Reply To: Are these the genuine Marpel Blue Chip?
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I hope this one can help:
William Marples & Sons traded independently from 1860 to 1962. In 1962 the C & J Hampton Ltd. (Record Tools) and Ridgeway & Sons Ltd. companies bought them out as joint owners with William Marples and Sons apparently continuing to operate as an independent entity. The history is quite confusing after 1972. In that year these companies merged and became Record/Ridgeway Tools Ltd. The AB Bahco Co. (Swedish chisel and woodworking tools) bought Record/Ridgeway Tools in 1981 and in 1988 named it Record Marples Woodworking Tools Ltd. In the 1990s the Company underwent several name changes: Record Tools in 1991, Record Holdings Plc in 1993, then Record Tools Ltd. once more in 1998 when it became part of the American Tool Company. The company has been owned by Irwin Industrial Tool Co. since 2008.