Bridgeport Hardware Manufacturing

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Selected Tools
• References and Resources
• What's New (Last Updated Mar. 22, 2008)
  Recent changes to this page:

  • 03/22/2008: Added a Bridgeport Hy-Bar 5/8x3/4 Angled Open-End Wrench.
  • 11/01/2007: Created separate page.
  • 07/07/2007: Added a BHM "Master Quality" 731A Open-End Wrench.
  • 07/02/2007: Added a BHM "Wards Master Quality" Open-End Wrench.
  • 06/26/2007: Added a BHM "Master Quality" 27C Open-End Wrench.
  • 06/25/2007: Added a BHM "Master Quality" 28S Open-End Wrench.
  • 12/13/2006: Added a BHM Nickel Molybdenum Combination Wrench.
  • 08/12/2006: Added Bridgeport (BHM) Slip-Joint Pliers.
  • 06/09/2006: Added a Bridgeport Hardware Open-End Wrench.

Introduction

Company History

The Bridgeport Hardware Manufacturing company was founded sometime in the 1890s in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company made a wide variety of tools, with many of them produced as a contract manufacturer for other companies. The tools were frequently marked with the company's initials BHM, sometimes in the stylized BHM-Logo shown in our Logos Table.

BHM sometimes made use of a somewhat unusual nickel-molybdenum alloy steel, so this may help to identify an otherwise unknown tool.

In the early 1960s Bridgeport Hardware was acquired by Crescent Niagara, a holding company that had previously acquired Crescent Tool, Billings & Spencer, and the tool operations of Barcalo Manufacturing. Production of Bridgeport tools continued under the management of Crescent Niagara, and a 1967 Crescent catalog included a number of items from the Bridgeport Hardware line.

Patents

Trademarks

Selected Tools

BHM Slip-Joint Universal Pliers

Fig. 1. BHM Slip-Joint Universal Pliers, with Insets for Handle Pattern and Detail.

"Nickel Molybdenum" Open-End Wrench

Fig. 2. BHM Nickel Molybdenum 3/4x7/8 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse.

Fig. 2 shows a BHM 3/4x7/8 open-end wrench with a distinctive X-Center design, consisting of a central "X" with elongated darts on either side. The wrench is marked "U.S.A. Nickel Molybdenum" with "Patent No. 97325" on the reverse.

The overall length is 7.5 inches.

The patent notice is a reference to design patent #D97,325, filed in 1935 with assignment to Bridgeport Hardware.

"Nickel Molybdenum" Box-End Wrench

Fig. 3. BHM Nickel Molybdenum 3/8x7/16 Box-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse.

Fig. 3 shows a BHM 3/8x7/16 box-end wrench with the X-Center design, marked "U.S.A. Nickel Molybdenum" with "Patent No. 97325" on the reverse.

BHM is effectively using "Nickel Molybdenum" as an informal brand on this wrench. The patented design of this wrench allows BHM to be clearly identified as the maker, but other wrenches may be found occasionally with only the "Nickel Molybdenum" marking.

"Nickel Molybdenum" Combination Wrench

The distinctive cross-and-darts design was also used for combination wrenches, although these appear to be quite rare.

Fig. 4. BHM Nickel Molybdenum 3/8 Combination Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 4 shows a BHM 3/8 combination wrench with the X-Center design, marked "U.S.A. Nickel Molybdenum" with "Patent No. 97325" on the reverse.

The overall length is 4.6 inches, and the finish is chrome plating with polished faces.

BHM "Master Quality" 27C Open-End Wrench

Bridgeport produced a line of open-end wrenches under the "Master Quality" mark, an unregistered brand used primarily by Montgomery Ward for its top-quality tools, but sometimes used by others as well. Some of the Bridgeport production includes the full "Wards Master Quality" name, but frequently only "Master Quality" was marked.

Fig. 5. BHM 27C 9/16x11/16 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 5 at the left shows a BHM 27C 9/16x11/16 open-end wrench, stamped with the model and BHM Logo on the face. The shank has a distinctive depressed panel design, with "Molybdenum Alloy U.S.A." forged into the front and "Master Quality" on the reverse.

The overall length is 6.7 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

BHM "Master Quality" 28S Open-End Wrench

Fig. 6. BHM 28S 5/8x25/32 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 6 at the left shows a BHM 28S 5/8x25/32 open-end wrench, stamped with the model and BHM Logo on the face. The shank has a distinctive depressed panel design, with "Molybdenum Alloy U.S.A." forged into the front and "Master Quality" on the reverse.

The overall length is 7.8 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

BHM "Master Quality" 731A Open-End Wrench

Fig. 7. BHM 731A 3/4x7/8 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 7 at the left shows a BHM 731A 3/4x7/8 open-end wrench, stamped with the model and BHM Logo on the face. The shank has a distinctive depressed panel design, with "Molybdenum Alloy U.S.A." forged into the front and "Master Quality" on the reverse.

The overall length is 8.8 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

BHM "Wards Master Quality" 15/16x1 Open-End Wrench

The next figure shows an example of the BHM production for the Montgomery Ward "Master Quality" line.

Fig. 8. BHM Wards Master Quality 15/16x1 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 8 at the left shows a Wards Master Quality 15/16x1 open-end wrench of the same distinctive design as the previous examples, but not marked with the BHM logo. The panelled shank is marked with "Molybdenum Alloy U.S.A." forged into the front, with "Wards Master Quality" forged into the reverse.

The overall length is 9.8 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

Bridgeport Hy-Bar 5/8x3/4 Angled Open-End Wrench

One of Bridgeport's more distinctive products was the Hy-Bar line of angle-head open-end wrenches.

Fig. 9. Brigeport Hy-Bar 5/8x3/4 Angled Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Side View.

Fig. 9 shows a Bridgeport Hy-Bar 5/8x3/4 open-end wrench with angled heads, stamped "Hy-Bar" and "Bridgeport" on the face, and with "Forged Steel U.S.A." and the fractional size forged into the shank. The reverse shank has the approximate metric sizes "16 m/m" and "19 m/m" in forged raised letters.

The overall length is 7.5 inches, and the finish is nickel plating.

References and Resources

Photographs and observations of particular tools are based on items in my personal collection.

Catalog Resources

Product information was obtained from Bridgeport Hardware catalog No. 22 of 1923.

Patent and Trademark Information

Patent information was obtained from the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) web site at uspto.gov. Patent documents were obtained from sites offering free downloads, notably freepatentsonline.com.

Feedback

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