Millers Falls Publications — 1915-1929

1915

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalogue No. 35.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., November 15, 1915.
• 183 pages ; 15 x 23 cm.

Large format November 15, 1915, catalog. Cover displays new trademark, consisting of an inverted isosceles trapezoid and red star and adopted October, 1914. Issued when the company's offering of braces and drilling tools was most comprehensive, it documents Millers Falls attempt to gain market share by offering large numbers of drilling and boring tools differing only slightly from one another in features and price.

Includes an unnumbered page (seen here) containing notice of the company's new red star trademark and new box design.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalogue No. 35.
• Lancaster Mass. : North Village Publishing Co., October 1981.
• 183 pages ; 15 x 23 cm.
• Originally published: Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., November 15, 1915.

Reprint of the large format November 15, 1915 catalog. Pagination and contents are identical to the large format catalog with one exception—an unnumbered page containing notice of the company's new red star trademark and new box design—is not included. The lightly embossed lettering, trademark and borders of the original catalog are also absent.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. K.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Company, [1915].
• 183 pages ; 10 x 14 cm.

Pocket-size version of catalog no. 35. Pagination and contents are identical to the large format catalog with one exception—an unnumbered page containing notice of the company's new red star trademark and new box design—is not included.

1916

• Markham, Edward R.
• Millers Falls Handbook for Mechanics.
• Millers Falls Mass. : Millers Falls Company, copyright 1916.
• 63 pages ; 12 x 18 cm.

Although Edward Markham compiled this collection of formulae, facts and recipes for the "mechanic," much of the information would prove helpful to a carpenter. Among the interesting recipes—bluing, browning, and artificial case hardening for steel. Contains fourteen pages on boring tools and hacksaw frames which serve as a thinly-disguised promotion for Millers Falls tools.

1917

• Millers Falls Company.
• Unit Prices Applying to Catalog K or No. 35.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Company, July 23, 1917.
• 16 pages ; 14 x 9 cm.

Title from cover. Published just a few months before the new catalog no. 36, this pamphlet was sized for easy insertion into the small format Catalog K. Although the company did not sell to retail customers, it anticipated many would see the list and warned, "This price list is published for the sake of telling the buyer the cost at his local dealer's store (always plus transportation charges) and is not intended as an invitation to dealings direct with factory."

Shown as an example of price lists produced at the time. Other dates and versions exist.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalogue No. 36.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., September 1, 1917.
• 219 pages ; 16 x 24 cm.

Large format catalog. Contains an illustration of the No. 144 double action boring machine, perhaps the strangest boring tool that the company ever marketed. The double action boring machine was out of production by 1929. The catalog also announces the acquisition of the Ford Auger Bit Company. Prior to this time, the company sold augers for its boring machines only. With the purchase of the new company, Millers Falls began to carry a full line of auger bits.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. L.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., September 1, 1917.
• 219 pages ; 10 x 14 cm.

Pocket-size catalog. Not all versions for small format Catalog no. L are identical. Though all issues examined to to date contain 219 numbered pages, the contents are not always identical. This is most notable with the later versions of Catalog no. L where some of the breast drills were eliminated. The small format Catalog no. L remained in use until 1921—well after the publication of large format Catalogue No. 37 in 1919.

1918

• West Haven Manufacturing Company.
• The West Haven Manufacturing Company, Makers of "Universal" Hack Saw Blades, Frames, Machines, Hardware Specialties, and "Acme" High Speed Hack Saw Machines: Catalog No. 15
• West Haven, Conn.: West Haven Mfg., 1918.
• 52 pages ; 10 x 14.5 cm.

Title from cover. Issued two years before West Haven Mfg. Co. was purchased by Millers Falls, this catalog gives a good idea of the West Haven product line prior to the buyout. Cut off from its source of hacksaw blades after its decades-old relationship with Clemson Brothers soured, Millers Falls was interested in secure access to a product that formed a sizable and quite profitable part of its operation. Although not all of the West Haven products made the transition to the Millers Falls lineup, the acquisition also brought punches, nail sets, several hacksaw frames and turned steel plumb bobs to the lineup. Includes an illustration of the West Haven plant and an illustration of female workers inspecting hack saw blades.

1919

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalogue No. 37.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., September 1, 1919.
• 217 pages ; 16 x 24 cm.

Large format catalog. A reminder of the the Millers Falls Company's presence in Europe, the catalog pictured here was once the property of the Cruz & Pereira of Lisbon, Portugal. Catalogue no. 37 is unusual in that no corresponding small format catalog was issued. Rather than publishing a Catalog no. M, the company simply re-issued Catalog no. L with slight changes to its content. Among the changes since 1917, several braces and breast drills were dropped.

1920

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. L.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., September 1, 1917 [altered 1920].
• 219 pages ; 10 x 14 cm.

Variant pocket-size catalog. The Millers Falls Company was faced with an identity problem when Clemson Brothers abruptly ended a long-standing agreement to supply the company with its Star brand hacksaw blades. Millers Falls had been selling the Star blades for almost forty years. It had adopted the Star name for its drill chucks and had even gone so far as to have incorporated a star into the company trademark. Rather than incur the expense of reprinting its catalogs after the termination of the agreement, Millers Falls pasted a red dot over the star on the covers, and the pages containing listings for Star hacksaw blades were overstamped with the word "discontinued."

1921

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. L.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., September 1, 1917 [altered 1921].
• 219 pages ; 10 x 14 cm.

Variant pocket-size catalog. The first use of the Millers Falls Company's red-triangle trademark occurred in 1921. In that year, the company pasted an image of its new logo over the red star trademark on the covers of the last of its 1917 catalogs and distributed them. The change was necessary because Clemson Brothers had ended a long-standing agreement to supply the company with its Star brand hacksaw blades. The pages containing listings for Star hacksaw blades are overstamped with the word "discontinued."

1922

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 38: February, 1922.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., February 1922.
• 215 pages, [4] leaves of plates ; 19 x 27 cm.

Large format catalog. Introduces the iconic trademark which features a triangle inscribed with the words "since 1868" located under the Millers Falls Tools trapezoid. The company added punches and nail sets to its product lineup as a result of its acquiring complete control of the West Haven Manufacturing Company, a well-established manufacturer of small tools. With the purchase of West Haven, the Millers Falls Company became a manufacturer, rather than a distributor of hack saw blades. Includes four unnumbered colored plates--one of which can be seen at right.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 38: February, 1922.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., February 1922.
• 215 pages ; 9.5 x 13 cm.

Pocket-size catalog.

Lacks the colored plates of the large format catalog. Some printings have a cover title indicating that this is also Catalog S.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Better Hack Saw Frames.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca.1922.]
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 34 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded three times to form a booklet. Features six adjustable frames with a standard handle, one non-adjustable frame with a standard handle, four "pistol grip" models and a rail saw. Contains a nostalgic look back on the company's first hack saw frame, a wooden model (2 paragraphs).

Beneath the brochure's cover photo is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

• Millers Falls Company.
• When a Fellow Needs a Millers Falls Auto Jack no. 145.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1922].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 28 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded twice to form a booklet. With the purchase of the National Machine Company in 1920, the company began to add automotive tools to its lineup. Though it marketed automobile and truck jacks, rim wrenches, valve grinders, screwdrivers and bearing scrapers, the company never positioned itself to be a major supplier of tools for the automotive mechanic. The inside of of the brochure depicts a fourteen-year-old girl raising a large automobile with a Millers falls jack. Oddly, the copywriter is sure to point out that, "The girl in the picture is a real girl, sketched from life, in the act of lifting one end of a heavy touring car ..."

Beneath the cover illustration is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

1925

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 39.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., January 1925.
• 195 pages, [4] leaves of plates ; 19 x 27 cm.

Deluxe large format catalog with simulated leather covers. The color plates are lovely. Introduces the Chicago office and warehouse at 9 South Clinton Street. The foreword emphasizes recent developments in push drills, ratcheting screwdrivers and automatic screwdrivers since the last catalog. The page introducing the section containing these tools announces that, henceforth, push drills would be referred to as automatic drills. Includes four unnumbered colored plates illustrating tool displays a hardware merchant might order for his shop. An example can be seen at right.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 39: January, 1925.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., 1925.
• 195 pages, [4] leaves of plates ; 19 x 27 cm.

Large format catalog with paper covers. Identical to the deluxe large format version.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 39: January, 1925.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., 1925.
• 195 pages ; 9.5 x 13 cm.

Pocket-size catalog. Cover title indicates this is also Catalog B. Lacks the colored plates of the large format catalogs.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Hack Saws: Last Longer—Ask For Them.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca.1925.]
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 26 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded twice to form a booklet. Provides catalog-type information for hand and power hacksaw blades. The blades included represent a subset of those found in the company's catalog. The use of elfin creatures to promote tools was not unique to the Millers Falls company. The Stanley Rule and Level Company had used an imp as early as 1888, and the Goodell-Pratt Company created the gnome-like Mr. Punch. Includes an illustration of the Millers Falls Company's hacksaw blade plant in West Haven, Connecticut. The example reproduced here has been marked for distribution by R. H. Brown & Company of Brattleboro, Vermont.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Jacks.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., 1925.
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 34 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. Date from printer's code on back. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded three times to form a booklet. Provides catalog-type information for the company's automobile and truck jacks. Includes the statement: "A fourteen year old girl can easily raise the heaviest car care with a No. 145 or No. 130 jack." When the Millers Falls Company bought the National Machine Company of Brattleboro, Vermont, it continued to improve the quality of the products and introduce new models. The example reproduced here has been marked for distribution by J. M. Warren & Company of Troy, New York.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Mitre Boxes: a Mitre Box for Every Purpose.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., 1925.
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 24 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. Date from printer's code on back. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded twice times to form a booklet. Features the company's Langdon, New Langdon and Millers Falls miter boxes. Unlike the Langdons, the Millers Falls boxes were inexpensive models, designed for the budget conscious or for use in situations where cast iron miter boxes were not practical or might be easily damaged. The light-weight No. 41, a tool capable of making compound cuts, is promoted as especially useful for sawing cornice moldings at the top of a ladder. Considering the device's saw guide accommodated both panel and back saws, the No. 41 provided a lot of functionality for a modest price.

Beneath the brochure's cover photo is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

1926

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Automatic Drill Display, No. 90.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1926].
• 1 sheet ; 19 x 27 cm.

A trade circular sized to fit neatly into the large format Catalog No. 39, it introduces the company's No. 500 automatic tool display unit, a unit sent free to dealers ordering with an order for two each of Nos. 81 and 445 automatic drills.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Automatic Tool Display No. 500.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [1926].
• 1 sheet ; 19 x 27 cm.

A trade circular sized to fit neatly into the large format Catalog No. 39, it introduces the company's No. 500 automatic tool display, a unit sent free to dealers ordering a specified assortment of automatic tools. The display featured two each of the company's line of automatic drills, ratchet screwdrivers, and spiral ratcheting screwdrivers.

• Millers Falls Company.
• New Brace Display, No. 92
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [1926].
• 1 sheet ; 19 x 27 cm.

A trade circular sized to fit neatly into the large format Catalog No. 39, it introduces the company's No. 92 brace display, a unit sent free to dealers ordering with an order for two No. 1772 braces. Printed on two sides, the verso introduces the No. 1769-1773 series of ratchet braces.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Portable Electric Drill Display, No. 800.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [1926].
• 1 sheet ; 19 x 27 cm.

A trade circular sized to fit neatly into the large format Catalog No. 39, it introduces the company's No. 800 electric drill display, a unit sent free to dealers with their first order of a no. 414 electric drill. Printed on two sides, the verso displays a color illustration of the No. 414 electric drill.

1927

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Carpenters Levels; Millers Falls Masons' Levels
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1927].
• 4 unnumbered pages ; 19 x 27 cm.

A trade circular sized to fit neatly into the large format Catalog No. 39, it introduces the company's new line of wooden and aluminum levels. Two pages of carpenters' levels and two pages of masons' levels. Thirty-nine different models are featured.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Better Braces: Right Design, Honest Construction.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1927].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 35 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded three times to form a booklet. Designed for placement in a compartment of the No. 600 brace display rack. Provides catalog type information for the more popular braces. Cover photo of young man wearing a necktie and using a brace to bore a hole in an upright piece of stock. Beneath the photo is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

• Millers Falls Company.
• A Guide to Good Drills: Breast, Hand, Bench, Chain.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1927].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 51 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded five times to form a booklet. Features some of the most popular drills manufactured by the company. Advises readers to wit: "Amateurs buy cheap tools. That's why they are amateurs." Cover photo depicts use of a breast drill to bore a hole in an automobile engine block. One hundred copies of this booklet were shipped with each order of a No. 400 drill display rack. The example reproduced here has been marked for distribution by Day & Holt Company of Catskill, New York.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Automatic Tools.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1927].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 26 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded twice to form a booklet. Provides catalog type information for featured ratchet screwdrivers and push drills. Cover photo of worker in bibbed overalls and snazzy hat using a ratchet screwdriver to tighten the screws of a door hinge. Beneath the photo is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Wood and Aluminum Levels.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1927].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 51 cm. (unfolded); 16 x 8.5 (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded five times to form a booklet. The Millers Falls Company added levels to its lineup after it acquired the Accurate Level Company of Detroit, Michigan, in 1926. Thirty-one different models are featured.

1928

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Portable Electric Drills and Attachments.
• Millers Falls , Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1928].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 34 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded five times to form a booklet. Published to introduce consumers to the company's line of electric drills.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Wood and Aluminum Levels.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1928].
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 52 cm. (unfolded); 16 x 8.5 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded five times to form a booklet. The Millers Falls Company added levels to its lineup after it acquired the Accurate Level Company of Detroit, Michigan, in 1926. Thirty-nine different models, eight more than in the 1927 trade circular, are featured.

1929

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 40: January, 1929.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., January 1929.
• 185 pages, [9] leaves of plates ; 19 x 27 cm.

Deluxe large format catalog with simulated leather covers. A stunning production introducing the new line of Millers Falls hand planes, it also presents the new line of carpenters' and masons' levels. The nine outstanding colored plates in red, white, black and green do not bear page numbers. Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful of the Millers Falls catalogs. Seen at right is an illustration of the No. 2 hand drill.

Does not include the company's electric tools.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 40: January, 1929.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., January 1929.
• 185 pages, [9] leaves of plates ; 19 x 27 cm.

Large format catalog with paper covers. Identical to the deluxe large format version.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Catalog No. 40: January, 1929.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., January 1929.
• 185 pages ; 11 x 15 cm.

Small format catalog. The unnumbered colored plates found in the large edition are not included. Otherwise pagination and content are identical. Lacks the visual appeal of the large format catalog. The example reproduced here has been marked for distribution by the Macro media-Newcomb Co. of Boston.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Hack Saw Blades.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., 1929.
• 1 folded sheet ; 16 x 26 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. A counter-top promotion printed on both sides, folded twice to form a booklet. Features three styles of hacksaw blades—power, hand, and flexible hand. Only the teeth were hardened on the flexible blades. The softer blades reduced breakage. Includes sizes, prices, and an illustration of the Millers Falls Company's hacksaw blade plant in West Haven, Connecticut.

Beneath the illustration is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Electric Tools and Attachments.
• Millers Falls , Mass. : Millers Falls Co., [ca. 1929].
• 23 pages ; 8.5 x 16 cm.

Title from cover. With too many pages to be considered a counter-top promotion, this trade circular is a pocket-sized booklet. At the time the line consisted of ten electric drills, two electric grinders, an electric screwdriver and accessories.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Millers Falls Planes: New.
• Millers Fall, Mass, : Millers Falls Co., [1929].
• 13 pages : illustrated ; 8.5 x 16 cm. (unfolded); 8.5 x 16 cm. (folded)

Title from cover. With too too many pages to be considered a counter-top promotion, this trade circular is a pocket-sized booklet. Features the new line of bench and block planes planes that the company rolled out in 1929. Rather than introducing several planes and gradually expanding production, forty-six numbers—twenty-one of them block planes—were simultaneously brought to market. Unusual for one of the company's trade circulars in that it is a thirteen-page pamphlet rather than a brochure created from a single folded sheet.

Beneath the illustration is a blank space for a hardware dealer's stamp.

• Millers Falls Company.
• Some of Our Leaders.
• Millers Falls, Mass. : Millers Falls Co., ca. 1929.
• 1 sheet ; 18 x 30 cm.

Title from caption. A single sheet of inexpensive brown stock printed on both sides. Features some of the firm's most popular tools. Few have survived as they are quite delicate.

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