About Us
Marvel Mfg. Co. was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1904. The company was started by two families, the Armstrongs and the Blums, and was originally incorporated as Armstrong-Blum Mfg. Co. The Armstrongs were manufacturing tools and tool holders under the name Armstrong Brothers Tool Co. and became friends with the Blum brothers who lived in the same neighborhood, belonged to the same parish and shared a common interest in design and manufacturing. The Blums had been granted several patents and needed manufacturing space. The Armstrongs rented them space in their factory on Francisco Avenue in Chicago which led to a partnership and the beginning a new jointly owned company.
Although we do not know the exact date when the company adopted the trade name MARVEL, records indicate that it has been in continuous use since 1905.
As it was explained in one of the company’s first product catalogs, “It is our policy to place the trademark MARVEL only on a product which the word describes.” These products they emphasized, shall be:
“MARVELS of simplicity and strength in construction”;
“MARVELS of speed and accuracy of operation”;
“MARVELS in time-saving and money-making”;
“MARVELS in adaptation and durability”;
We are proud to say that our products today are designed and manufactured to uphold those same standards and adhere to that original philosophy.
History
The company’s first saw was introduced in 1906 when they realized that a power driven hack saw they had developed for their own use was superior to others that were currently available and could be a marketable item.
The first power driven hack saw, appropriately named the No. 1, weighed 115 pounds and sold for around $12.00.
The saw was marketed under the slogan “Too simple to be misunderstood.”
MARVEL TODAY
Marvel Band Saw
Series 8-Mark-III
In 2004 the descendants of the founding families sold the company
to a group made up of three key company employees ensuring that the
company legacy would live on, and that MARVEL products would continue to
be made in America, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
