August 3, 2025

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

I am not monkeying around, truly. Just using a “monkey wrench,” a screw-adjustable tightener/loosener probably given that term by the British because their 18th-19th century “coach” wrenches had jaws that looked a bit like a monkey’s face.

My wrench is a Coes brothers 1870s version that Heinrich Guenther, my great-grandfather, used as a mechanic on weaving and other garment-producing machines in the later 19th century. Soon to Americanize his name to Henry Gunther, he worked on the lower East Side of Manhattan.

The wrench has been used by family ever since, particularly my grandfather Arthur Sr. and my father Arthur Jr.

When I use the Coes wrench, I feel the hands of my forebears. I never knew Heinrich though I carry his name as part of my own (Heinrich or Henry has been in continual family use since the later 1700s), but I imagine that he was as careful with weaving machine repairs as his father Ferdinand was at actual weaving. I know my grandfather was precise in everything he did, and my father counted machinist among many job titles.

So, lots of weight on my hands as I continue to use an almost indestructible screw-adjustable wrench now more than 150 years old. I may not have the precision of my ancestors, but I thank them every time I lift the Coes wrench.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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