B. L. Fry Manufacturing Co., 9th and Monroe streets, St. Louis, made hand, foot, and belt-powered tool grinders for home, farm, and shop use. This entry was suggested by an auction listing for their catalog no. 6 and price list, dated 1917. The company was organized in April, 1914, "To manufacture and deal in all kinds of grinders, tools, hardware, etc." They apparently did little national advertising, suggesting that the majority of production went to hardware wholesalers and perhaps catalog houses. Their brand names were Fry's and Battle Axe.
Benjamin L. Fry (1878-1960) was company president, and his World War I draft registration stated he was president of St. Louis Grinding Wheel Co. By the mid-1920s, he had turned to designing vending machines. He was a co-founder of National Sales Machine Co. in 1925 and received a number of vending machine patents in the following decades.
Information Sources
- "Industrial World." Vol. 48, No. 1, Apr. 13, 1914. Pg. iv.
- Ancestry.com family trees and genealogy databases.
- Find-A-Grave