Wire Grips

On January 11, 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail organized at Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey and produced the first public display of the electric telegraph.  Many have said this was the birth of the telecommunications industry, although arguments could be made for a few forerunners.  Either way, this soon to be booming business provided a new need for innovation.

Mathias Klein, a recent emigre from the Rhine Valley in the 1870’s, saw opportunity when he fixed a broken pair of side cutting pliers for a local Chicago lineman.  His company, Klein Tools, has been in production for 135 years since.  In 2013, they ran a promotion to find the oldest pair of Klein pliers still in use.  Dan Schmidt, having negotiated a three-tools-for $10 trade at Sky Village Swap Meet in Yucca Valley, California, acquired a special factory ordered nickel plated pair from 1904.  He won the contest and $5,000 for his efforts.  The plating was an additional 30 cents at the time of production.

My Father in Law’s grips are not nickel plated.  They were originally designed to pull, set, and tension wire, as the name might imply.  Today we very occasionally use them in a similar capacity, when fencing out deer from vegetable gardens, say.  Wire grips came in a number of styles and classes, including Haven’s, Parallel Jaw, and Interchangeable.  This particular variety are of the Chicago type; named for the company’s home town.