Fastener manufacturer Parker Supply Co. introduced a No. OX (or O. X.) hand metal punch in the 1910s, followed by a larger No. XX (or X. X.) combination hand and bench metal punch in 1920. It seems that the company's rapid growth during the war years, combined with the economic depression following the 1918 Armistice, put the company in financial difficulty. In 1921 the company reorganized, with founder and inventor Heyman Rosenberg stepping back from active management of the business. Operation of the company went to the J. G. White Management Corporation. That firm was able to bring in new investors and then negotiate a merger with New Jersey hardware maker Kalon Co., the merger completing in March 1923, forming the Parker-Kalon Corp. It then organized oddly-named Hyro Manufacturing Co. to make the punches. We have only found one catalog listing or ad for a Hyro punch, in 1936. By the end of the 1930s, the punches were being made by Parker-Kalon again. The company's fastener manufacturing was the subject of a succession of buyouts over the next 50 years, most recently by Stanley Black & Decker, although losing the Parker-Kalon name. It appears that Roper Whitney, Inc. may have aquired rights to the No. XX punch.

Parker was known for its fastener innovations, including self-tapping sheet metal screws and expansion anchors.

Information Sources

• 1915 R. L. Polk & Co.'s Trow New York Corpartnership Corporation Directory, Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx lists "Parker Sheet Metal Works (N Y) Heyman Rosenberg Pres, Albert Blumlein Sec. Capital, $24,000. Directors: Heeyman Rosenberg, Albert Blumlein, 517 W 45th", and "Parker Supply Co. Inc (N Y) Heyman Rosenbereg Pres. Marcel K Sessler Treas. Capital, $50,000; further inf unattainable, bolts, 525 W 45th."
• 1915 Directory of Directors in the City of New York lists "Rosenberg Heyman, 517 West 45th St. / National Chain Co., Pres. and Dir. / Parker Sheet Metal Works, Pres. and Dir. / Parker Supply Co., Incorporated, Prees. and Dir."
• Ad in March 1920 Sheet Metal.
• 1921-05-28 American Artisan and Hardware Record.

  Parker Supply Company is Reorganized.

  The wide popularity and the fast growing demand for Parker Products necessitated additional machinery and equipment to meet the demands of the trade, with the result that the capitalization of the Parker Supply Company, the manufacturers, located at 780 East 135th Street, New York, has been increased to enable a wider range of activity and permit of greater production.

  Through this reorganization several prominent engineers have become financially interested in the Company and J. G. White Management Corporation has assumed the management of the Company.

  The entire personnel of the organization has undergone a change, and the following officers were elected at a recent meeting of the Board of Directors:

  Walter Rautenstrauch, President, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University, and Vice President of the J. G. White Management Corporation.

  William S. Bowen, Mechanical Engineer, Vice-President and Treasurer.

  D. L. Boyd, Mechanical Engineer, Secretary and General Manager, formerly Industrial Engineer with the J. G. White Management Corporation, Production Manager Mennen Company, Production Manager The Mergenthaler Linotype Company.

  The officers, as elected, in cooperation with the J. G. White Management Corporation, will guide the policies of the reorganized Company, and some very interesting improvements are predicted.

  H. Rosenberg, inventor and patentee of the many patents covering Parker Products, and who was president of the Company since its inception, has sold the controlling interest to the new syndicate, and has leased the patents to the Company. Mr. Rosenberg will now act in an advisory capacity for the designing and further patents and improvements of new items. In this connection the Company expects to bring forth several valuable improvements in specialties for the hardware and sheet metal trades.

  The Advertising and Sales Departments are also getting their full share of the benefits of the organization abilities of the new management, and an intensive advertising and sales program, embracing publicity in the leading dealer and consumer trade publications has been outlined. This department is under the direction of Charles S. Trott, who has now been connected with the Company for seven years.

• 1923-01-20 American Artisan and Hardware Record.

  Parker Supply and Kalon Company Limited

  Announcement has just been made of the formation of the Parker-Kalon Corporation, uniting the interests formerly connected with the Parker Supply Company of New York City and the Kalon Company of Jersey City, New Jersey.

  The new company will manufacture the products heretofore made and sold by these concerns, and market them under the trade name "Parker-Kalon." These include hardened sheet metal screws, self-tapping screws and drive screws; shurgrip file handles and solder iron handles; sash chain; damper quadrants and accessories; metal punches and dog mallets.

  The general offices of the new corporation will be at 352-362 West Thirteenth Street, New York City. In its announcement to the trade, the company states:

  "Through this unification of the interests formerly connected with the Parker Supply Company and the Kalon Company, substantial economies will be effected in manufacturing operations and in the cost of marketing the products. It will also result in better service to the trade, permit of closer cooperation with distributors and make possible other important advantages through the coordination of all selling activities.

  "The new company is possessed of large manufacturing capacity, assuring the trade of prompt deliveries on all items.

  "Mr. Louis Goldburg, of the Kalon Company, has been elected President of the Parker-Kalon Corporation. Mr. Charles H. Trott, Sales Manager of the Parker Supply Company, will continue in the same capacity with the new company. Under the guidance of these two men, who are largely responsible for the commanding position the Parker Products and the Kalon Specialties enjoy today, it is expected that the products of the new company will be pushed into greater popularity in the future than they have ever enjoyed in the past."

• Drake Hardware Co. : General Catalog No. 36, 1936, Pg. 50.
• 1937 United States Patent Quarterly, reporting on a lawsuit involving screws from this firm. "...used as far back as 1917 by Parker Supply Company engaged in the sale of Rosenberg Type "A" screws. That company went out of business in 1921. Parker-Kalon Corporation, one of the present plain tiffs, came into existence in 1922..."
• 1937 lawsuit, Rosenberg v. Shakeproof Lock Washer Co. "This is a patent infringement suit of Heyman Rosenberg, patentee, and Parker-Kalon Company, exclusive licensee, against Shakeproof Lock Washer Company, defendant. The bill of complaint charges defendant with infringing patent No. 1,809,758, granted June 9, 1931, for 'Fastener' with all the claims in issue, and patent No. 1,827,615, granted October 13, 1931, for 'Fastener' with claims 1, 2, 4, and 5 in issue. The bill further charges defendant with infringing the trade-mark 'Self-tapping' of plaintiff...That 'tapping' may be applied to a screw that does not tap but is freely rotatable in a hole tapped by a separate instrument. The word 'self-tapping' was used as far back as 1917 by Parker Supply Company, engaged in the sale of Rosenberg Type A Screws. That company went out of business in 1921..."