WEBVTT - Screwdriver Wars

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<v Speaker 1>This is our American Stories, and our next story comes

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<v Speaker 1>from a man who's simply known as the History Guy.

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<v Speaker 1>His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands of people

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<v Speaker 1>of all ages on YouTube. The History Guys also heard

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<v Speaker 1>right here on our American Stories. Here's the History Guy

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<v Speaker 1>with the story of the screwdriver. Wars. Screws as fasters

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<v Speaker 1>were not apparently produced until around the fifteenth century, at

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<v Speaker 1>least no mention as an e late fifteenth century manuscript.

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<v Speaker 1>Their initial use was as a fastener for parts of

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<v Speaker 1>medieval jousting armor, and in nearly the same period for

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<v Speaker 1>early firearms. The earliest screwdrivers were built to service these weapons,

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<v Speaker 1>and they were called either a screw tartar or a turnscrew,

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<v Speaker 1>and they had a pear shape wooden handle another looked

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<v Speaker 1>at like a modern flatheaded screwdriver. But these screws and

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<v Speaker 1>screwdrivers would have been custom made and used on very

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<v Speaker 1>expensive devices like wheel locks and jousting armor, and so

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<v Speaker 1>screws were not for the common folk. In seventeen sixty,

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<v Speaker 1>brothers Job and William Wyatt of Staffordshire patented a screwmaking

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<v Speaker 1>machine that used a file to cut into threads. Following

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<v Speaker 1>the pitch of a lead screw. This allowed mass production

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<v Speaker 1>of screws and was a precursor to industrial mass production machines.

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<v Speaker 1>The idea of using a lathe of some sort of

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<v Speaker 1>cut threads was variously improved upon until the process for

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<v Speaker 1>cold rolling threads was perfected in the eighteen eighties. But

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<v Speaker 1>virtually all of these screws used just a few turning methods,

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<v Speaker 1>either a hexagon or square that was turned externally or

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<v Speaker 1>a flat slot cut to turn internally, and as anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who has ever used one nose, flatheaded screws and screwdrivers

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<v Speaker 1>have their problems, but solutions were on the horizon. Peter L.

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<v Speaker 1>Robertson was born and hauled Men County, Ontario, Canada in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen seventy nine. Tinkerer Robertson produced a number of inventions,

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<v Speaker 1>including a new design for cufflinks and even a better mousetrap.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen oh five, received a patent in Canada for

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<v Speaker 1>a new design of a corkscrew that centered itself on

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<v Speaker 1>the bottle. Around the turn of the century, Robertson was

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<v Speaker 1>working through Eastern Canada as what was called a high

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<v Speaker 1>pitch man, meaning a traveling salesman for a Philadelphia tool company,

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<v Speaker 1>high pitchman would sell their wares, say on a street

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<v Speaker 1>corner Accounty Fair, calling out their wares, and among the

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<v Speaker 1>things that he was selling was a device of his

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<v Speaker 1>own design. Robert's twentieth century wrench brace was a multi

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<v Speaker 1>tool that could be used as a monkey wrench, as

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<v Speaker 1>a brace, as a bench vice, as a screwdriver. While

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrating the screwdriver, which was flat bladed, the blade slipped

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<v Speaker 1>and seriously cut his hand. That gave him the idea

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<v Speaker 1>of a new type of screwdriver head that was less

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<v Speaker 1>likely to slip or cam out. In eighteen seventy five,

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<v Speaker 1>Alan Cummings of New York City had been granted a

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<v Speaker 1>patent for a screw that used a cavity either a

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<v Speaker 1>square or triangle, rather than a slot, to address the

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<v Speaker 1>same problem. Cummings description noted, it is well known that

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<v Speaker 1>the ordinary screwhead provided with a slot is very susceptible

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<v Speaker 1>to injury caused mainly by the slipping of the screwdriver

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<v Speaker 1>from the slot when the screws being set home in

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<v Speaker 1>wood or metal. By admitting the usual slot and using

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<v Speaker 1>the proper shaped cavity and screwdriver, perfect safety is insured

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<v Speaker 1>to the metallic cap. But Cummings design had a flaw.

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<v Speaker 1>The way that you made the cavity that the screwdriver

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<v Speaker 1>fit into was by stamping it with a dye and

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<v Speaker 1>stamping it deeply enough that the screwdriver would set inside,

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<v Speaker 1>it would deform or weaken the screwhead. Robertson had a

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<v Speaker 1>better solution, which he applied for a patent in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>o seven. His screw tapered the sides of the creer

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<v Speaker 1>gradually down to a pyramid shape that's not only prevented

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<v Speaker 1>the head from being deformed, but actually helped align the

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<v Speaker 1>metal grain, as he explained, knitting the atoms together for

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<v Speaker 1>greater strength. It had the added advantage of less waste,

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<v Speaker 1>since the slot of a slot headed screw was usually

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<v Speaker 1>cut out, losing a bit of metal and weakening the

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<v Speaker 1>head of the screw. Because it was less likely to

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<v Speaker 1>cam out, you could use more torque with the Robertson

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<v Speaker 1>screw and driver. As it was self centering, it could

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<v Speaker 1>be used with one hand, or as a slotted screw

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<v Speaker 1>driver usually required two. The head of the screw was

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<v Speaker 1>less likely to to form, and the Robertson screwdriver was

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<v Speaker 1>much better able to still remove the screw if it did.

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<v Speaker 1>It also worked better than the slotted screw if the

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<v Speaker 1>screw had been painted over. Robertson's screw and driver were

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<v Speaker 1>particularly attractive to furniture makers and boat builders, where it

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<v Speaker 1>was more of a problem if a flathead screw cammed out,

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<v Speaker 1>because it would damage the material around it damage the

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<v Speaker 1>value of the product. But perhaps best of all is

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<v Speaker 1>that robertson screw could be called formed. That is, because

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<v Speaker 1>the stamp tapered down inside the screw. That meant that

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<v Speaker 1>you could build the screw without ever having to heat

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<v Speaker 1>the metal. Cumming's designed, as ingenious as it was, probably

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<v Speaker 1>was never made during its patent life because the screw

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<v Speaker 1>simply couldn't be easily manufactured, but Robertson's design could be

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<v Speaker 1>cheaply manufactured in the millions, culling his invention the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>little invention of the twentieth century so far, Robertson gained

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<v Speaker 1>enough investors to open the P. L. Robertson Manufacturing Company

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<v Speaker 1>Limited in nineteen oh eight. He built a factory in Milton, Ontario,

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<v Speaker 1>which gave him tax breaks and at ten thousand dollars loan.

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<v Speaker 1>The patent was approved February nineteen o nine, and by

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<v Speaker 1>then the company was already filling orders. Robertson was just

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<v Speaker 1>thirty years old. While the Robertson Company described the initial

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<v Speaker 1>years as hard, with local competitors even challenging their patent,

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<v Speaker 1>the Robertson screw silly gained adherents among boat builders and

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<v Speaker 1>furniture makers. In nineteen thirteen, Fisher Auto Body open a

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<v Speaker 1>factory in Walkerville, Ontario, making wooden parts for the Ford

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<v Speaker 1>Model T. The Robertson screw offered a great advantage for manufacturing.

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<v Speaker 1>Fisher became one of Robertson's largest customers, using some seven

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<v Speaker 1>hundred screws per body. Robertson letters designed a screw for

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<v Speaker 1>metal to use on the all metal body of the

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<v Speaker 1>Ford Model A. Having been awarded international patents, Robertson saw

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity to expand abroad, and so he went to Gillingham, England,

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<v Speaker 1>and established a company called the Recess Screw Company. He

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<v Speaker 1>marketed to British industry using the slogan the screw that

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<v Speaker 1>grips the driver, but his real plan was to manufacture

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<v Speaker 1>screws in England, but seldom in Germany and Russia and

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<v Speaker 1>the First World War and the Russian Revolution falled his plan.

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<v Speaker 1>Recess Crews turned to war production during the Great War

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<v Speaker 1>and produced things like firing needles and hand grenade pens,

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<v Speaker 1>But after the war, Recess Crews failed. There seems to have

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<v Speaker 1>have been several factors involved, including a glott of supply

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<v Speaker 1>following the war, and the actions of some unscrupulous investors.

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<v Speaker 1>But Robertson resigned as a director of the company. But

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<v Speaker 1>the company in Canada was still doing well, and Robertson

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<v Speaker 1>looked to expand into the United States. Then Henry Ford

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<v Speaker 1>came to the table. An analysis has shown that the

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<v Speaker 1>use of Robertson screws and the Ford plants in Canada

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<v Speaker 1>had saved two dollars and sixty cents a car, the

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<v Speaker 1>significant savings for a car that retail for only three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred ninety dollars and which was being produced in the millions.

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<v Speaker 1>Ford wanted to use Robertson screws in all his US plants,

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<v Speaker 1>but Ford wanted to say in production and an exclusive contract,

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<v Speaker 1>and Robertson stubbornly refused to give up that control. When

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<v Speaker 1>the deal fell through, Robertson not only did not get

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<v Speaker 1>the contract for the American Ford plants, but lost the

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<v Speaker 1>contracts in Canada, almost a third of his business. After

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<v Speaker 1>three failed tries, Robertson decided to never try to license

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<v Speaker 1>his screws outside of Canada again, but his marketing skills

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<v Speaker 1>made his screws and drivers the screwdrivers of choice in Canada,

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<v Speaker 1>even though just across the border of the United States

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<v Speaker 1>they're hardly known at all. But Ford was still using

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<v Speaker 1>flat screws, which were even more troublesome automated assembly lines

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<v Speaker 1>wherefascrew cammed out it costs time and slow manufacturing. The

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<v Speaker 1>solution started with a patent application in nineteen thirty two

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<v Speaker 1>by John P. Thompson, an auto mechanic living in Portland, Oregon.

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<v Speaker 1>Thompson's solution was similar to Robertson's. By tapering the screw

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<v Speaker 1>had a star dye could be used without distorting the metal,

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<v Speaker 1>and again stamping. The tapered design made the metal actually stronger.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen thirty three, when the patent was granted, Thompson

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<v Speaker 1>assigned it to Henry Frank Phillips. Like Robertson, Henry Phillips

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<v Speaker 1>had been a traveling salesman by the time that paton

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<v Speaker 1>was assigned to him. He was the mandating director of

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<v Speaker 1>a mining concern, the Oregon Copper Company. It's not only

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<v Speaker 1>clear why Thompson assigned the patent to Phillips, but Phillips

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<v Speaker 1>defined the design and was granted more patents. Unlike Robertson,

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<v Speaker 1>Phillips did not intend to manufacture screws, but hope to

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<v Speaker 1>license the patents to manufacture and collect royalties. Not surprisingly,

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<v Speaker 1>with the invention, Phillips got a lot of rejections from

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<v Speaker 1>companies who told me the idea lack promise for commercial success.

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<v Speaker 1>But eventually Phillips convinced Eugene E. Clark of the American

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<v Speaker 1>Screw Company of Providence, Rhode Island, to manufacture of the design.

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<v Speaker 1>By nineteen thirty four, the screw was available for consumers.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen thirty six, General Motors was invited to test

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<v Speaker 1>the design. The Phillips head screw first with into use

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<v Speaker 1>at GM making the nineteen thirty six Cadillac. Customers raved

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<v Speaker 1>about the amount of work time saved. Within just a

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<v Speaker 1>few years, virtually all US automakers, including Ford, we're using

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<v Speaker 1>Phllip's head screws. The airplane manufacturing and railroad industry likewise switched.

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<v Speaker 1>By nineteen thirty nine, twenty companies had licenses to produce

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<v Speaker 1>Phillips head screws. By nineteen forty, eighty five percent of

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<v Speaker 1>US screw manufacturers had a license for the design, and

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<v Speaker 1>the company grows more than one point three million adjusted dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>While the Second World War limited foreign licenses, it established

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<v Speaker 1>the Phillips head screw as an industry standard among wartime manufacturers.

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<v Speaker 1>The hundreds of thousands of planes and motor vehicles built

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<v Speaker 1>by the US during the war were largely screwed together

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<v Speaker 1>using Phillips head screws. While Robertson head Canada Phillips screws

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<v Speaker 1>are by industry estimates, by far the most popular type

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<v Speaker 1>of screw everywhere else in the world. The Robertson and

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<v Speaker 1>Phillips screws were the culmination of the development of screw

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<v Speaker 1>technology over a couple of hundred years, and they were

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<v Speaker 1>two types that rose to the top in an era

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<v Speaker 1>where there was a lot of innovation in the field.

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<v Speaker 1>It's really ironic that the events of the First World

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<v Speaker 1>War were part of the reason that the Robertson screw

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<v Speaker 1>was never developed internationally, whereas events the Second World War

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<v Speaker 1>where the reason that the Philip said its grew was

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<v Speaker 1>and the relative fates between the two say that invention

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<v Speaker 1>isn't about just the inspiration and pun intended drive of

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<v Speaker 1>the inventor, but of a complex interaction with historical forces

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<v Speaker 1>and powerful personalities, things that can impact every tool in

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<v Speaker 1>the toolbox. And you've been listening to the History Guy.

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<v Speaker 1>If you want more stories of forgotten history, please subscribe

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<v Speaker 1>to his YouTube channel, The History Guy Colin History deserves

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<v Speaker 1>to be remembered. The story of the Screwdriver War here

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<v Speaker 1>on our American Stories