Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench?: Hardware Stores and Hardware Stories

by Vince Staten

Vince Staten, a man raised in a hardware store is offering not only a tour of that mechanical mecca but answers to the questions that have plagued humankind from time immemorial as well. Here, you'll finally discover whether or not the Swiss Army knife is really Swiss. You'll find the answers to essential questions like if cement is 7,000 years old why isn't the entire planet paved? Can you cook a duck in duck tape? Did monkeys invent the monkey wrench? And is there anything that Super Glue won't stick to? Yes, in this book you'll discover the secret history of all the things that hold your house together, and where all the tools that you ever dreamed of having came from.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Humor, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 1996

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humorous examination of hardware stores and their wares. It's sort of like a Ray Romano skit without the supporting cast, or really all that funny. At several points, the book goes from laughing with to laughing at the subject. Very informative.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

GenreLand's prompt for May is Monkeys. The last time I was shopping on Better World Books I plugged in "monkeys" as the search term. It brought up lots of kids' books and this title. I figured, "why not?"

Hardware stores remind me of my father and Saturday mornings spent watching This Old House. I like Mom and Pop ones best, like Winfield Hardware in this book. I also like Tru Valu and Ace locations because there's always something quirky about each one. I really hate going to the big name home improvement stores because you can't get decent service. So this was a good choice for me.

I enjoyed the book and the tongue-in-cheek presentation of the subject matter. And I learned a few things. Very few people had lawns until after the first lawnmowers were sold to the general public. I also finally understand the fundamentals of how batteries work.

[Sherilyn Fahlstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the easy writing of this book and the trivial fact after trivial fact. It was a joyous read! My husband works at our neighborhood hardware store and this book IS that store! Thank you for the refreshing and entertaining read.

[Thomas Schulte · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute, quaint memoir of the family hardware store with a paragraph each about hardware store items. Much like a Wikipedia entry, items generally get a history of who invented them (or may have done so). A few things merit a few pages, like light bulbs and paint. This may appeal only to others with a hardware store career background.

[Miles · Rating 1 out of 5]

raging misogynist nostalgic for all the wrong parts of the 1950s. perfect representation of a US hardware store. 5 stars.

[Tom M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Staten's book is an odd mix of hardware store history, a homage to his father (a hardware store owner), hardware store stories from his youth as well as from a current-day hardware store, and brief histories of common hardware store items. Each separate bit of the mix works well alone, but jumbled up together they lacked the cohesion I thought was necessary.

An enjoyable read, nonetheless.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amusing look at the world of hardware and hardware stores, with lots of facts about the history of hardware and tools, told in a friendly, anecdotal style.

[Frank Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for the workbench. Memorize the facts and become the hit at the hardware store.
Makes me want to own a hardware store.