Upson Nut Co

Andrew Upson was the President of the Upson Nut Co which was established in 1872. The Standard Rule Co was the youngest firm in this group. Standard Rules factory was located in Unionville, Connecticut.

Within three years the Standard Rule co had become the fourth largest ruler manufacturer in the United States. It is not known if they began operation from scratch or by purchasing another rule manufacturer.

The Standard Rule Co. used the same nomenclature and rule numbering as Stanley.

By the turn of the century most small rule makers in the United States had either ceased operations or been bought out by the large Connecticut makers. By this time virtually all the rules made in the United States were produced by Stanley, H. Chapins Son & Co., Stephens & Co., The Lufkin Rule Co., and The Upson Nut Co. which had absorbed the Standard Rule Co in 1889.

In 1920 more of the rule manufactures were dropping out and it saw the departure of two competing manufactures. The rule division of Upson Nut Co and the Chapin-Stephens Co.

The Upson Nut Co, now a Cleveland based manufacture of nuts and bolts had retained its rule division in Unionville, Connecticut,  when Stanley purchased its hand tool division in 1893. Finally in 1922, The Upson Nut Co., abandoned the last vestige of tool making and sold the rule division to Stanley.

The same day I ran across the Stanley No.1 Odd Job tool, I also found this Upson Nut Co. No. 68 boxwood rule.

 

 

The round joint, the center disk was attached to a plate which was embedded in a slot in the end of one leg and held in place by steel pins driven through the leg and the plate.

This joint was the cheapest, weakest and the least decorative of the three type of main joints used on boxwood and Ivory rules.

Excited to add this old rule to my collection of Boxwood two foot four fold rulers.

Always out Patriot Picking!

Cool information, John, thanks!!

Kinda makes a feller wonder how many old companies went defunct in the 20s and 30s and how many of their products are out there waiting to be picked.

And it makes you wonder if the people that have them have any idea how old they are or how rare they might be.

 

 

Kinda makes a feller wonder how many old companies went defunct in the 20s and 30s and how many of their products are out there waiting to be picked.

I figured out how to add photos from my iPhone to a post.

I recently came across a Upson Nut Co #64 1/2 rule

9 hours ago, Geoff Hansen said:

I recently came across a Upson Nut Co #64 1/2 rule

Cool! Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker Geoff. Glad you found us. Take a look around; promise you'll like what you see and read here. Great group of folks always willing to help, share and just chat. If you have any questions about the forum don't hesitate to ask.

 

Stop by the Introduce Yourself Forum tell us a little about yourself, where you call home and what you enjoy both in the shop as well as other hobbies. Look forward to interacting with you more. BTW, we love pictures here, so feel free to post pictures of your Upson #64 1/2.

X2 Dave's welcome Geoff.

i have a no 68 from my mom. glad I stumbled on to this post.

22 hours ago, krogstad said:

i have a no 68 from my mom. glad I stumbled on to this post.

Welcome Kristina to The Patriot Woodworker.  I'm glad you stumbled upon the post too. Looking forward to your participation here. Great group of people always willing to share, help, or just plain chat. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about your tools, projects or the site. We love pictures too. Great to have you join us.

Welcome aboard Kristina.  Great find, and from your mom to boot.  Considering the history up above, would this have maybe belonged to your granddad, or maybe even great granddad?  Would love to see a pic

I just spent the last hour trying to find more info and I’m hoping someone might have an answer to my question. But first I must say that I really enjoyed the history of what I’m holding! I have a folding rule with No.27 on opposite side with Upson Nut Co. Unionville,CT.

  Why can I not find this anywhere and when was it made?

2 hours ago, Titan Glaude said:

I just spent the last hour trying to find more info and I’m hoping someone might have an answer to my question. But first I must say that I really enjoyed the history of what I’m holding! I have a folding rule with No.27 on opposite side with Upson Nut Co. Unionville,CT.

  Why can I not find this anywhere and when was it made?

Welcome to The Patriot Woodworker Titan. Glad you found us and came aboard. History of old tools is mesmerizing and addictive. If only the tools could tell their stories, right?

 

Based on the information from THIS WEBSITE, it appears the rule would have been manufactured between 1889 and 1922. After 1922, the rule would have carried the Stanley name and prior to 1889 likely would have been identified as a Standard rule. Narrowing down to a specific year between 1889-1922 might be difficult since the rules had little to no differences. Hope this helps a little.

 

Hopefully the OP @John Moody or perhaps @steven newman can shed some additional insight. Happy to have you participating in the forums.

Welcome aboard Titan, glad to have you here. 

17 hours ago, Titan Glaude said:

I just spent the last hour trying to find more info and I’m hoping someone might have an answer to my question. But first I must say that I really enjoyed the history of what I’m holding! I have a folding rule with No.27 on opposite side with Upson Nut Co. Unionville,CT.

  Why can I not find this anywhere and when was it made?

Let me see what I have as far as information on those. I used to do a lot of looking and I have a few books that might get the date range a little closer. It's pretty hard to get a real specific date on boxwood rulers, it will most likely be a date range. However any boxwood ruler you find these days will be at least 100 years old.

17 hours ago, Titan Glaude said:

I just spent the last hour trying to find more info and I’m hoping someone might have an answer to my question. But first I must say that I really enjoyed the history of what I’m holding! I have a folding rule with No.27 on opposite side with Upson Nut Co. Unionville,CT.

  Why can I not find this anywhere and when was it made?

 

I've spent many hours looking up rulers and collecting them. Here is a picture of a few of the ones I have and some of the original catalogs.

 

 

On 3/17/2024 at 2:37 PM, Titan Glaude said:

I just spent the last hour trying to find more info and I’m hoping someone might have an answer to my question. But first I must say that I really enjoyed the history of what I’m holding! I have a folding rule with No.27 on opposite side with Upson Nut Co. Unionville,CT.

  Why can I not find this anywhere and when was it made?

So here is the best information I can offer you on the Upson Nut Co No. 27 Ruler.

Most all rule makers followed Stanley's numbering for their folding ruler. But here is what is interesting about this No. 27.

Upon Nut Co was purchased by Stanley in 1922.

 

Stanley didn't introduce a No. 27 Folding Rule until 1932, so Upon Nut would have introduced their own No.27 years before being purchased by Stanley. Upon nut was in business making rules from 1857 to 1922. That range for the time being is as close as I can get you as to when your ruler was made.

 

 

I hope this offers you some information as to your ruler and when it was made. It is at least just over 100 years old.

 

Let me know if you have any questions

Thanks John for the additional information. Very interesting.