The Phillips Head Revolution: A Mighty Force of Metal
One gray morning
in Portland
in the dismal peak of
the Great Depression
Henry Frank Phillips had
a wild epiphany...
What if he could
turn an itty bitty pointed
piece of metal
(weighing less than a penny!)
into a mighty force that would
revolutionize the world??
Yes, Henry did what
many a great genius has
conjured...
#1: He took an
existing INVENTION
"the socket screw," one his friend
John concluded was
a floundering failure...
#2: Brought his own INSIGHT
("we could move assembly lines
along at lightning speed
if we quickened the pace
of fastening screws
in manufacturing…”)
#3: Then tinkered
and tweaked the design
till he powered & patented
an INNOVATION -
a cross-beamed screw
that was brilliantly
self-centered (though he himself
tried not to be), that fit
more snugly into place
and was much more quickly
aligned with drivers than
its predecessor screws.
He soon created the screw's
matching counterpart,
a new driver whose groves
perfectly aligned with it,
making for a speedy, smooth
secure fit.
What would he call it?
Why not his very last name!
The Phillips Head Screw
was born.
Henry soon realized
convincing manufacturers
of this groundbreaking invention
proved painfully,
pathetically slow.
Undeterred,
Henry pertinaciously
pounded on doors,
solicited phone calls,
wrote persuasive letters…
till one day he won over
the skeptics at the
American Screw Company!
With their stamp of approval
they began to license and produce
his tiny, shiny screws!
The next hurdle loomed:
convince the industrial
heavy hitters
that they NEEDED
this metal prize.
With allies at
American Screw Company
at his side, it wasn’t long
before Henry proposed to
manufacturing giant
General Motors that with
his sturdy screws,
their production could
pick up speed
profits could surge
employment could rise…
it was not long before
the contract with GM
was secured!
Henry’s screws
found their way to the
GM factories,
scooting happily
down assembly lines
swiftly uniting
steel and glass into
thousands of
sturdy, sheeny
1936 Cadillacs.
The revolution had begun!
Word spread,
as the heart of U.S. industry,
factories across Detroit,
were humming and bustling
with those mighty screws.
And the movement
budded and bloomed…
By 1940, less than
8 years after Henry
first had his nascent
bright idea,
a whopping 85%
of screw manufacturers
across the country
had license to use
Henry’s design!
As the massive war
that swept
the world was into
full swing,
thousands upon thousands
of cars and planes
and trains - some powering
the war effort
across the world,
others helping form
cities and transportation
and commerce,
were held together
by these unstoppable
Phillips Head Screws.
They continued to flow
into factories that
dotted the globe
for decades to come.
Little did Henry know,
that dreary day
his idea sparked
that his bitty screws
plus his dogged
determination
would transform an industry
and ultimately,
decidedly,
impact the world!
Photo by Konstantin Evdokimov
Sources:
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/phillips_screw_and_driver/#.ZE88OXbMI2w
https://www.geni.com/people/Henry-Phillips/6000000000142137868