This review of Herb Page's new book, "The Brothers COES and Their Legacy of Wrenches" is copied from the March 2005 issue of the "Missouri Valley Wrench Club Newsletter". with the permission of Stan Schulz, Newsletter editor.

   Herb Page is the pre-eminent student of COES wrenches and the family that produced them. He relates facts about the family's companies' histories that current family members didn't know. He includes a comprehensive list of patents produced, owned, and used by the COES companies in relation to their wrench production. A narrative chapter describes the design and production details, and distinguishing features of all wrenches known to have been produced by the COES companies from their inception through the end of production of COES wrenches in the mid-1960s.

   Herb shows pictures of the principals, maps and drawings showing where the factories were located and what they looked like. He has pictures of rare items like patent models, "only known examples" of several wrenches, and advertising materials issued by the companies. Several pictures are in color. He does not reproduce materials readily available elsewhere. He does include a bibliography.

   Herb is including a supplement with price ranges for the wrenches shown in the chapter "The Genealogy of COES Wrenches."

   I find some new tidbit every time I open The Brothers COES and Their Legacy of Wrenches. Anyone who has seen Herb's collection or handled wrenches he has repaired knows how Herb attends to details and tries for perfection. The same characteristics shine through in this book. The book combines family history, industrial history, and patent and advertising history to help us understand and appreciate all the details that appear on the tools. Herb drew on a wide range of resources to compile and publish The Brothers Coes and Their Legacy of Wrenches. I predict that once you see a copy, you'll decide you need one for yourself. -- Stan Schulz, Editor, MVWC Newsletter.

• Soft cover, 8 1/2 by 11 inches, 86 pages with a price guide supplement
• Published 2005


$34.95 including postage in the USA (by book rate).
Inquire for priority mail and shipping outside of USA rates

Email: donhaury@southwind.net. Click Here

Or write: Don Haury
7913 SW 24TH
Halstead, KS  67056

Phone: 316-283-5876 OR 316-284-7345

   In response to popular demand Kenneth Cope has revised his original book to include wrenches manufactured from 1830 to 1930, adding 66 new pages with almost 200 new entries and additions to 60 of the original entries.

   From the back cover: "Here is the first book ever to identify and describe the makers of one of the most mechanically intriguing of all tools, the wrench. The author includes hundreds of makers; each listing shows the maker's location, history, period of operation and known products There is, as well, a Wrench Identification section that cross-references patent dates and trade names (frequently the only marking on a wrench) to the actual maker.

   As with Cope's previous pioneering works on American machinist's tools and their makers, this volume provides an extremely comprehensive historical directory of this fascinating tool and its underlying technology. It is a truly unique reference source for collectors, dealers, and researchers."

• Originally published in 1999. Revised edition 2002
• Soft cover, 7 by 10 inches, 350 pages with illustrations



• By the same author:
  MAKERS OF AMERICAN MACHINIST'S TOOLS
  MORE MAKERS OF AMERICAN MACHINIST'S TOOLS
  AMERICAN LATHE BUILDERS
  AMERICAN PLANERS, SHAPERS AND SLOTTER BUILDERS
  AMERICAN MACHINIST'S TOOLS: AN ILLUSTRATED DIRECTORY OF PATENTS
  KITCHEN COLLECTIBLES, AN IDENTIFICATION GUIDE


$30.95 including postage in the USA (by book rate).
Inquire for priority mail and shipping outside of USA rates

Email: donhaury@southwind.net. Click Here

Or write: Don Haury
7913 SW 24TH
Halstead, KS  67056

Phone: 316-283-5876 OR 316-284-7345