HARTFORD--It's a name synonymous with tools, and it hails from right here in Connecticut. Here's a hint: it's the story of a man and his wrench.
The hex key and wrench were a game-changer for factories in the industrial age of Hartford's past, and the impact reverberates in the present for anyone who has ever put together furniture. And it's all thanks to a local man.
On this week's Hidden History, photojournalist Mike Townsend brings us the story of the Allen wrench and Hartford's own Allen Manufacturing, which all started with a man named W.G. Allen in 1909.