Did Monkeys Invent The Monkey Wrench [Paperback]

Vince Staten (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 1997

Is the Swiss Army Knife really Swiss? What feats of imagination went into inventing the Vise-Grip, the reciprocating saw, the Weed Eater? In this charming romp through hardware stores and lore, Vince Staten uncovers the secret history of the things that hold a house together--and hold many people in thrall.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The hardware store is to the average man what the dress or hat shop is to a woman," we are told here, but even men who are not average, and women too, will enjoy this compendium. Staten (Can You Trust a Tomato in January?) grew up working in his father's hardware emporium in Tennessee, but here he focuses on the shop of Ronnie Matthews in Winfield, West Virginia, after pointing out that a hardware store is not a do-it-yourself discount outlet or a home improvement center, but rather a place where customers can socialize or buy a single nail if they want. There is etymology in these pages (the monkey wrench was not invented by Charles Moncke or laborer "Monkey" White or monkeys), there is history (the ancient Egyptians invented locks) and there are dozens of amusing anecdotes. The reader will learn such interesting minutiae as the fact that 90% of Americans call duct tape "duck tape." There are also some clever sketches, and it all adds up to fun.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

To do-it-yourselfers, hardware stores are sacred ground, comfortable places to shoot the breeze and ocassionally buy a screw or two. Staten, who grew up working in his father's store, conveys the traditional "general store" quality of hardware stores (not to be confused with home centers). Staten alternates short sections discussing the history of a variety of tools and products with anecdotes about hardware stores and their employees. While there are some interesting stories, most are not particularly insightful (many involving a particularly individual would be interesting only if one knew him or her personally). This is unfortunate because, like the diner and the general store, old-time hardware stores seem to be destined to disappear, pushed aside by the newcomers. There is definitely a need for an interesting book on the subject, but librarians can pass on this title.?Jonathan N. Hershey, Akron-Summit Cty. P.L., Akron, Ohio
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (June 5, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832747
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832746
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,816,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun romp through the hardware store, February 7, 2000

By 

Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench?: Hardware Stores and Hardware Stories (Hardcover)

As fewer and fewer of us actually touch anything other than a keyboard in our work, there is a growing fascination with the real stuff of the wrkaday world- the nuts and bolts and tool of those who do what some like to call "real" work. Men in particular seem to be fascinated with the materials and tools of work they once disdained. Perhaps it's something genetic.

The last few years has seen an explosion, it seems, in books that try to tell us about these objects that were once part of everyday experience. Robert Pirsig tapped into something when he wrote "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". (Beyond stealing the title from Herrigel's "Zen and the Art of Archery", that is). There are books about the Zen of timber framing, the spiritual aspects of homebuiilding, and for all I know, personal growth acheived through snaking out clogged plumbing.

Among these books is a sub-genre that's just about the pure pleasure of stuff. (There is, in fact, a book called "Stuff" that's quite good.) Forget accomplishing something; there's a great deal of enjoyment to be had in just handling tools, hardware and lumber, and that's what Staten's book is about.

Staten grew up in a hardware store and has the easy familiarity with the materials that fill the shleves and bins. He has stories to tell about the store, the people who work there and the people who shop there, and woven through the book is the story of the rise and eventual decline of the neighborhood hardware store- and his father's store.

Mst of the book is roughly organized into departments, so you wander from Tools to Paint to Lawn and Garden and so forth. Within each department you work your way down the aisles, encountering items: 12 inch GE Fluorescent Bulb: $2.98. Stanley Coping Saw: $12.98. Each item listing is followed by a short essay- anywhere from a paragraph to a few pages- with perhaps some history of the object, a discussion of why one might choose one material over another or some other bit of fascinating trivia. Most of it is very good, but I did spot quite a few errors; for example, Edison's incandescent bulb was not invented to be the closest thing to daylight, flint sandpaper doesn't wear by losing large pieces of grit (they fracture, which is actually useful in some ways), it is most certainly not true that "no one knows [how superglue works]", and the "d" used to designate nail sizes didn't mean "pound" in England; it meant, and still means "penny", coming from the Latin "denir", a small coin. And if you think, as Staten writes, that a weed eater won't cut your hand or foot, you're in for a rough surprise. Of course, this is a book for casual reading and not a reference book, so that's not a fatal flaw, but I still would have liked to see a little better error checking.

There's one other thing that annoys me about the book. When he's in the midst of a long discourse about the history of a shovel, or the salemen who worked in his father's store, Staten's writing flows very nicely. It's a pleasure to read. But every so often he falls into the sort of punchy, fragmented style that sports reporters are so fond of. Like this. You know? And I find that exceptionally annoying.

But overall this is an enjoyable read, and the organization makes it easy to dip into it at the odd time to read a paragraph or two. Recommended for all men, of course, and for all those women who wonder why we spend so much time in hardware stores.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Amusing... but sloppy., September 17, 2002

By 

Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Did Monkeys Invent The Monkey Wrench (Paperback)

I bought this book on a whim in the middle of a major house remodeling project as a bit of a diversion from all the technical reading I was doing on architecture, construction practices and so forth. Like a lot of guys (and some girls) I'm a bit of a tool freak, so what could be better recreational reading?

Well, lots of things, actually. Staten's book isn't bad, and it does have a lot of interesting stories and a few out of the ordinary facts. But it has a few problems, too, like the huge number of factual errors. There are, for example, retellings of long refuted myths, like the one about Thomas Crapper and toilets. And then there are some downright dangerous misstatement, such as the claim that a string-type weed whacker won't cut flesh.

What I found most offputting was Staten's writing style. He likes the short. Punchy. Sentence.
And lots of new paragraphs.
Of one sentence.
Each.

After a while this really starts to grate, as does Staten's idea of what passes for a joke. But taken in small doses- and with a large grain of salt- the book is still reasonably entertaining. Keep it in your toolbox for reading on breaks, or atop the porceline convenience.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Throne Delight, March 28, 2000

By 

Joseph M. Quinn (Climax Springs, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench?: Hardware Stores and Hardware Stories (Hardcover)

Books like this are meant to be read over a period of three-four weeks. There is a proper room in the house where a man can read and enjoy such a book. Staten's history of tools, worked in with tidbits from his days of being in his father's hardware store, especially when it came to describing the characters who worked there, and some of the customers, will delight every handyman who ever got his hands dirty. The fourth member of my family is now reading it.