at the drive end that allows for easier connection to a drive tool.

Duro was relatively early in adopting the hot-broaching process for socket production, which would eventually become standard for the industry. More information can be found in the section on Hot-Broached Sockets with Duro's socket tools.

The Streamlined Design Trademark

In early 1937 Indestro filed an application for an important trademark, the "streamlined" design for its wrenches. The application listed December 30, 1936 as the first use date, and the registration was issued as #346,439 in May of 1937.

The trademark application shows the design as a dart-like elongated oval, with the illustration placing it within the outline of an open-end wrench as an example. This trademark is notable in that it doesn't depend on any specific wording, but only on the design itself, so that any wrench made with this distinctive design could still be regarded as marked by Indestro. This would have allowed the company to make tools with the specific "Indestro" branding omitted from the forging, so that the finished tools could be marked with private brands as needed.

Fig. 18. Indestro Chicago Double-Open Wrenches Showing Streamlined Design.

Fig. 18 shows the streamlined design as it appears on several Indestro double-open wrenches, each marked "Indestro Chicago U.S.A." with "Drop Forged Select Steel" on the back side. (The back side is shown later with the discussion of the Select Steel mark.)

In these examples the streamlined design takes the form of depressed panels with pointed darts at the end, and the width of the panels follows the natural shape of the shank.

The streamlined design also appears as raised panels with darts on other wrench models.

Unfair Trade Practices

In 1940 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against Indestro Manufacturing alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices. The issue was the use of various forms of "alloy steel" (e.g. "Drop Forged Alloy Steel") in catalogs and advertising to describe wrenches made of what the trade commonly considered as carbon steel. A summary of the complaint and decision by the FTC can be found on page 452 [External Link] of the 1942 Volume 35 of the Federal Trade Commission Decisions.

We discovered this complaint by accident but immediately recognized what must have triggered the FTC enforcement action. When Indestro introduced its highly successful "Select Steel" line in 1937, it initially referred to the line as "Special Alloy" tools, and some tools even had "Drop Forged Alloy Steel" forged into the shanks. (See for example the Early Indestro "Chicago" Open+Box Wrench.)

When we wrote the section on the Indestro "Select Steel" Tools, we were puzzled by the seemingly spurious references to alloy steel, and added a discussion of alloy vs. carbon steels. Even before the FTC complaint, Indestro itself apparently had second thoughts about diluting the meaning of alloy steel, and by 1939 had changed to "Select Steel" in its catalog. (Duro and Indestro had an extensive line of higher-priced chrome-vanadium tools.)

The text of the complaint provides some interesting information, such as clarifying the meaning of "alloy steel" to include the addition of metals such as nickel, tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, chromium, and copper, which were known to improve the toughness and hardness properties of steel. In addition, the complaint states that the steel used by Indestro for the tools in question had been purchased as S.A.E. 1045 steel, a medium-carbon tool steel with 0.6 to 0.9 percent manganese.

The FTC conducted an investigation into the matter, which included having the National Bureau of Standards perform quantitative analyses on the tools in question. Based on the analyses, the FTC concluded that the trace quantities of desirable alloying elements found by the analyses were not present in sufficient quantity to have an appreciable effect on the steel quality. Accordingly, the FTC issued a "cease and desist" order requiring Indestro to stop using "alloy steel" to describe tools not meeting the specification.

The 1950s and 1960s

Beginning in the early 1950s Duro and Indestro began expanding their catalog selection to include tools not previously offered, such as Crescent-style adjustable wrenches. The Indestro catalog No. 20 from 1952 offered such wrenches in sizes from 4 to 12 inches, and the illustration shows a wrench with a square gullet and a ring around the hanging hole.

These wrenches were supplied Utica Drop Forge & Tool acting as a contract manufacturer, something that would have been unthinkable in earlier years, when Duro/Indestro relied on their in-house capabilities.

By 1959 the Indestro catalog No. 22 was offering "Rib Joint" tongue-and-groove pliers, and these again were made by Utica as contract production. (The use of "Rib Joint" is a dead giveaway, as this is the same term Utica used for its own production.) The design of the Utica tongue-and-groove pliers can be seen in a 1956 Catalog Listing for Utica "Rib-Joint" Pliers.

In addition, Indestro was offering "Grip All" locking pliers, possibly from Parker Manufacturing.

In the early 1960s Duro/Indestro began offering ratcheting box wrenches in a style with riveted clam-shell cases with raised "streamlined" panels. The company had supplied similar wrenches to the Sears Craftsman brand since 1949, and the supplier contract continued until 1969.

Later Operations

By the early 1970s Duro/Indestro had changed suppliers for adjustable wrenches and was offering wrenches made by J.H. Williams instead of Utica. (The change may have occurred in the late 1960s.) The Williams production can be recognized by the hexagonal gullet and the square shoulder of the moveable jaw, and the wrenches were available in both chrome and black finishes.

The 1976 Duro catalog still offered ratcheting box wrenches with raised panels, but by the late 1970s the company had discontinued this line and instead offered ratcheting box wrenches made by A & E Manufacturing.

Sometime in the 1970s the Indestro operations were formally merged into Duro Metal Products, and the tools began appearing with dual brands "Duro-Indestro". The tool lines were "harmonized", which unfortunately meant that some of the special higher-end features of the Duro-Chrome tools were dropped.

In 1982 the company published the Duro-Chrome Indestro catalog No. 60A showing the two brands together.

The company continued operating through the 1980s, but was finally closed in 1990.

Patents

Duro Metal Products devoted substantial resources to research and development activities, as evidenced by the numerous patents issued to the company. In addition, a number of patents were assigned to Indestro Manufacturing by its founder H.G. Rice, and these were part of the intellectual property acquired with Indestro. In some cases Duro licensed patents from outside the company.

The table below lists some of the known patents issued to Duro or Indestro, or patents used by the companies and assumed to have been licensed. The list may not be complete, but will be expanded if new patents are found.

Trademarks

Many of the tools produced by Duro and Indestro were marked with one of their well-known registered trademarks, and these of course are easy to identify. However, the companies also used a number of informal and unregistered marks for their tools, and these will be described (to the extent they are known) in the sections below.

First though, let's review the registered trademarks, using information obtained from the USPTO Official Gazette.

Manufacturing Dates

Duro and Indestro tools were generally not marked with a date code or other specific indication of the manufacturing date. When estimates of manufacturing dates are needed, they must be based on factors such as marking style, design, patents, trademarks, or other characteristics.

In order to assist with estimating manufacturing dates, we have developed some guidelines based on tool markings and other characteristics. The following list of events and observations, although not complete, may be helpful in determining the manufacturing date for some tools.

• Duro-Bilt Trademark. The Duro-Bilt trademark was first used in 1929.

• Duro-Chrome Trademark. The Duro-Chrome trademark was first used in 1931.

• "Chromium-Vanadium" Marking. From 1931 into the mid 1930s Western Auto Supply used "Chromium-Vanadium" (with the full element names) as a brand for alloy steel tools. Suppliers to Western Auto (which included Duro and Indestro) accordingly used this marking on tools intended for sale to Western Auto. The approximate period of use was 1931 to 1936. However, Indestro sockets continued to be marked "Chromium Vanadium" even after the product line was called "Super Quality".

• "Handy-Hex" Marking. From the early 1930s until around 1936 Duro used the "Handy-Hex" brand for its box-end wrenches.

• Super Quality Brand. Indestro began using "Super Quality" as a brand in 1935 or earlier. Some examples are known on box wrenches without streamlined raised panels, confirming that the start date occurred before 1937.

• Streamlined Design Trademark. The "Streamlined" design, a dart-like depressed or raised panel, was first used in 1937.

• Specific Alloy Marking. During the 1930s and early 1940s Duro and Indestro alloy steel tools were generally marked for the specific steel composition, usually as "Chrome Vanadium" or "Chrome Vanadium Steel". A review of tools made during 1942-1945 wartime years indicates that specific alloy markings were sometimes used during the earlier part (roughly 1942-1943) part of this period, but generally omitted during the later 1943-1945 years. A further review of Indestro Super tools (made in 1946 and later) shows that the alloy composition was no longer being marked by this time. Thus the use of a specific alloy marking strongly suggests production in 1943 or earlier.

• Plain Finish. Most Duro/Indestro tools were specified with nickel or chrome plating as the standard finish, but during the 1942-1945 wartime years cadmium or plain finishes became standard. The presence of a cadmium or plain finish (barring extensive rust) suggests production during 1942-1945.

• X-Circle Marking. During the wartime years Duro/Indestro did extensive production for government contracts, and the tools made for these contracts were frequently marked with a symbol resembling an "X" in a circle, referred to as the X-Circle mark in the text. (See the section on X-Circle for more information.) The use of this mark appears to have been adopted during the middle of the wartime period, so that the presence of the X-Circle mark suggests production in 1943-1945.

• "G" Code. A small number of Duro-Chrome tools have been found with a "G" code stamped near the brand or model number, typically with a plain finish. If the tool is of apparent wartime production, the "G" code may indicate production specifically in 1945 under government restrictions, similar to the use by Snap-on of "G" as its date code for 1945.

• "Indestro Super" Brand. The Indestro Super brand was first used in late 1945 or 1946 as a successor to the "Super-Quality" brand previously used for alloy-steel tools.

  The Indestro Super brand was still being used until at least the early 1970s (catalog 55), but was no longer mentioned by the early 1980s (catalog 60). Indestro tools with model numbers in the Indestro Super line but without the "Super" marking probably date from the late 1970s or later.

• Thin/Thick Combination Wrenches. In 1951 the Duro 22xx and Indestro 77x combination wrenches were redesigned to have substantially thicker heads and shanks. The earlier generation of wrenches made from 1935-1950 can be recognized by their very thin heads, comparable to a tappet wrench. Combination wrenches made from 1951 onward had heads and shanks of standard thickness. (See the Combination Wrench Thickness Table for more details.)

• Cross-hatched Knurling. Duro sockets featured a band of cross-hatched knurling into the 1950s, but by 1961 this had been replaced by a band of parallel knurling.

• "Indestro Select" Brand. The Indestro Select brand was analogous to "Indestro Super" but for "Select Steel" tools. The brand probably dates to March of 1961, the time listed as the first use for the "Select Steel Tools" trademark filed in 1961. The Indestro Select brand appears to have been used only briefly, until the late 1960s or so.

• Tapered Walls for Sockets. Duro 1/2-drive 16xx sockets were made with tapered walls into the 1960s, but by 1972 were being made with straight walls.

References and Resources

The photographs and observations in this article are based on items in the Alloy Artifacts collection.

Information on the company history was obtained from an obituary for Gertrude McNaught Odlum in the January 23, 1992 edition of the Chicago Tribune.

Catalog Coverage

Product information was obtained from a number of Duro Metal Products and Indestro Manufacturing catalogs, which have been summarized in the table below.

Estimation of Publication Dates

In some cases Duro and Indestro catalogs were published without an explicit date, in which case the publication year will need to be estimated using secondary information.

Duro catalogs often included a statement of their length of time in business, and in the absence of an explicit date, the publication date can be estimated by adding Duro's 1916 founding date to the length in service. (Note that Duro used 1916 as its founding date in catalogs from the 1930s through 1960s, but in the early 1970s changed to 1917, the actual date of incorporation.)

The applicability of the length of service to estimation of catalog dates can be calibrated by reference to the Duro catalogs for 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1941. All of these catalogs have a length in service statement in the form "over NN years", and in all cases the catalog year equals 1916 plus NN. For example, the 1935 catalog stated "over 19 years", and 1935 = 1916 + 19.

Since the company continued to maintain a length of service statement in most of its catalogs over the three decades following the 1930s, we believe that this was intended as an implicit publication date.

During the 1950s Duro made a confusing change to their catalog numbering and adopted numbers that overlapped with those from the 1930s. Catalogs of this era were apparently intended to remain applicable for several years and were published without a copyright or other date, with a dated price sheet being used to update prices when necessary.

The notion of a publication date is not especially relevant for these catalogs, but we have tried to estimate the earliest date that the catalog was released, using either (1) an applicable price sheet, (2) a reference to the specific catalog in a trade publication, or (3) a noted length in service.

When multiple price sheets were available, we have used the earliest price sheet for the date, but it's possible that even earlier price sheets might exist.

Fig. 19. Length of Service Statement from Duro Catalog No. 35.

Fig. 19 shows an excerpt from Duro catalog No. 35/35S with a "more than 35 years" length of service statement, and with an explicit statement "Since 1916" of the founding date at the bottom. The length of service provides an estimate of 1951 for the printing date of the catalog.

In addition, we have dated price lists from 1955 and 1957 for this catalog edition, showing that it remained relevant until at least 1957.

The considerations noted above for the Duro catalogs generally apply to Indestro catalogs as well, but the concept of "length of service" needs further discussion. Since Indestro started as an independent company before being acquired by Duro around mid 1933, the notion of length of service is inherently ambiguous for Indestro.

Indestro catalogs from the mid 1930s into the early 1940s were published with an explicit calendar year on the cover, so that no estimation of the date is needed. Indestro catalog No. 20 was undated but included a statement "Since 1916", showing that by that time Indestro was being considered as an integral part of Duro Metal Products. (This catalog can be dated to 1952 by references in the trade press.)

Indestro catalog No. 22 can be dated to 1959 by a price list, but includes a length of service statement "almost 50 years of manufacturing", which is not very accurate. (The 50th year would have been 1966.)

Indestro catalog No. 22A, from 1964 based on a price list, includes the same "almost 50 years of manufacturing" length of service, which is now closer to the mark.

Indestro catalog No. 55 requires some special discussion. This catalog has an "over 50 years" length of service on the back cover, which would mean 1966 for a Duro catalog. But the only known price list applying to this catalog has a 1971 date, leading to some controversy as to the best estimate for the publication date. After doing some research into the graphics style used for the labels of M.P.I. socket sets, the weight of evidence now favors the 1971 date.

The graphics style in catalog No. 55 is quite different from the advertisements for M.P.I. sets in the late 1960s, but matches the style of sets offered later in the 1970s. In addition, the catalog number makes more sense with a 1971 publication date, as 1971 is 55 years after the 1916 founding of Duro/Indestro. Our conclusion is that Indestro's print shop simply forgot to update the length of service statement on the back cover, which should read "over 55 years".

But if a catalog back cover had previously been published with a length of service of "over 50 years", that implies that there should have been an Indestro catalog for 1966, probably as catalog No. 50. We've added a placeholder for this currently missing catalog.

Dealers and Industrial Distributors

Duro and Indestro products were available from selected industrial distributors and from high-volume retailers, including Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, and Western Auto Supply. The Western Auto catalogs listed Duro and Indestro alloy steel tools under the "Chromium-Vanadium" brand in earlier catalogs, and Duro/Indestro later provided extensive contract production for Western Auto brands.

• Western Auto Supply 1926. The 1926 Ford Owners' Supply Book (Eastern edition) catalog from Western Auto Supply lists an Indestro No. 19 Socket Set on page 114. The set is listed as a "Utility Socket Wrench Set" and the maker is not identified, but the clever wrench set holder matches a patent by H.G. Rice. This is currently our earliest known catalog listing for an Indestro tool.

• Western Auto Supply 1927. The 1927 Auto Owners' Supply Book (Eastern edition) from Western Auto Supply lists an Indestro No. 19 "Dreadnaught" socket wrench set on page 114. The maker is not identified, but the clever wrench set holder matches a patent by H.G. Rice.

• McMaster-Carr 1928. The 1928 "Industrial Merchandise" catalog No. 28 from the McMaster-Carr Supply Company lists the Indestro No. 600 "Socket Wrench Set" on page 10. This set is a 38-piece collection including a ratchet, two speeders, T-L Convertible Handle, 19 hex sockets, eight square sockets, and miscellaneous attachments. The price was $4.95 net. This is one of the earliest known catalog listings for an Indestro socket set.

• Sears Roebuck 1929. The 1929 Sears Roebuck (Fall-Winter) catalog No. 159 lists several socket sets recognizable as Duro on pages 598-599, including a 25-piece set matching the Duro No. 825 Socket Set. Page 1122 lists five more sets under the "Merit" brand that can be recognized as Duro production by the L-T handle in the illustration.

• Western Auto Supply 1929. The 1929 Auto Supplies for All Cars (Western edition) catalog lists a Duro valve grinder, the first known listing for a Duro product from Western Auto.

• Sears Roebuck 1930. The 1930 Sears Roebuck (Spring-Summer) catalog No. 160 lists five "DuroBilt" socket sets on page 402 of the automotive section, including a 35-piece set matching the Duro-Bilt 36-Piece Wrench Set. In addition, the description of a 20-piece set matches the Duro-Bilt 20-Piece Socket Set.

• Western Auto Supply 1930. The 1930 Auto Supplies for All Cars (Western edition) catalog lists a Duro valve grinder.

• Mossman-Yarnelle 1931. The 1931 catalog No. 31-T from the Mossman-Yarnelle Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana, an industrial distributor, lists a Duro "Heavy Duty" 45-piece socket set on page 460.

• Sears Roebuck 1931. The 1931 Sears Roebuck (Spring-Summer) catalog lists several Duro socket sets under the Duro-Bilt brand, including a "Super DuroBilt" 40-piece set with chrome-nickel sockets, making this our earliest reference for a Duro alloy steel socket set. Other Duro sets include the Duro-Bilt 36-Piece Wrench Set and Duro-Bilt 20-Piece Socket Set.

• Western Auto Supply 1931. The 1931 Western Auto (Eastern edition) catalog shows a "Chromium-Vanadium" socket set matching the Indestro CV 17-Piece Socket Set shown here. This is our earliest listing for an Indestro alloy-steel socket set.

• J&R Motor Supply 1932. The 1932 J&R Motor Supply catalog lists a number of Duro socket sets on pages 72 and 73, with the Duro name or logo visible in the illustration. The sets include the LTX316 1/2-Hex Drive Socket Set and five other carbon-steel sets on page 72, plus two chrome-nickel socket sets on page 73.

• Sears Roebuck 1932. The 1932 Sears Roebuck (Fall-Winter) catalog No. 165 lists several socket sets recognizable as Duro production on page 539 of the automotive section. A 27-piece "Super Chrome Vanadium Steel Wrench Set" with 12-point ("Twin Hex") sockets can be recognized as Duro production by the forged body pressed-flange ratchet, with the description noting that no rivets or bolts were used in the ratchet. This is our earliest catalog listing for the pressed-flange ratchet. The set was priced at $6.95 postpaid. Also listed are two Duro-Bilt sets, a 40-piece economy set with 6-point sockets for $3.38 postpaid, and a 40-piece "Chrome Nickel Steel" set with 12-point sockets for $6.35 postpaid.

• Western Auto Supply 1932. The 1932 Western Auto (Eastern edition) catalog shows a "Chromium-Vanadium" socket set matching the Indestro CV 17-Piece Socket Set shown here. The catalog also lists carbon-steel 47-piece and 36-piece socket sets with the Indestro Lever-Action Ratchet and Indestro T-L Handle illustrated.

• Ducommun "H" 1933. The 1933 catalog "H" from the Ducommun Corporation, a west-coast industrial supplier, lists several Duro socket sets on pages 144E and 144F. The sets include a 1/2-hex drive No. 500 socket set, a 1/2-drive LT911 socket set similar to the LTX316 socket set shown here, and a 1/2-drive 820FA socket set.

• Sears Roebuck 1933. The 1933 Sears Roebuck (Fall-Winter) catalog No. 167 lists a 27-piece "Chrome Vanadium Steel" set on page 496 under the "Cross Country" brand. The set can be recognized as Duro production by the forged body pressed-flange ratchet and includes 12-point ("Twin Hex") sockets. This set appears to be same 27-piece set listed in the 1932 Sears catalog.

• Western Auto Supply 1933. The 1933 Auto Owners' Supply Book (Eastern edition) catalog shows a chrome-vanadium socket set with a pressed-flange ratchet matching the Indestro 17-piece "Chromium Vanadium" set in previous catalogs. This shows the transition from an Indestro ratchet adapter to the Duro patented pressed-flange ratchet after the companies had merged. The catalog also lists carbon-steel 47-piece, 36-piece, and 18-piece socket sets with the Duro lever-action ratchet and Duro L-T handle, instead of the Indestro Lever-Action Ratchet and Indestro T-L Handle illustrated in the previous year.

• Western Auto Supply 1936. The 1936 Auto Owners' Thrift Book (Eastern edition) catalog lists four models of "ChromeXQuality" 1/2-drive socket sets recognizable as Duro/Indestro production. This is the first publication to use the ChromeXQuality brand.

• Western Auto Supply 1937. The 1937 Western Auto's Thrift Book (Eastern edition) catalog shows a number of listings for the ChromeXQuality brand, including four models of 1/2-drive socket sets readily recognizable as Duro/Indestro production. (This is the publication that allowed us to identify ChromeXQuality as a Western Auto brand.) In addition, the 1937 Auto Supplies (Western edition) catalog offers two models of "ChromeXQuality" 1/2-drive socket sets recognizable as Duro/Indestro production, as well as ChromeXQuality socket sets by other unknown makers.

• Williams Hardware 1944. The 1944 catalog No. 44 from the Williams Hardware Company of Minneapolis lists an extensive selection of Duro tools on pages 70 through 77. The listings include Duro-Chrome chrome-vanadium box-end wrenches in angled and offset styles, "Forged Selected Steel" box wrenches in "KlipTite" sets, and Duro-Chrome socket tools in 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4-drive. Interestingly enough, the "KlipTite" wrenches are listed as "Duro" but show "Indestro" in the illustrations.