H.D. Smith & Co.

Manufacturer of Perfect Handle Tools

Unfortunately, “Perfect Handle” has become a bit like “Kleenex”.  People often describe any tool with wooden handles as a Perfect Handle tool.  But “true” Perfect Handle tools were made only by H. D. Smith & Co., in Plantsville, Connecticut.

Mr. Henry D. Smith, along with G. F. Smith, E. W. Twitchell, W. S. Ward, and E. P. Hotchkiss organized H. D. Smith & Co in 1850.  The company originally made carriage hardware in a factory located at 24 West St. in Plantsville, on the Eight Mile River, which provided power for the plant.  This photo was taken in 1870:

The building became a landmark and the company's executives became wealthy and known in Plantsville and neighboring Southington.  Booker T. Washington wrote in his diary on May 1, 1882 that he visited Plantsville and called on Mr. H. D. Smith at “8½ p.m.”  Mr. Washington was raising donations for the Tuskegee, Alabama “Normal School” and hoped Mr. Smith would contribute.  Mr. Washington wrote that Mr. Smith “rec'd me more kindly than I had ever been by any white man” and that Mr. Smith was “a very cheerful old man” who “gives all his income for charitable objects.”  A New York Times article dated August 1, 1888 indicates that Mr. H. D. Smith sought the nomination of the Connecticut Prohibitionists Party for Governor of Connecticut.

Between 1900 and 1901, two employees, Amos Shepard and William S. Ward, obtained three patents: Shepard's No. D33,468 (Oct. 30, 1900) for forging the handle of a nut wrench, Shepard's 666,029 (Jan. 15, 1901), which included reinforcing within the forged handle, and William Ward's D34,136 (Feb. 26, 1901) relating to the handle.  These three patents formed the basis for the Perfect Handle tools.

By 1910 the company was making high-quality forgings and tools rather than carriage hardware.  Perfect Handle tools consisted of a high-quality forging with wooden handles “riveted on, locked in under pressure [using a large press], and waterproofed.”

On October 31, 1910 fire broke out in the factory building, which was constructed of wood.  The fire was catastrophic and totally destroyed the entire plant.

According to one account, the president of the company, L. V. Walkley, did not even wait for the insurance adjuster, but immediately set up the company in a vacant “bag shop” down the road.  He was so successful in maintaining production that the company voted its usual dividends at the annual meeting in March 1911 - only four months after the total loss of the manufacturing plant.  The company then moved into a brand new building built of brick and steel later in 1911, shown here:

A reprint of the company's 1920 catalog shows a full line of tools under the “Perfect Handle” name.  Other names claimed as trademarks include “SharpenEzy” cold chisels, cape chisels and punches, “Gittatit” offset slip-joint pliers, “Enchased” joint slot-cutting pliers, and the “Ultimate” valve spring lifter.  The common and familiar Perfect Handle screwdriver appears first in the catalog, with the butt end of the handle marketed as a “hammer head” for starting screw points into wood.  Although these screwdrivers are very common, many of the other tools shown in the catalog are more rare and all are highly sought after by collectors.

In 1930, Trimont Mfg. Co. took over the Perfect Handle line after H. D. Smith & Co. failed, an early victim of the Great Depression.  Trimont produced the same wrenches for a while, but apparently did not produce the Perfect Handle screwdrivers and automotive tools.

I have been unable to find anything regarding the history of the Perfect Handle name after that.  But you might find more recently manufactured screwdrivers looking exactly like H. D Smith & Co.'s Perfect Handle screwdrivers with the “Irwin” name stamped on the shank, so I presume that Irwin acquired the rights to the manufacturing methods, or perhaps enough time passed that the patent expired and the design entered the public domain.  You might also find a variation, slightly different in shape (flatter and less rounded), marked “Made in Germany”.  These are not true Perfect Handle tools but typically are described as such anyway.

The H. D. Smith & Co. building in Plantsville, CT at 24 West St. was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 19, 1977.