Marshalltown Company
{{Advert section|date=December 2017}}{{Infobox company
| name = Marshalltown Company
| logo = File:MTownCompany.JPG
| type = Private
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| founder = Jesse Williams, E. Lester Williams
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| area_served =
| key_people = Dave Lennox
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| products = construction tools
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| location_city = Marshalltown, Iowa
| location_country = United States
| location =
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| homepage = http://www.marshalltown.com
}}
Marshalltown Company is a privately held American manufacturer of construction tools and equipment used for archaeology, asphalt, concrete, drywall, EIFS, flooring, masonry, painting, plastering, stucco, tile, and wallpaper based in Marshalltown, Iowa. Marshalltown, founded in 1851,{{Cite web|url= https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85049554/#:~:text=In%20April%201851%2C%20Henry%20Anson,confusion%20with%20another%20Iowa%20town. | title=Evening Times-Republican (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923 | website=Library of Congress }} was one of the top producers of construction tools and equipment in the world,{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJc4AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22marshalltown+trowel%22+our+city%27s+industries&pg=RA1-PA19|title=The Iowa Engineer, March 1921, Vol. XXI No. 6|year=1920}}{{Cite journal|date=1959-06-30|title=Marshalltown is "credited with producing more trowels than all other manufacturers combined"|journal=Marshalltown Times Republican}} including the Marshalltown pointing trowel, a tool often used by American archaeologists.{{Cite web|url=http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/21/economy/pro-tool-tools-professional/archaeologist-pro-tool|title=Marketplace.org – Unearthing the past with a piece of history|date=18 May 2016 }}{{Cite web|url=https://gath.wordpress.com/2006/03/22/ode-to-the-marshalltown/|title=Gath Archaeological Official Website|date=22 March 2006 }}{{Cite web|url=http://unmakingthings.rca.ac.uk/2014/tools-of-the-trade/|title=Unmaskingthings.rca.ac,uk Tools of the trade}}
Company history
File:Hardware merchandising August-October 1912 (1912) (14782261274).jpg
The origins of Marshalltown can be traced back to the American inventor and entrepreneur Dave Lennox. While working in his machine shop in the mid-1880s in Marshalltown, Iowa, Mr. Lennox received a visit from a stonemason who asked him to make a better plastering trowel{{Cite journal|year=1912|title=Lennox Machine Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1A0AQAAMAAJ|journal=Past and Present of Marshall County Iowa|volume=I|pages= 404|isbn=9781581038972|last1=Battin|first1=William|last2=Moscrip|first2=Frank A.}} while working on the construction site of the Marshall County Courthouse.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vtgl7YKNFQ0C&dq=trowel&pg=PA79|title=Duane A. Schmidt, Iowa Pride, page 78 2002, ISBN 1-5916-0134-7|isbn=9781591601340|last1=Schmidt|first1=Duane A.|year=2002|publisher=Xulon Press }}
Using the mason's criteria, Mr. Lennox forged the trowel and delivered it to the worker, who then showed it off to other masons in the area. Those masons considered the new trowel to be greatly improved and requested more.{{Cite journal|title=The Story Before Marshalltown – Ties to Lennox" 125 Years|journal=MARSHALLTOWN COMPANY 1890-2015 a History in the Making P. 9}} Mr. Lennox, having other interests, decided to forgo the opportunity and instead, in 1890, gave his apprentice, Jesse Williams, who ran a small machine shop, the charge of making the trowels.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8ZtGRPizKgC&dq=marshalltown+trowel&pg=PA95|title=Shovel Bum: Comix of Archaeological Field Life", by Trent De Boer, 2004, ISBN 0-7591-0682-7, p.95|isbn=9780759106826|last1=Boer|first1=Trent De|year=2004|publisher=Rowman Altamira }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.asktooltalk.com/articles/toolhistory/marshalltown.php|title=Ask Tool Talk}}
In 1902 Jesse's brother, Lester Williams, entered into a partnership with him and built the Williams Brothers Machine shop on South 8th Avenue in Marshalltown, Iowa, the site where the current plant is located today.{{Cite journal|title=The Story Before Marshalltown – Ties to Lennox" 125 Years|journal=MARSHALLTOWN COMPANY 1890-2015 a History in the Making P. 10}}
By 1905 the brothers began specializing in trowels and referred to that part of the business as Marshalltown Trowel Works.{{Cite web|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85049554/1903-03-04/ed-1/seq-6.pdf|access-date=2016-11-03|title=Marshalltown Times Republican, March 4, 1903, p.6}}
That same year the brothers acquired the services of salesman and promoter Al Higgin, who promoted their products across the country.{{Cite journal|year=1912|title=Lennox Machine Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1A0AQAAMAAJ|journal=Past and Present of Marshall County, Iowa|volume=I p. 404|isbn=9781581038972|last1=Battin|first1=William|last2=Moscrip|first2=Frank A.}}
World War I introduced Marshalltown trowels to new markets. In 1918, Marshalltown sent 18,000 trowels overseas for US soldiers to use while working on European jobsites{{Cite journal|year=1912|title=Lennox Machine Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1A0AQAAMAAJ|journal=Past and Present of Marshall County Iowa|pages= 404|isbn=9781581038972|last1=Battin|first1=William|last2=Moscrip|first2=Frank A.}} Soldiers stationed in France reported that masons building Pershing Stadium near Paris used and preferred Marshalltown trowels, and a general demand was created for the trowels as workers returned from the war.{{Cite journal|year=1919|title=Marshalltown Made Trowels Praised by Soldiers in France|journal=Marshalltown Times Republican}}
Following World War II, new facilities were constructed and business remained strong{{Cite journal|date=1949-06-06|title=Trowel Invented by Chance Now World Favor, 1949 06 06|journal=Marshalltown Times Republican}} during the postwar period. In the 1970s, the company saw substantial growth as a result of introducing new types of products{{Cite journal|date=1973-07-21|title=Innovative Products From Marshalltown|journal=Marshalltown Times Republican}} and expanding overseas markets.File:Al Higgin.jpg
Marshalltown purchased Vaughan & Bushnell Manufacturing, an Illinois-based manufacturer of hand tools, in May 2024.{{cite news|last1=Donaldson|first1=Hayden|title=Landmark factory in Bushnell staying open after nearly closing last month|date=2024-05-23|website=KHQA-TV|url=https://khqa.com/news/local/landmark-factory-in-bushnell-staying-open-after-nearly-closing-last-month|access-date=2024-09-29}}
Business
Image:Marshalltown Company.jpg.]]
Today, Marshalltown has expanded its product lines and markets since producing its first trowel in 1890. In addition to the original Marshalltown premier line of tools, the Q.L.T. line was introduced for the everyday handyman. Marshalltown tools are shipped globally and are used in such countries as Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, the Netherlands, and Saudi Arabia.
References
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External links
- [http://www.marshalltown.com/history.html Our History]. Marshalltown Company.
Category:Tool manufacturing companies of the United States
Category:Manufacturing companies based in Iowa