99:, a term which was already in use for the English handle-set coach wrenches. Published reports from 1834 and 1840 show the term in use (and indicating by the absence of explanatory glosses that the term was not unfamiliar). The origin of the name is not entirely clear, but Geesin (2015) reports that it originated in Britain with a fancied resemblance of the wrench's jaws to that of a monkey's face, and that the many convoluted folk etymologies that later developed were baseless. Before the Bahco/Johansson/Crescent type became widespread in the United States, during the industrial era of the 1860s to the 1910s, various monkey wrench types were the dominant form of adjustable wrench there. During that era, a very wide and popular range of monkey wrenches was manufactured by Coes family partnerships, licensees and companies, which filed further wrench patents throughout the 19th century. Some Coes wrenches could be bought with wooden knife handles, recalling the company's earlier knives. In 1909, the
40:
79:
143:
That handy tool, the "monkey-wrench", is not so named because it is a handy thing to monkey with, or for any kindred reason. "Monkey" is not its name at all, Charles Moncky, the inventor of it, sold his patent for $ 5000, and invested the money in a house in
Williamsburg, Kings County, where he now
148:
Although this story was refuted by historical and patent research in the late 19th century, it appears to have been inspired by a real person. A Charles Monk (not Moncky) lived in the
Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in the 1880s where he made and sold moulder's tools, not mechanics' tools like a
331:
PACKAGES. Box No. 1. — A tierce, containing 1 pair purchase blocks with snatch blocks and fall, straps, brasses, gibs and cotters for cast cross bars, cotter for bottom of connecting rod, 2 ladles, soft soldering tool, soft solder, brazier's solder, a monkey wrench, hemp for packing, 40 duplicate
86:
Adjustable coach wrenches for the odd-sized nuts of wagon wheels were manufactured in
England and exported to North America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were set either by sliding a wedge, or later by twisting the handle, which turned a screw, narrowing or widening the jaws. In
363:
Every engineman shall have with him at all times in his tender the following tools; and in the event of any of them being lost, he shall immediately get the same replaced, viz. : — A complete set of screw-keys, one large and one small monkey-wrench, three cold chisels and a hand-hammer, one
332:
paddle plates, 4 picks for cleaning boiler, duplicate brass excentric ring, 2 screwed ends with nuts for ditto, 5 calking chisels, 6 steel drifts, 8 stitched packages for valves, 80 hooked paddle bolts. Liverpool, 18 July 1832. (signed) Fawcett, Preston & Co.
114:
In German
Language the wrench is called "Engländer" which means "Englishman". It is thought to be called so because for the less common imperial ("English") screws and nuts in continental Europe when only metric open-end or ring wrenches were available.
95:, Massachusetts, invented a screw-based coach wrench design in which the jaw width was set with a spinning ring fixed under the sliding lower jaw, above the handle. This was patented in 1841 and the tools were advertised and sold in the United States as
364:
crow-bar, one long chain and two short coupling-chains with hooks, two spare ball-clacks, a quantity of flax, gaskin, and string for packing, &c.; oil-cans, large and small plugs for tubes. N.B. The engineman to be responsible for the above tools.
161:
invented the wrench while in prison, and the wrench was named "monkey wrench" as a racial slur. However, both the first patent for a monkey wrench and the name predate
Johnson's birth. Johnson did, however, receive a patent for improvements to it.
501:
616:
484:
Bemis & Call was acquired by a larger tool company in 1939. By the 2000s their old mill building on Main Street in the South End housed a commercial center known as "The Monkey Wrench."
178:
something, equivalent to the
British English "to throw a spanner in the works". A "left handed monkey wrench" is sometimes used as ironic humor, as monkey wrenches are ambidextrous.
408:
318:
Report From the Select
Committee on Steam Navigation to India: With the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index. Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 14 July 1834
111:, Massachusetts, in 1928. After 1939, its successor companies manufactured monkey wrenches from Coes designs until the mid-1960s, a production run of over 120 years.
559:
55:, a 19th century American refinement of 18th-century English coach wrenches. It was widely used in the 19th and early 20th century. It is of interest as an
122:/spanner, which is much lighter and has a smaller head, allowing it to fit more easily into tight spaces, and the tooth-jawed, torque-gripping
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monkey wrench. He could not have invented or named the monkey wrench because he was born after the term first appeared in print.
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Monkey wrenches are still manufactured and are used for some heavy tasks, but they have otherwise been mostly replaced by the
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552:"Charles Monk, Monkey Wrenches and a Monkey on a Stick - a Gripping History and Etymology of "Monkey Wrench""
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286:"The Boston Wrench Group (Imported English coach wrenches or 18th w19th century American copies?)"
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The
Bizarre Notes and Queries in History, Folk-lore, Mathematics, Mysticism, Art, Science, Etc
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Select
Committee on Steam Navigation to India, Parliament of the United Kingdom (1834),
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193:, wields a monkey wrench as his primary melee weapon. Similarly, the Engineer class in
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advertised a six-foot-long "key" wrench, shaped like a monkey wrench, for use on
350:
The
Railways of Great Britain and Ireland, Practically Described and Illustrated
139:
The following story was widespread from the late 19th and early 20th centuries:
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107:. The Coes wrench designs were acquired by the toolmaker Bemis & Call of
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197:, also published by Valve, uses a monkey wrench as his base melee weapon.
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468:"'The Monkey Wrench' mill building at 143 Main St. in Springfield, MA"
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among tool collectors and is still occasionally used in practice.
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The Adjustable Spanner: History, Origins and Development to 1970
353:, London, England, United Kingdom: Simpkin, Marshall and Company
82:
Monkey wrench (left) compared to Stillson or pipe wrench (right)
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876:
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614:, Arthur, Johnson John, "Wrench", issued 1922-04-18
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A story on social media claims that the African-American boxer
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626:
523:
William Rogers (1913) . "Part 1: The Progressive Machinist".
171:
467:
493:
174:"to throw a monkey wrench into (something)" means to
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43:
A hand-forged adjustable wrench from the early 1900s
1076:
529:. Theo. Audel & Company, New York. p.
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642:
374:
372:
582:"Did Jack Johnson Invent the Monkey Wrench?"
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347:(1840), "Liverpool and Manchester Railway",
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280:
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635:
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556:Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog
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70:or any other kind of adjustable wrench.
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550:Jensen-Brown, Peter (14 October 2015).
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181:Cpl. Adrian Shephard, protagonist of
592:from the original on 8 November 2021
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562:from the original on 11 April 2017
504:from the original on 13 March 2023
436:, "Coes Wrench Company," 2005-2011
321:, Parliament of the United Kingdom
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474:from the original on 2 March 2022
296:from the original on 5 March 2005
270:L. Coes. Wrench. April 16, 1841.
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457:, "Bemis & Call", 2005-2011
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494:S.C. & L.M. Gould (1886).
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32:Monkey wrench (disambiguation)
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1:
535:moncky monkey-wrench rogers.
7:
200:
91:, a knife manufacturer in
10:
1101:
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120:shifting adjustable wrench
51:is a type of smooth-jawed
29:
995:
687:
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250:, Oxford University Press
191:Half-Life: Opposing Force
27:Type of adjustable wrench
1036:Machine and metalworking
967:Tongue-and-groove pliers
452:30 December 2011 at the
431:30 December 2011 at the
1046:Measuring and alignment
526:Rogers Machinists Guide
224:The Monkey Wrench Gang
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74:Etymology and history
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1011:Cutting and abrasive
588:. 14 December 2015.
379:Geesin, Ron (2015),
230:References and notes
30:For other uses, see
411:4 June 2010 at the
244:"monkey wrench, n."
135:Charles Moncky myth
101:Coes Wrench Company
692:Adjustable spanner
215:or Stillson wrench
207:Adjustable spanner
84:
45:
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982:Upholstery hammer
383:, Crowood Press,
130:False etymologies
53:adjustable wrench
16:(Redirected from
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183:Gearbox Software
153:Racial slur myth
62:More broadly, a
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426:Alloy Artifacts
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413:Wayback Machine
406:Coes Wrench Co.
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64:monkey wrench
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49:monkey wrench
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37:
33:
19:
1072:
952:Strap wrench
927:Slide hammer
922:Sledgehammer
847:Paint roller
831:
732:Caulking gun
702:Basin wrench
606:
594:. Retrieved
585:
576:
564:. Retrieved
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534:
525:
518:
506:. Retrieved
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476:. Retrieved
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441:
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404:
399:
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362:
355:, retrieved
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339:
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323:, retrieved
317:
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298:. Retrieved
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268:Patent 2,054
263:
252:, retrieved
247:
238:
180:
169:
159:Jack Johnson
156:
147:
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138:
117:
113:
96:
85:
63:
61:
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36:
1061:Woodworking
917:Screwdriver
912:Scratch awl
872:Pipe wrench
722:Breaker bar
707:Block plane
254:25 February
213:Pipe wrench
124:pipe wrench
109:Springfield
89:Loring Coes
68:pipe wrench
18:English key
942:Staple gun
937:Spike maul
852:Paintbrush
842:Nut driver
837:Multi-tool
817:Lug wrench
797:Hole punch
767:Grease gun
658:Hand tools
612:US1413121A
586:Snopes.com
248:OED Online
962:Tire iron
827:Mitre box
752:Fish tape
727:Cat's paw
679:Workbench
300:11 August
105:railroads
93:Worcester
66:may be a
1085:Wrenches
1079:Category
1016:Forestry
1006:Cleaning
977:Tweezers
787:Headlamp
669:Sawhorse
590:Archived
560:Archived
508:13 March
502:Archived
472:Archived
450:Archived
429:Archived
409:Archived
357:30 April
325:30 April
294:Archived
201:See also
176:sabotage
1041:Masonry
1031:Kitchen
892:Plunger
867:Pincers
792:Hex key
747:Crowbar
742:Crimper
717:Bradawl
674:Toolbox
596:18 June
566:3 April
209:/wrench
185:'s and
166:Culture
144:lives.
57:antique
1051:Mining
1021:Garden
987:Wrench
877:Pliers
822:Mallet
772:Hammer
757:Gimlet
618:
478:1 June
387:
87:1840,
1056:Power
902:Punch
737:Clamp
712:Brace
172:idiom
1026:Hand
807:Jack
782:Hawk
598:2020
568:2017
510:2023
480:2022
385:ISBN
359:2023
327:2023
302:2008
256:2023
531:171
189:'s
1081::
584:.
558:.
554:.
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500:.
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371:^
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329:,
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275:^
246:,
126:.
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643:t
636:v
600:.
570:.
512:.
482:.
393:.
304:.
34:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
