S. S. Kresge was a department store chain that dated back to 1899. Starting from about 1932 they sold the "Driver Line" of woodworking machinery that was made by Walker-Turner Co., Inc. We have seen a couple of 1932 Driver Line catalogs with the Kresge name, but we have not seen any later catalogs. It is possible that Kresge did not sell these products for long.
In 1962 S. S. Kresge started the "Kmart" line of discount stores, and in 1977 they changed the corporate name to "Kmart". The Driver Line was probably long gone by then. We have seen a "Kmart" branded electric drill that was made by Electro Engineering Products Co., Inc. and Kresco electric drills made by McGraw-Edison Co. and Thor Power Tool Co.
Information Sources
- 1932 catalog of Driver Line machinery. We have seen a couple of examples of this catalog, and have not yet seen any others.
- "Kresco" 3x18 belt sander, sold by Kresge and made by WEN Products, Inc. The sander carries patent 3,176,436.