Cole Tool Manufacturing Co. made a combination swiveling bench vise and detachable drill, and a post vise that doubled as an anvil. Their one known catalog, with 2 scanned copies on the Internet, is not dated. It appears to be from the 1940s to 1950s. The business was owned by Harold Eugene Cole (1909-1984). He retired in from the company in 1979, according to his obituary. A review of newspaper ads found the first in 1940, for the "Cole portable vise & drill" with no price given. Advertising resumed after the war, with the set priced at $55.00 in 1951. The most recent full price ads were in 1976, $239.50 at NAPA stores. A 1980 ad had the set on sale at $150.00. Known examples variously have the location cast into the head as "St. Anne, IL" or "Chicago Heights, IL".

Although the catalog called the drill "portable," it is intended to be operated firmly affixed to the vise or the object being drilled, as an engine block.

Information Sources

• 1953 Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations, page 663, lists "Cole Tool Manufacturing Co. / 1660 School St., Chicago Heights / Harold E. Cole, 1660 School St., Chicago Heights. / Frank H. Cole, 3512 S. 58th Ave., Cicero. / Harold E. COle, 1660 School St., Chicago Heights."
• July 1967 Hardware Age (volume 200, issues 1-2, page 616) lists "Cole Electric Mfg Co Div Cole Tool & Die Co 241 Ashland Rd Mansfield".
• The Oshkosh Northwestern, Wed., June 13, 1984.
• 1995 Harris Illinois Industrial Directory, page 1038, lists "Cole Tool Mfg Co, Saint Anne IL—See Midwest Machine Tool Co". On page 673 we have "Midwest Machine Tool Co / 485 S Oak St".