Plomb tools of Los Angeles (later to become Proto Tools).
Quote:
The Plomb Tool Company had its beginning in 1907 as a small blacksmith shop in Los Angeles, taking its name from one of the principals, Alphonse Plomb. Its earliest tools included items such as hand-forged chisels, intended primarily for the plumbing and building trades.
During the 1920s Plomb expanded into the automotive tools market, and its first catalogs were published in the mid 1920s. By the late 1920s the company was advertising in some of the popular periodicals of the time, probably in order to broaden its customer base. For example, an ad in the December 1928 issue of Popular Science Monthly shows a Plomb Hand-Forged Screw Driver on page 90 at the left. The text notes the use of special tungsten steel, with the square shank running through the handle to the metal cap. Interestingly, this 1928 ad shows the Plomb name with an inverted triangle already in use, at a time several years before this "PLVMB" logo began to be used on tools.
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The business took up a large amount of real estate on the 2200 block of Santa Fe Avenue, e.g., 2209 and 2257. For those interested in that vicinity (Vernon ?) or the history of this tool manufacturer in the LA area, some interesting detective work can be found here>>
http://plombtools.com/the-plomb-factory/ and here>>
http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artif...y.html#history
http://plombtools.com/wp-content/upl.../Composite.png
The '29 directory listing for Plomb Tools is 2009 Santa Fe.
http://rescarta.lapl.org:8080/ResCar...arch_doc=plomb
Mr. Plomb's residence at
7718 Maie Avenue (Near Nadeau Street) is not extant. However, other members of his firm, the Pendletons, resided at
5626 Berkshire Drive. It does appear that this home remains in superior shape.
http://cbk1.google.com/cbk?output=th...=1&w=300&h=118
1925
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...XT=&DMROTATE=0
http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/625....230578468.jpg
http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/511....313276038.jpg
1929 Popular Science Ad for Plomb Tools
http://books.google.com/books?id=TSo...ngeles&f=false