OverviewThe Black & Decker Corporation is the world's leading maker of power tools and accessories--and is the firm most responsible for the creation of the post-World War II consumer market for power tools. Black & Decker (B&D) also leads the world in the production of electric lawn and garden tools, specialty fastening systems, glass container-making equipment, steel golf club shafts, and security hardware (locks and locksets). The company is also the largest full-line supplier of small household appliances in North America. B&D products are sold in more than 100 countries and are manufactured in plants located in 14 countries. Early History Alonzo G. Decker and S. Duncan Black, two industrial tool designers and engineers, formed The Black & Decker Manufacturing Company in September 1910. With $600 from the sale of Black's second-hand car and a loan of $1,200, they set up a machine shop in a rented warehouse in Baltimore, Maryland. Black was the president of the company. In their first years the partners contracted to manufacture industrial products invented and sold by others, such as a milk bottle cap machine, a cotton picker, and machinery for the U.S. Mint. In 1916 Black and Decker began to design and manufacture their own electric-powered tools. The German-made electric tools then available were heavy and difficult to operate, and, as a result, had not been commercially successful. Black and Decker designed a universal motor--the first for electric-tool use--which employed either alternating or direct current, and a trigger switch modeled after the mechanism in the Colt revolver. The first tool incorporating these innovative elements was a 1/2-inch portable drill with the innovative "pistol grip and trigger switch" that have remained standard for electric drills ever since. The drill was comparatively light at 21 1/2 pounds, and it was considered inexpensive at $230.B&D grew consistently during the 1920s, as businesses bought labor-saving devices to deal with rising labor costs. In 1917 the company was awarded patents for its pistol grip and trigger switch and constructed a factory on the outskirts of Towson, Maryland. By 1918 sales surpassed $1 million. Immediately after World War I, more portable electric tools were introduced, including a 3/8-inch drill, a grinder, and a screwdriver. To accommodate demand the Towson plant was expanded three times by 1927. A Towson headquarters building was also constructed in 1924.Black & Decker used aggressive salesmanship and product services to build its client base. The company's first service centers were opened in Boston and New York in 1918. B&D also organized clinics to teach distributors how to use and sell the tools; demonstrators toured the country in two buses. At the end of the 1920s the company even outfitted a monoplane to showcase its tools. In addition, the firm began its first mass-media campaign in the Saturday Evening Post in 1921.