The True Temper name started as a promise: only tools that proved “true” in balance and temper bore the label. Today that legacy of tempered steel strength and enduring quality is built into every tool.
Our history follows the history of America as it developed from a collection of rural villages where nearly everyone farmed at least a small plot of land through the industrial revolution and the growth of corporate America. True Temper was there every step of the way.
Blacksmith Alexander Miller begins forging hoes, axes, nails and other tools in “The Old Stone Shop” in Wallingford, Vermont.
Lyman Batcheller and sons acquired the shop and began forging a variety of agricultural forks and other implements.
Batcheller & Sons merged with 16 other forging companies to form the American Fork & Hoe Company.
Following numerous mergers and acquisitions, American Fork & Hoe becomes the largest garden and farming tool company in America, supplying about 90 percent of the nation’s farming tools.
American Fork & Hoe makes machetes, bayonets, entrenching shovels and other tools for WWII through plants in Geneva, Ohio; Evansville and Akron, Indiana; Ashtabula, Ohio; Charleston, West Virginia; Dunkirk, New York; and Wallingford, Vermont.
The company takes its name from the quality pledge associated with its tools: True Temper. By this time, the company is manufacturing a range of products including fishing rods, golf club shafts and ski poles.
True Temper is acquired by Allegheny-Ludlum Steel Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
True Temper moves operations to Camp Hill and Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the company is divided into two divisions: True Temper Sports and True Temper Hardware.
True Temper Hardware is purchased by Huffy Corporation.
True Temper merges with the Ames Company to form Ames True Temper, which today is known as The AMES Companies, Inc.
The AMES Companies, Inc. is purchased by the Griffon Corporation, a New York holding and management company.
You can also find videos about some of our latest innovations or general tips on using our tools by visiting our YouTube channel.
Our tools continue the True Temper legacy today by providing novel twists on classic tools and designs. With each year as new materials are developed and designs tested, we redesign and rebuild to provide innovative tools that live up to the original True Temper pledge.
