Billy Stark, Aviator

Larry Milberry, Aviation in Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson 1979

Aviator Billy Stark posing at Armstrong on July 1, Dominion Day 1912. His biplane was assembled in the local skating-rink and placed on exhibition a few days before. The machine was a big drawing card, as it was the first time an aeroplane had visited the interior of British Columbia and about 4,000 persons gathered to watch his airshow on the Dominion Day celebrations.
http://bcbooklook.com/2014/08/11/10-pioneer-flying-part-three/

Mercedes with picnic accessories

 Seen at the Oyster Bay NY cruise night, 2016

The Speed Boat, c. 1930

Tales of Speed.  London & Glasgow: Collins' Clear-Type Press.  c 1930.

Vanished Jobs: Packaging Aspirin, 1955

Canada 1955.  The Official Handbook of Present Conditions and Recent Progress.  Ottawa:  Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1955.

This would be enough to give most people a headache!

Moto Guzzi V7 Special

European version of the Ambassador.

8 Litre Bentley

 The 8-litre', says W. O. Bentley, 'was a product of the old cycle that held sway in the motor business at that time. As soon as you produced a car that became liked, the customer began to demand more—more body, more silence, more performance. As soon as we had got the 3-litre car running nicely, certain people started putting saloon bodies on it.
Now the 3-litre was never intended to carry closed coachwork at all, and much of the charm that it possessed began to disappear when you did so. Closed bodies were very heavy, so some of the performance was lost, and the bodies were too big for the available power. This resulted in disappointment, and a demand for something bigger. So up went the engine to 4 litres, and the same thing happened again. "It's an awful pity", we would hear people say, "that it's not a six-cylinder engine. That would give us a bit more power and less noise." Inevitably, then, we had to give the customer what he wanted, and so was born the Big Six, of 6 litres. This was better. It was quite as fast, and a great deal more refined than the4-cylinder cars. This really did seem to satisfy people for a while. Inevitably, in time though, seven-seater coachwork found its way onto this chassis, performance fell, and gentlemen who had bought a Bentley in part because of its reputation for reliability and speed were disappointed.
It is my experience that everybody in the end wants silence in a motor car. This is what we intended to give them with the next car. We also aimed at giving those who prized such a luxury, effortless performance, a 100 mph motor car that would carry seven people in complete silence and security. It was an interesting experience to start the 8-litre, select top gear, and get out and walk beside it without hearing a sound." 

 Richard Hough, A History of the World's Classic Cars, Harper & Row, 1963

Vaughan & Bushnell gas pliers

Above, 2 pairs of gas pliers, designed for working on gas lines. They're very useful in the shop for gripping round stock, or removing stuck screw-on lids from bottles of glue.  Plus, because they have slots for holding round items straight out in front of the jaws, they're handy for grinding the ends of round stock.

Alexander Vaughan founded a plumbing business in Peoria, Illinois. In 1869 Vaughan opened a blacksmith forge behind a hardware store in Chicago owned by Sidney Bushnell.  The same year he patented a post auger, and sales of this item lead to requests for other tools.  Things were going well until the 1871 Great Fire of Chicago destroyed the factory.  Sidney Bushnell fronted the necessary capital to rebuild, and got his name added to the masthead. 

Along with chisels, punches, pincers, nippers, star drills, planes, wrecking bars and pliers, hammers became a company specialty, especially the "killing hammers" needed in the great Chicago stock yards. 

Source:  Vaughan

Eventually, hammers and striking tools dominated the company's catalogue. In 1940, the company moved to larger premises in Bushnell, Illinois (no connection to the Bushnell family, which had sold it shares to the Vaughan family in 1922).  In 1966, V&B Mfg. Co was formed to make hickory handles in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.

Vaughan is now the world's largest manufacturer of striking tools. See my earlier post on Garden City hammers.

2 ads above from http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1412760-Sledge-Hammers!/page2

Gemini Space Walk as imagined in 1963

Michael Stoiko.  Project Gemini.  Step to the Moon.  Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963.  Illustrated by Frank DiPietro.

Martin SeaMaster

  This was the real jet-age seaplane, it was not the slow awkward lumbering seaplane of piston engine days. It was capable of over 1000 kph and was designed to live in the water for months at a time. The first Navy prototype first flew in 1955. Four years of testing led to the first production model, flown in early 1959. Later that year the program was cancelled and Martin got out of the airplane business, focusing on electronics and missiles instead. Twelve examples were built, none survive.

Who owns what: Brand name ownership

Search Google Images for "Who Owns What."  You'll be surprised what you find.

For corporate ownership of hand and power tool brands, visit ToolGuyd.