The Stanley Tool Co. and Defiance Line

By George Wanamaker
Published on July 5, 2012
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Defiance catalogs: 1952 (left) and 1940. Note table of contents on the front right of each.
Defiance catalogs: 1952 (left) and 1940. Note table of contents on the front right of each.
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No. 1507 nickel-plated pliers, in one of three sizes offered. The Defiance name is just right of the pivot bolt.
No. 1507 nickel-plated pliers, in one of three sizes offered. The Defiance name is just right of the pivot bolt.
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Top: A Defiance claw hammer, one of five offered. Bottom: A machinist’s hammer, one of four offered. Both have the original paper Defiance label.
Top: A Defiance claw hammer, one of five offered. Bottom: A machinist’s hammer, one of four offered. Both have the original paper Defiance label.
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Two 10-inch wrenches. The wrench labeled by Defiance is a pipe wrench offered in three sizes. The angle wrench was offered in four sizes; note Better-Grip name and the box-end wrench at end of handle.
Two 10-inch wrenches. The wrench labeled by Defiance is a pipe wrench offered in three sizes. The angle wrench was offered in four sizes; note Better-Grip name and the box-end wrench at end of handle.
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Top to bottom: Regular, stubby and Phillips screwdrivers with wood handles. Screwdrivers were sold in seven sizes, each with a red wooden handle.
Top to bottom: Regular, stubby and Phillips screwdrivers with wood handles. Screwdrivers were sold in seven sizes, each with a red wooden handle.
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Defiance drop-forged end wrench set. The piece is not pictured in any known catalog.
Defiance drop-forged end wrench set. The piece is not pictured in any known catalog.

With a history as long and storied as that of many manufacturers of American farm equipment, Stanley tools are familiar to farmers across the U.S. Stanley Tool Co. has been making tools since 1843, starting as A. Stanley Co. in New Britain, Conn., and becoming Stanley Rule & Level Co. in about 1858. In 1919, Stanley Rule & Level merged with the Stanley Works hardware company to form the largest tool and hardware company in the world at the time, Stanley Works, with Stanley Tools as a division.

Stanley has manufactured just about every hand and power tool ever invented. The company started out making rules in the 1840s and progressed over the years to making a complete line of hand tools. Stanley has made tools for carpenters, mechanics, hobbyists, cabinetmakers, repairmen, homeowners and farmers.

Birth of the Defiance tool line

In 1929, Stanley introduced the Defiance tool line. Marked by less expensive, quality tools, the line included all the customary tools, braces, drills, hammers, levels, screwdrivers, squares and planes. By 1939, the line expanded to include awls, bevels, wood and metal chisels, a crowbar, drill bits and bit extensions, files, a hatchet, an ice pick, nail sets, pliers, punches, saw sets, tape measures, tin snips, vises, wrenches, zigzag folding rules and, by 1952, even a wedge vise. With the onset of the Great Depression, company officials sensed a large market of farmers and homeowners who wanted to do their own work with a cheaper, quality set of tools.

The Defiance name was acquired in the 1880 purchase of Bailey Wringer Machine Co. That company made planes with the Defiance name and a battle-axe trademark. Stanley Rule & Level Co. first used the Defiance name on a cheaper screwdriver line in 1904. In March 1923, Stanley included the Defiance name in the patent office’s book of product names for future use on a general line of tools.

By 1926, the Defiance name was being used on a line of cheaper planes marketed by Stanley. The planes became more standard and other tools were added to the line. The Defiance line was marketed from 1929 until the summer of 1953, when the name was changed to Handyman. Many of the same tools were remarked and continued in the Handyman line. Handyman was a relatively new name acquired with the purchase of North Brothers Mfg. Co. in 1946.

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