The company was founded as
Smith & Hemenway Company, in 1872 by
Landon P. Smith and
John Francis Hemenway in
Hill, New Hampshire. During a trip to Sweden, Smith heard a blacksmith call sparks "those little red devils" and he named the tool after that phrase. In 1926
Landon P. Smith bought
John Francis Hemenway's shares in the company and Hemenway retired. In 1932,
general manager George Ludlow Lee, Sr. acquired
Vesco Tools Company's line of wood scrapers. In 1963
George Ludlow Lee, Jr. acquired
Schalk Chemical Company adding adhesives and cleaners to the companies product line. ==References==