I recently discovered two books by the late Adon H. Brownell that provide a fascinating look at the U.S. builders’ hardware industry in the mid-20th century which may be of interest to others. Both are profusely illustrated with applications from the era and can be viewed in pdf format at the links shown:
Taking The Mystery Out of Builders’ Hardware, ©1940, 212 pages https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015036263930&view=1up&seq=1
Hardware Age Builders’ Hardware Handbook, 2nd ed. w/ supplement, ©1961, 262 pages http://images.erbutler.com/pdf/research/reference/brownell-1961-hardware_age_builders_hardware_handbook.pdf
Pete Schifferli
