AMERICAN MONARCH - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

AMERICAN MONARCH, a manufacturer of screws, bolts, pins, and rivets, was formed by a merger of 2 Cleveland companies, Monarch Cap & Screw and American Rivet & Mfg. Monarch Cap & Screw was founded in 1922 as the Cleveland Brake Co. by Frank J. Andel, a young toolmaker from Czechoslovakia. Andel left another company he had founded, the Viaduct Tool & Machine Co. (later LEMPCO INDUSTRIES, INC.), to develop an auxiliary brake system for the Model T Ford. By 1928 the firm, which began at 1950 E. 24th St. and moved in 1926 to 3444 E. 65th St., added king bolts and cap screws to its line. At this time the company name was changed to reflect the product line. Throughout the years, Monarch Cap & Screw remained a small firm that provided stable employment for about 35 in the Newburgh Hts. area. Eventually moving to 5906 Park Ave., Monarch enjoyed war-related growth surges in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1956 it merged with the American Rivet & Mfg. Co. of 2140 Scranton, another small manufacturer with complementary lines of screws and fasteners. In an unusual move, American Rivet president Wm. L. Stein, a believer in employee ownership, encouraged workers to buy company stock. This plan enabled the new company, American Monarch, to liquidate a profit-sharing trust at Monarch. In 1993 the firm, still on Park Ave. and 100% employee-owned, reported sales of $2 million and employed 30.

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