In honor of its 150th anniversary, Klein Tools has released the book, “Forging Endurance.” The book chronicles the Klein Tools story from its founding father and birth of the company to the present day as a leading manufacturer in the electrical industry, and as the 84th oldest family-owned business in the United States.
Authored by Kevin Wack, the 127-page, coffee-table book details the Klein Tools legacy beginning in 1857, when Mathias Klein operated a blacksmith shop in Chicago.
A broken pair of cutting pliers was brought into the shop to be fixed, where Klein quickly forged a new piece. A few weeks later, Klein produced a second half to fit the first. Those two halves represent the first pair of pliers produced in the United States. Linemen soon came from all over the city for repairs and ultimately, to acquire their first pair of “Kleins,” and with that, Klein Tools was born.
