Pony Jorgensen’s female trailblazer
Not many people know the name Adele Holman, not even in the tool industry. But they should.
She’s the founder of the business known today as Pony Jorgensen. And she blazed her trail in the hardware industry back at the turn of the century – from the 19th to the 20th.
That’s when Holman, a former professional opera singer, put her savings into the Adjustable Clamp Company, which she would eventually come to own.
"Adele is an important figure not only to the Pony Jorgensen brand but to American history,” said Bill Sokol, VP of marketing for Arrow Fastener, which owns the Pony Jorgensen brand. “She broke down barriers and ultimately laid the foundation for women in the hardware industry and beyond.”
The Pony Jorgensen web site takes up the story:
“A woman running a manufacturing company was unheard of at the time, especially when women hadn’t even gained the right to vote yet. So Adele famously signed company documents and correspondences as ‘A. V. Holman’ to hide her gender. Under her leadership, the product line was expanded beyond the original Jorgensen handscrew to include iron clamping products, such as C-clamps and bar clamps, as well as the renowned Pony pipe clamp fixtures. Now, more than a century later, the Adjustable Clamp Company lives on as Pony Jorgensen.”
Pony Jorgensen will be represented at the upcoming Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply Awards event as one of a handful of industry sponsors. The event, set for Nov. 10-11 in Chicago, will combine elements that Adele Holman most certainly would have supported for women in the industry: networking, business-building advice, and recognition of achievement.
“Adele Holman’s natural-born pioneering spirit is at the heart of this company,” said Sokol. “And we continue to honor her efforts and dedication to craftsmanship from the beginning to the end of our manufacturing processes.”
For more information and to register for the 2021 Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply event, click here.
