A. L. Young was a dealer and not a manufacturer. Nameplates with "A. L. Young - Machinery - San Francisco" or "ALYCO" are a frequent sight on older machines in that part of the world, and so they are often mistaken for a manufacturer.

Mr. A. Lawrie Young worked for a San Francisco machinery distributor, rising from salesman to general manager. In 1905 or '06 he went into business for himself, establishing A. L. Young Machinery Co., with A. L. Young was established in 1905 or 1906 with Leonard R. Tuttle as president and Mr. Young as general manager. In 1908 Mr. Tuttle committed suicide by gunshot and Mr. Young assumed the role of president. In about 1919 Mr. Young committed suicide by gunshot, apparently despondent over business and personal reversals. His business continued without him and was very successful for many years, especially in providing machinery to schools. The business went under in the late 1980s.

Companies represented by A. L. Young included

• Clausing Industrial, Inc.
• Comet Manufacturing Co.
• C. B. Herald.
• Marvco Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. (Tops)
• Max Manufacturing Co.
• Northfield Foundry & Machine Co.
• Parks Woodworking Machine Co.
• Powermatic Machine Co.
• Rockwell Manufacturing Co.
• Rodgers Production Machinery
• Safranek Enterprises Inc. (Her-Saf)
• Sidney Tool Co.
• Wilton Corp.

Information Sources

• Thanks to Joe Potter for providing much of the information here. "A.L. Young is a company I have considerable first-hand knowledge about. You can remove all doubt that they were anything but a machinery dealer, and a rather specialized one at that. They applied a large aluminum plate to most everything they sold (larger than manufacturer's plates in many cases) with a stylized "ALYCO" on them, and/or "A.L. Young Machinery." We did a lot of business servicing tools they sold and buying their trade-in equipment for repair and resale. They were almost exclusively a school shop supplier and were quite aggressive in that field. I think Mr. Young started out working for one of the larger, broader, equipment dealers in the SF Bay Area and sometime in the late-'40s or the '50s saw a place where he could go out on his own in the then-expanding industrial arts market. They went out of business sometime in the late 1980s I think. If I can ever jog my memory better or find some old correspondence, I might be able to pin that information down a little better. They did have a pretty loyal following and a lot of repeat customers over the years. If I had a nickel for every A.L. Young badge we removed from a used machine, I'd have a lot of nickels now."
• Joe also reports, "I found a listing of award winners from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition (celebration of the opening of the Panama Canal), and "A.L.Young Machinery Company" was listed as a Medal of Honor winner for their exhibit of equipment."

Broken in spirit because of business reverses and being deserted by his wife and children, as he worded his woes in a farewell note, A. L. Young, 54 years old, founder of the A. L. Young Machinery agency, 461 Market street, shot and killed himself yesterday morning in his room at the Alma hotel, 335 Stockton street.

Just before committing the act, Young telephoned to E. B. Happoldt, who occupied the same offices with him, and told Happoldt that he was feeling ill and would not go to his offices.

A bell boy was sent up to the room and returned with the report that Young was dead, having shot himself in the head with a revolver.

• 1895-01-03 Los Angeles Herald.

  A. Lawrie Young, who represents H. P. Gregory & Co., the big San Francisco and Australian firm that was recently in financial difficulties, came down today and registered at the Hollenbeck. His house is now more firmly established than ever and has recently added an exceptionally fine stock to its San Francisco hardware headquarters. Mr. Young is well known in this section of the country and is a frequent visitor.

  A search through Crocker-Langley San Francisco directories, as listed below, revealed that Henshaw, Bulkley & Co. succeeded H. P. Gregory & Co. in 1899 or 1900; Mr. Young remained with the firm, at first as salesman and rising to general manager by 1905. In 1906 we find our first listing for A. L. Young Machinery Co.; Henshaw, Bulkley & Co. continued on without Mr. Young.
• Editions of Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory, (see San Francisco Library's index page of city directories online).
  • 1898. No listings for A. Lawrie Young nor for A. L. Young Machinery.

    GREGORY H. P. & CO. see Henshaw, Bulkley & Co.(successors) NW cor Fremont and Mission
    Young Arthur L. salesman Henshaw, Bulkley & Co., r. Grand Hotel

  • 1900.

    Young Arthur L., salesman Henshaw, Bulkley & Co., r. Grand Hotel.
    HENSHAW, BULKLEY & CO. Tyler Henshaw president, G. L. Belcher vice-president, Milton Bulkley secretary, E. T. Henshaw manager, successors to H. P. Gregory & Co., machinery and machine supplies, NW cor. Fremont and Mission

  • 1905. We cannot confirm that the listed A. L. Young is our Mr. Young. There is no listing for A. L. Young Machinery Co.

    Young A L, salesman, r 637 Post
    HENSHAW, BULKLEY & CO. Tyler Henshaw pres., G. L. Belcher vice-pres, Milton Bulkley sec, A. L. Young mgr, machinery and machine supplies, NW cor. Fremont and Mission

  • 1906.

    YOUNG A. L. MACHINERY CO. L. R. Tuttle pres, A. L. Young vice-pres and genl mgr, machinery merchants, contractors and municipal machinery and supplies, office 319 Howard, tel Temporary 2746, warehouse cor Mariposa and Indiana
    YOUNG A LAWRIE vice-pres and genl mgr A L. Young Machinery Co, r 541 Clayton
    HENSHAW, BULKLEY & CO, machinery, NW cor Fremont and Mission, Oakland office 1010 Washington

  • 1907. This edition includes a full-page ad for Henshaw, Bulkely & Co., which was obviously, then, still in business

    YOUNG A. L. MACHINERY CO. L R Tuttle pres, A. L. Young vice-pres and genl mgr, machinery merchants, contractors and municipal machinery and supplies, office 26-28 Fremont, Warehouse cor Mariposa and Indiana
    YOUNG A LAWRIE vice-pres and genl mgr A L. Young Machinery Co, r 541 Clayton

  • 1910.

    YOUNG A LAWRIE pres and gen mgr A. L. Young Machinery Co, r 227 Clayton
    YOUNG A. L. MACHINERY CO. A. L. Young pres and gen mgr, machinery merchants, contractors and municipal machinery and supplies, office 26-28 Fremont, tel Kearny 2746, warehouses cor Mariposa and Indiana

  • 1918.

    YOUNG A. L. MACHINERY CO, A Lawrie Young pres, C E Kratz vice-pres F W Jahn sec, machinery merchants, 26-28 Fremont
    [Young] A Lawrie pres-mgr A L Young Machy Co r 335 Stockton

  • 1919.

    YOUNG A. L. MACHINERY CO,C E Kratz pres, L E Murphy vice-pres, F W Jahn sec, machinery merchants, 26-28 Fremont, tel Sutter 5736
    [Young] A Laurie mach 461 Market r 335 Stockton

  • 1920.

    YOUNG A. L. MACHINERY CO., Inc., C E Kratz, L E Murphy, owners, distributors, contractors, road building, saw-mill and wood-working machinery, concrete mixers, ditching apparatus and sewer cleaning equipment, 26-28 Fremont, tel Sutter 5736.

• 1908. From an ancestry.com message board post that quotes the 1908-04-04 Mill Valley Independent. The quoted article reports that Leonard R. Tuttle, president of A. L. Young Machinery Co., committed suicide by gunshot.
• 1919. Correspondent Shannon Irish-Galehouse provided a copy of an undated and unsourced newspaper clipping. Based on the evidence above we believe it is from about 1919.

  Despondent Man Ends Life in Hotel
  Business Reverses And Poverty Causes Act