Mephisto Tools

JoCoSawdust · Apr 1, 2019

I've had these pliers for as long as I can remember and they've always been the first ones I reach for. Just feels great in my hand and the wire cutter is a much better design than some other pliers. Finally looked it up today as I'd never heard of Mephisto Tool Co. Turns out they've been around a while, since 1830 and they're still making tools in Hudson NY. They have a more specialized inventory now, mostly chisels and caulking tools. Does anyone else out there have any old Mephisto hand tools? I'd love to see em.

(I'd love to buy the 1935 catalog off eBay but the price is a bit too steep for me)

Screen Shot 2019-04-01 at 3.39.07 PM.jpg

Corndoggeh · Apr 1, 2019

I've got an adjustable auger bit (7/8" to 3") from Mephisto in its original box. Looks to be around 60's or 70's.

Provincial · Apr 1, 2019

I recently purchased a Mephisto 1144 half-round Cape chisel at an estate sale. It seems to be of good quality.

It is the third one down in the right-hand column in the photo.

Private Lugnutz · Apr 1, 2019

If I had to guess on OEM I'd guess Utica.

It could be just a coincidence, but three interlocking diamonds like that was a Utica branding mechanism for many years, as a takeoff on the early < U >< TI >< CA > logo. They used them as grips, too, but smaller, and several of them.

JoCoSawdust · Apr 1, 2019

I'll compare it to the few Uticas I have tomorrow. Thanks for the pic Provincial. Seems that somewhere along the line they dropped most of their tools and leaned into the chisels, auger bits and such.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 10, 2019

JoCoSawdust said:
Does anyone else out there have any old Mephisto hand tools?

I found these specialty pliers (for B-X armored electrical cable) at the flea market this morning, and it sent me down a research rabbit hole of fun for several hours. If you don't mind, I will post a bunch of history following this post...

After clean-up...

Private Lugnutz · Jul 10, 2019

The fancified “Mephisto” logo was registered as a trademark by the William A. Ives Company of Wallingford, Conn., in 1909.

They used it in all kinds of advertising in that era, exclusively for auger drill bits and the like.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 10, 2019

By 1922 they were also using it for pliers, specifically for electricians.

Shortly thereafter, they were issuing bonds to raise capital.

Apparently for expansion purposes, but I think the writing was on the wall in terms of some anti-union opposition they were facing at the time, which may have resulted in a fire. Ives was a “closed” or Union Label shop and I found dozens of testimonies from union leaders in the carpentry, machinists, blacksmiths, electricians and railway trades urging their memberships to buy Mesphisto bits and braces.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 10, 2019

Clinton E. Smith (oddly, of Milwaukie, Oregon, home of P&C Tools) patented my pliers in 1934, explicitly for BX armored cable. You can read the patent description if you want, but basically, that counterbore is recessed inside to form the conduit, and the tips are designed to shape the ends with a little pressure and ultimately cut the cable without de-forming it.

AA has a Utica marked example, also marked “S.P.A.C.”, an acronym that AA attributes to “Smith’s Patent Armored Cutters.”

If you go to the DATAMP page for Smith’s patent, linked here, you’ll see that they cite Utica as a manufacturer. They don’t cite Mephisto Tool Co. as a manufacturer, but they are aware of the examples marked Mephisto. Whether or not Utica was making them for the W.A. Ives Company for their “Mephisto” brand or for the Mephisto Tool Company that emerged form the old W.A. Ives Company entity at that time, I do believe that Utica is the OEM, and I believe that Utica is the OEM for JoCo’s slip-joint pliers in post #1 as well, as I postulated upthread, based at that time on the three-diamond pattern grip on the handle that is a Utica tell. These pliers confirm it, in my opinion.

I have not found any connection between Mr. Smith and Utica, W.A. Ives, or Mephisto Tool Company, and I suspect he was licensing the design.

I don’t know when the Mephisto Tool Company emerged from the W.A. Ives Company, or when they moved across the river and downstate from Wallingford, Conn., to Hudson, N.Y., but they surely did. The earliest public domain document I can find that references that name is a 1937 Hardware Age.

JoCo has apparently seen a 1935 Mephisto Tool Company catalog for sale on eBay. That would be helpful to have.

In 1949, forty years after it was originally trademarked in 1909 by W.A. Ives, the Mephisto Tool Company renewed the fancified “Mephisto” trademark, and in 1989, forty years later, they renewed it again.

3baygarage · Jul 10, 2019

Darn nice logo. I run into the occasional pliers and chisels but that is different.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 10, 2019

I feel very fortunate to have found it. It is the most squiggly and ornate logo I have seen. I'm wondering if that's a sign of its age. The most modern tools have a plain block script (MEPHISTO). Older tools, such as JoCo's slip-joints, and the claw hammers, axe heads, and linesman's pliers I have seen have a logo that looks more like the original, but not all of those are exactly the same, either. It seems like it went from very ornate to ornate to less ornate to plain. With an obscure brand like this it will probably be hard to do, but if we gather enough samples, maybe we can begin to back our way into a timeline.

y'sguy · Jul 10, 2019

As far as a registered patent of the design, The design of the Mephisto "logo" was all over the place. It would never pass muster today as registered IMHO. Speaking as a graphic designer, that is. However, it will also get my vote for possibly the coolest logo on tools I have seen.
:bowdown:

Still reserving my thoughts on this though!

Nice research on this Lugs! :beer:

Private Lugnutz · Jul 10, 2019

y'sguy said:
The design of the Mephisto "logo" was all over the place.

Agreed! They are all instantly recognizable by the name and the same ookey spooky style (what's a good technical word for it? Gothic?), which would fit the title for a vampire movie or a fin de siecle book about the black arts, but it's almost impossible to find two instances of it that are identical!

JoCoSawdust · Jul 10, 2019

Thanks for that informative research Lugz. Man somebody really went to town with that logo on your pliers! +1 to the coolest logo ever. I'd love to see more examples!

y'sguy · Jul 10, 2019

View media item 94357
sorry, couldn't resist messing with it.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

JoCoSawdust said:
Man somebody really went to town with that logo on your pliers!

They sure did - and they hit every tavern along the way!

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

y'sguy said:
sorry, couldn't resist messing with it.

The professional itch! Nice work. And I can see that you meant the internal integrity of the design itself.

What I was referring to (in echoing your "all over the place" comment...) was the variance among multiple examples of the same danged logo!

Here is an illustration of what I mean.

I grabbed all of these - except mine (upper right) - from eBay.

Pick a letter. The "p" for example. Or the "M". Or the "s". etc. Pick any letter. And I mean any letter. Now go look at that same letter on the other three examples of the trademark. :wtf:

They are either hand-etched, from different eras, from different dies in the same era, or from different dies at different OEMs. Again, they all have, relatively, the same kind of style, in the sense that it is immediately recognizable, aided by the name itself. But NO two logos are identical.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

While I was on eBay stealing photos, I saw that the seller re-listed the 1935 catalog. At $175 smackers, I can see why JoCo did not spring for it when he spotted it earlier! :shocking:

I can be a big spender when I really want/need something and it merits it, but that is about 3 x more than I willing to go.

Capturing it here for posterity...

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

I also spotted this compliments of type gift/marketing item, which I would love to have. Alas, also more than I am willing to spend.

JoCoSawdust · Jul 11, 2019

Those 4 examples do make a pretty good case for the logo being hand etched. I hope we get more examples here to compare. I'd have to see several different tools with identical logos to buy that this is just a case of a variance of dies.

I think the listing I saw on that catalog was well over 200 the first time I saw it. Hopefully it'll eventually fall within a reasonable grasp. Cool ashtray!

JoCoSawdust · Jul 11, 2019

Ah it's a paperweight! Tempting....hoping the price falls!

y'sguy · Jul 11, 2019

Private Lugnutz said:
The professional itch! Nice work. And I can see that you meant the internal integrity of the design itself.

What I was referring to (in echoing your "all over the place" comment...) was the variance among multiple examples of the same danged logo!

Here is an illustration of what I mean.

I grabbed all of these - except mine (upper right) - from eBay.

Pick a letter. The "p" for example. Or the "M". Or the "s". etc. Pick any letter. And I mean any letter. Now go look at that same letter on the other three examples of the trademark.

They are either hand-etched, from different eras, from different dies in the same era, or from different dies at different OEMs. Again, they all have, relatively, the same kind of style, in the sense that it is immediately recognizable, aided by the name itself. But NO two logos are identical.

Yes, I understood what you meant. No two are alike. Only the sense of it remains. Actually the upper right stamping is in fact a different style or name of typeface (which i won't bother to get into here) Can't recall but I know I've seen it.

The other ad materials are also very cool. A lot of vintage art used the satan character in some way shape or form.

woody 73 · Jul 11, 2019

Wow you guys are way ahead of me never heard of that company before...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344170

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

JoCoSawdust said:
Tempting....hoping the price falls!

You and me both. Full admission, I have taken a more proactive approach to the paperweight and the catalog. We'll see what happens.

Mick56 · Jul 11, 2019

Just looked through the completed items on eBay for Mephisto Tools, there was a 1920 catalog that sold for 100 bucks. Whew!

JoCoSawdust · Jul 11, 2019

Well I hope you get them both Lugz, you'll have no competition from me anytime in the near future. I'm being somewhat miserly as I'm hoping to wear a guy down to part with a Long C top chest that I missed out on by 30 minutes several months ago. I'd love to see inside that tool catalog if it comes to live with you!

JoCoSawdust · Jul 11, 2019

woody 73 said:
Wow you guys are way ahead of me never heard of that company before...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344170

Damn woody, I didn't know there was already a Mephisto thread. Didn't intend on stepping on it!

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

Don't give it another thought, JoCo. You couldn't have tacked your first post on to that thread even if you knew about it. It's on the No Reply board. Classifieds, etc.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

JoCoSawdust said:
I'd love to see inside that tool catalog if it comes to live with you!

First thing I would do is scan it for next incarnation (fingers crossed...) of Tool Archives, so that everyone could see it. (Still the biggest deficiency of AA, although they have zip on Mephisto anyway.) Thanks to the generosity of major vintage catalog collectors like TinMedic, who share the scans for their information value and keep the original hard copy for its collectable value. Barring that I would post key pages as needed. If we had access to the 1920 (that Mick pointed out) and the 1935, we'd have the end of the W. A. Ives Company "Mephisto" period and the beginning of the Mephisto Tool Company period.

JoCoSawdust · Jul 11, 2019

Is Tool Archives up and running again? I've never been able to get into it.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 11, 2019

No, not yet, but I am not giving up hope.

Strangely, every once in awhile I get a TA hit on a Google search, I will click on it just for the hell of it, and it will show a partial page or catalog.

JoCoSawdust · Jul 11, 2019

Yeah I've got my fingers crossed for it. It sounds like an amazing resource

Flinter987 · Jul 12, 2019

I believe I have two of these, both pliers. I’ll have to pull them out for pics. They do feel awesome in hand!!!

tym · Oct 12, 2019

Found this pair of adjustable pliers at a used tool store last weekend. One jaw has a small chip out of the tip, suggesting the steel is well-hardened.

JoCoSawdust · Oct 12, 2019

Very cool. Don't see a lot of Mephisto pop up in here.

tym · Oct 12, 2019

JoCoSawdust said:
Very cool. Don't see a lot of Mephisto pop up in here.

Yeah. Had never seen the name before and the Gothic font for the logo caught my eye. It's also pretty narrow, which means it might be handy in tight spaces. Makes Channellocks look a bit clumsy by comparison.

Zrxrunner · Oct 13, 2019

I think I have some more bits around, but these 2 are my mephisto highlights. Acquired the bit tote bag in a trade from a antique buddy up the road who knows I'm always after unique tools. Bit was from estate sale. Paid a little much for it, but I was just starting collecting, and had never seen one like it before

JoCoSawdust · Oct 13, 2019

That canvas roll up has a lot of cool factor!

Zrxrunner · Oct 13, 2019

I know, didnt have much interest in mephisto, but when he brought it over, couldn't let it leave! Theres a few more I've seen on ebay, but not with the warranty stated out on it. The bits in it had different logos, but I should be able to match a set in it

A E Numan · Oct 18, 2019

I'v always liked my Mephisto wrench'it's my go to wrench.

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