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Goodell-Pratt Company - Greenfield, MA
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Goodell Brothers - the
Bedrock of Goodell-Pratt Co.
by Wiktor Kuc |
12 of 19
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Following a usual practice, Henry E. didn't wait for
the patent
award and began production as soon as the design was completed. One of the first reviews appeared in
the Carpentry and Building magazine, August, 1903:
"The Goodell Miter Box
We take pleasure in
presenting to the attention of our readers an illustrated
description of a new miter box, which has just been placed
upon the market by the Goodell Mfg. Company of Greenfield,
Mass. The box is made entirely of
Bessemer steel, thus doing away with all liability of
breakage, and the manufacturers claim that it is the first
of its kind ever placed on the market. The backs are made of cold
rolled steel, corrugated to a 1/4 inch in depth to 1/2 inch
in width, thus allowing perfect clearance for sawdust. In
addition to the angles found on regular boxes, it is
possible to instantly set the Goodell miter box to any
desired angle by simply turning a lever.
The construction is said to
be such that the box gives 10-1/2 inches width at right angles
and 7-1/4 inches at the miter. It is made in two sizes, both
of which can be furnished with extra angle attachment to
increase the angle above 45 degrees."
The advertising for the miter box began almost immediately.
Starting in November,
1903, The National Builder published the following
advertisement. In January, 1905 this
advertisement was modified to include a saw.
The advertisement text from the
January, 1905, says:
GOODELL MITRE BOX
Made Entirely of STEEL. No More Breaking.
Our Automatic Stops for holding up saw are the
simplest, quickest actingand by far
the most
convenient, the saw being released by simply
pressing down on it.
Backs corrugated, allowing clearance for sawdust.
Graduated. Many Improvements.
Quality ahead and entirely in a class by itself, and
the carpenter
that once sees it will have no other.
SEND FOR CIRCULAR AND PRICES
GOODELL MFG. CO., Greenfield, Mass.
In December, 1906, The
National Builder editor run short evaluation of this
advertising campaign:
"Goodell Mitre Box
 The
Goodell Mitre Box, an illustration of which can be seen in
the Goodell Manufacturing Company's advertisement in this
issue, has had a wonderful sale during the past year. The
popularity of this mitre box among the best carpenters and
building people is accounted for from the fact that the
Goodell "Steel" Mitre Box is the only one of its kind on the
market. The advantage of having a mitre box that will not
break and with all the desirable improvements, seems to be
just what is wanted.
The manufacturers state that in
designing this mitre box the aim has been to see how good a
box they could make, regardless of cost, and they feel that
the big demand for their box is evidence that quality
counts. The reading matter sent out contains a full
description of this "steel" box and is worth reading by
anyone interested in the most modern woodworking tools. The
Goodell Manufacturing Company, makers of this mitre box and
other tools for the mechanic, is located in Greenfield,
Mass."
Another item that came out of this shop was a
Greenfield Drill Chuck. Although the Western New England
magazine stated that the chuck is an “invention of Mr. Henry Goodell”, we can’t locate a patent
for this chuck.
In later Goodell-Pratt Co.'s catalogs the chuck appears, against
common practice, without a
patent date, which suggests that there is no patent for this
design.
The Automobile Dealer and Repairer journal published a
review of the Greenfield Drill Chuck in March, 1915:
 "The Greenfield Drill Chuck
This
is a strong, accurate, and well made drill chuck at a
popular price, and it is especially adapted for use in
automobile garages and repair shops.
The shell is one piece, and the
jaws are of tool steel, carefully hardened and tempered.
It has ball-bearing thrust, and the thread of the shank
being concealed, there is no chance for it to become bruised
or injured. The
bearing in the Greenfield Drill Chuck is in the center of
the shell, which produces an accurate and more reliable
chuck than when the bearing is at the extreme rear.
 The
chuck has such a strong grip that no spanner wrench is
required to tighten, but one is furnished with the two
larger sizes, as occasionally one is needed to loosen. The
shank forms part of the chuck, making it complete, ready for
use. For prices and full particulars write to the
Goodell Manufacturing Company, Greenfield, Mass."
The
miter boxes and chucks were sold by Goodell Mfg. Co. directly as
well as by Goodell-Pratt Co.
After integration of Goodell Mfg. Co. into
Goodell-Pratt operation, the Goodell Miter Boxes and Greenfield
Drill Chucks remained in production until Goodell-Pratt Co. was
absorbed by Millers Falls Co. in 1931.
Millers Falls Co. continued offering Goodell Steel Miter Box
under the name "All Steel Miter Boxes". The Greenfield Drill Chuck
was also offered, but for a shorter time. It was listed in
the Catalog No. 41, published in 1935, for the last time.
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12 of 19
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