Hyde
Hyde Manufacturing Company first used its superior blade-making skills to make rugged knives and blades for pros working in the tire, textile, and other industries. Over time, Hyde was called on to adapt its high-quality tools to new industries and applications – from drywall and masonry to wallpaper, surface preparation, and painting. Today, Hyde is the brand of choice for professional painters, drywall pros, wallpaper hangers, re-modelers, and other tradesmen.
Founded as a cutlery manufacturer in 1875 by Isaac P. Hyde in Southbridge, MA. As an engineer, craftsman, salesman and deliveryman―in those early days, Isaac P. Hyde did everything. New England’s leather and shoe industry needed high-quality knives to cut and shape its wares. Hyde saw the need and filled it. By budgeting his time, he could fashion the knives by hand, finish them, load them in his buggy, distribute them, factory to factory, and get back to Southbridge in time to sweep up the workshop.
From this modest beginning, Hyde built first a reputation, then a factory. By the close of the 19th century, he had expanded his line of knives to include custom styles for a variety of industrial uses. In 1917 another factory was built, this one in the shape of the letter H. Beyond the initial coincidence of that shape and the company name, the new building was designed for efficient workflow, improved illumination and expected expansion.
And expand Hyde did. In 1927, Hyde added its renowned painting and decorating tools to the product range. Today, Hyde is into its second century of service to American industry and the home handyman. To the uninitiated, the variety of uses for Hyde products is astonishing. In fact, if it’s made of paper, cloth, plastic, leather, or rubber chances are a Hyde blade was involved in its manufacture. Likewise, Hyde helps harvest and process a wide variety of food products around the world.
Today, Hyde is the largest manufacturer of industrial machine and hand knives and fix-up-paint-up tools and decorating aids. Hyde is still in Southbridge, still family-owned, with a division that continues to manufacture the high-quality knives and blades that Hyde was known for in the 19th century. With well over a century of manufacturing precision made knives for industry, Hyde has the know-how to produce better quality hand tools.
