Info on Zenith adze?

Re: Info on Zenith adze?

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi.

>Dave,

Zenith was the brand name used by the large hardware distributor Marshall Wells from Duluth, similar to the use of Keen Kutter by E. C. Simmons. The story that I heard was that Marshall Wells was one of the largest hardware suppliers in the upper Midwest, Pacific Northwest and the Canadian prairies due to their location and the availability of transportation to those areas via the railroads. I have an old picture of Duluth that shows the town along the waterfront and there are two or three large buildings with Marshall Wells painted on them.

As far as I know, Marshall Wells did not make any tools, they had the manufacturer put the Zenith name on the tool. I don't think that I have ever seen an adze, but Zenith planes and chisels are fairly common. They all have seemed to be of good quality.

Jim

Re: Info on Zenith adze?

Jim O'Brien

>Hello Dave, Jim, et. al.,

Zenith was the top of the line brand for the Marshall-Wells firm. I've also run across the 'Hartford' label of theirs and some others that I can't remember right now. I have a Zenith Z-8 cross cut saw which is likely a re-branded Disston D-8 (now there's a wild guess). In many cases, there actually may not have been a significant quality difference between one label and another in the M-W product line, but I can't be sure. If memory serves me, M-W had an etching department where they would label/brand incoming products for distribution. They also received products already labeled for them with both manufacturer and house brands.

M-W was founded in the 1890's by Mssrs. Wells (an attorney from Duluth) and Marshall, who at the time was the president of Lufkin Rule Co. in Saginaw MI.

The old main M-W warehouse is in Canal Park on the Duluth waterfront. Aside from the old ore docks, it was probably the largest building anywhere on Lake Superior. The freighters came into port and pulled right up alongside the building to unload crated cargo. The train tracks came in the back of the building and went all the way to Seattle, WA. I'm thinking they also had big warehouses in Montana, Portland OR, Seattle, and a couple in Canada (Saskatoon?, Calary?, Vancouver?) They were a big outfit and I think closed up shop in the late '50s. Their properties have been converted to the ususal array of urban multipurpose functions or razed in some cases.

That whole district has undergone quite a renovation in the past 20 years. The warehouse is now a Hawthorne Suites hotel. We stayed there last Labor Day. The first thing you see on your right when you walk in the front door is the larger-than-life safe door of the Marshall -Wells Hardware Co. Pretty cool. At the front desk they keep photocopies of a Gristmill article about the company from several years ago. I believe the author of that article (whose name escapes me at the moment:-( ) will be giving a presentation at the MWTCA National meet in Rochester in a few weeks.

This is all from memory so there may be some errors in my recollection. But this is also a drive-by invitation to attend the big meet in Rochester where you can get better information from the source.

From the Michigan shore of Lake Superior,

Best to all,

Jim O'Brien

Thanks for the info (and invite)!

Dave Mount

>

Zenith M-W Timeline *LINK*

Jim O'Brien

>Fearing that I was maybe batting .500 in yesterday's post, I Googled up some more accuate information on the Zenith brand and Marshall-Wells.

Here are some more reliable data points on dates, places, and people from the University of Minnesota-Duluth Library.

Sorry about the misinformation.

Jim


Marshall-Wells Hardware Company Timeline