All language subtitles for The Machines That Built America s01e06 Power Tool Showdown.eng

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] They cut, drill,
and literally build America.

‐ The coolest thing
about power tools

is that they
democratized creation.

Anybody can build anything.

‐ [Narrator] It's an
industry that generates

over $50 billion

every

single

year.

(dramatic music)

‐ Since the beginning of time

when we figured out we could
dig a hole with a stick,

we've always been in creating
tools to make our life easier.

‐ [Narrator] But more
than a century ago,

it was all done by hand

until tools were electrified.

‐ This was going to truly change

how the tool industry
worked forever.

‐ [Narrator] The future is
built by a few visionaries.

‐ Holy moly.

‐ [Narrator] Some
power tool makers

will become household names.

‐ Duncan Black,
meet Alonzo Decker.

‐ [Narrator] Others
forgotten by history.

‐ It's all yours, Al.

‐ [Man] Here it is, Mr. Ford.

‐ [Narrator] As a
group of visionaries

battle it out to revolutionize

the way we construct and create.

‐ You can essentially
mold the world in a way

that humans had only
dreamed of before.

‐ [Narrator] This is
power tool showdown.

(dramatic music)

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] At the turn
of the 20th century,

American industrialization
is entering a new phase.

Factories that were
once powered by coal

and lit by candles or kerosene
are now becoming electrified.

‐ Electricity facilitates
greater productivity

for business owners.

It allows for shops
to stay open later,

for workers to work
longer into the evening.

‐ [Narrator] But one part of
industry still lags behind,

the hardware market
hasn't changed much

since two brothers founded
the Stanley Toolworks

in the 1840s.

‐ If somebody could come up
with a way of taking the idea

behind the industrial
revolution,

that is applying
artificial power to a job,

and if you could take the
power to the job site,

if you could make
power portable,

then all sorts of things
would become possible

that hadn't been
possible before.

‐ [Narrator] America is
ripe for a revolution

in the tool industry,

and two strangers are about
to join forces to lead it.

(tense music)

‐ Duncan Black,
meet Alonzo Decker.

‐ Hi, Duncan.

‐ Hi, how are you?

‐ Black, show Decker how
the octaplex system works.

‐ Yes sir, of course.

Hey so, yeah.

‐ [Narrator] In 1906, Duncan
Black and Alonzo Decker

meet working at the
Roland Telegraph company.

They are from Baltimore,

but they had very
different upbringings.

‐ Alonzo Decker had a
really tough childhood.

He dropped out by
the time he was 14

to get a job and then
take care of the family.

He was always very
creative and a tinkerer,

but he also was at
some point a teenager

and didn't wanna have to get
up early to feed the horses.

And so he rigged the horse
feeder onto an alarm clock.

And every time the
alarm would ring,

it would open up the
feeder and feed the horses.

‐ Duncan Black came from a
much more comfortable home.

He didn't have to work,

so his upbringing was
a whole lot easier.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] One day,
these very different men

will completely upend
the tool business,

create the DIY
industry from scratch,

and forge a company now
worth over $30 billion.

(dramatic music)

But in 1910, they are both still
at their telegraph company.

And after four years,

the ambitious Decker
is getting restless.

‐ Duncan, you're still here.

‐ Alonzo?

You okay, what's the matter?

‐ Oh no, I'm fine, I'm fine.

I just wanted to catch
you before you left.

‐ What is it?

What's the matter?

‐ I'm leaving Roland.

‐ What do you mean
you're leaving Roland?

‐ And I want you
to come with me.

‐ You mean to go where?

‐ You and I start
our own business.

We do our own designs.

‐ Decker was a natural
born risk taker

and Black was a little
bit more conservative.

But with that, he had
a great business mind

where Decker was
always inventing

and tinkering and
creating things.

Those brains put together made
for a brilliant partnership.

‐ [Narrator] Decker
loves to tinker

and wants to go
into manufacturing.

He's designed electric
machines in the past

and thinks he can make
a business out of it,

but they have one concern.

Neither of them has any money.

And Black has a
family to support.

(dramatic music)

900 miles away,

a future competitor, 21
year old Arno Peterson,

is on the mound
blowing away batters.

‐ [Coach] Come on Arno,
let's see that fastball.

‐ He was a baseball player,

but professional
baseball at the time,

wasn't considered
a full time job.

It was really just
a side hustle.

Arno's main job
was as a handyman.

(dramatic music)

‐ Whoever designed
his damn thing

never had to use it
eight hours a day.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] One day
Peterson's company

will create a drill
and other devices

that will transform
construction,

launch and empire making
$5 billion a year,

and be among the biggest
power tool manufacturers

in the world.

But right now, he's frustrated.

‐ Using these tools, he
saw the flaws in them

and where they
could be improved.

He was constantly realizing that

if he could make a better tool,

it would make his job
a whole lot easier.

‐ He is the epitome of an
entrepreneur in America.

He's young, he's
creative, he's got drive.

He sees an opportunity,
he sees a need,

and he goes after to
try to make it better.

‐ Just pull it up a
little on the right.

Yeah, that's it.

‐ [Narrator] By 1914, Peterson's
baseball days are over

and he turns his attention
to a new passion.

‐ How's that?

‐ It's perfect.

‐ [Narrator] Designing
tools that will make the job

of handyman, like
he was, easier.

(tense music)

By this time,

Decker had already convinced
Black to leave the safety

of his telegraph
job and risk it all

to open a machine shop together.

‐ This is what really
blows my mind about this.

Black sells his car

to Alonzo Decker's
father‐in‐law for $600,

Alonzo Decker than mortgages
his house for $600 as well.

So the stakes were
insanely high.

‐ It takes a lot of guts, it
takes a lot of confidence,

maybe a little dose
of lunacy as well,

but I guess the spoils go
to those that risk at all.

(tense music)

‐ I followed the
plans to the letter,

so why won't it turn on?

Oh, wait a minute.

Yeah, got it.

Okay.

So go ahead and add the sugar.

‐ Okay.

‐ [Narrator] To get
their operation

up and running quickly,

they initially focus
on manufacturing

existing designs,

a candy dipping machine and
one that adds pockets to vests.

‐ How often have I been
standing in my vest

wishing that I had a machine
to put a pocket in it.

‐ [Narrator] By 1916, business
is slow and profits are slim.

If Black and Decker
are going to survive,

they'll have to develop a
machine for a bigger market.

And they see a need
with hand tools.

‐ Most of the tools that
are used in industry

are still very much dependent
on manpower, elbow grease.

‐ Guys worked day and
night to build a house.

With electric drill these days,

you can drill a hundred
holes by the time

somebody would drill one.

‐ [Narrator] Black and
Decker think they can improve

the power drill, which was
invented in Germany in 1895.

But at 17 pounds,
it's hard to use,

and not much more powerful
than a hand cranked model.

‐ You had to grab two handles,

press your chest against the
chest plate to operate it.

And then the on and off
switch was separate,

and you had to do
that so you had

to take your hand off the tool.

‐ Which is really dangerous
because if it gets bound

on something and it
wants to keep turning

and you have to let go
to find the off switch,

that's where injuries
can happen very easily.

‐ [Narrator] They set out to
create the next generation

of power drills,
but it's not easy.

‐ The hard part was figuring
out how to have the worker

hold that tool and turn it on
and off without dropping it

or having to take a hand off it.

‐ [Narrator] In the
meantime to make ends meet,

they take on a project
redesigning the Colt 45 pistol

to help make
manufacturing it easier.

(soft music)

(dramatic music)

‐ A drill with a trigger.

How good would that be?

(dramatic music)

‐ I'd want one now.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] To
create a trigger,

they have to reinvent how
the on off switch works.

They need something
that can be pressed

with just one finger.

The partners work the problem,

imagining all sorts
of configurations.

If they can't figure it out,

they're struggling
business could go under.

It takes several months of
tinkering, but they pull it off.

(upbeat music)

‐ This was such a big invention.

It's going to make
it more consistent.

You can control the power
on and off the trigger

like a gun does.

It's going to have
more accuracy.

‐ [Narrator] But the drill
does have a major issue.

‐ Black and Decker's original
drill started out at $230,

which is around $5,000
in today's money.

‐ [Narrator] And
there's another problem.

At least 70% of Americans

are still living
without electricity.

(upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] When the US
enters World War I in 1917,

there is an urgent need for
an American manufacturing.

Exports to Europe
skyrocket from $1.5 billion

to four billion as
allies look for support.

But keeping up with
the increased demands

requires using
state‐of‐the‐art power tools.

‐ Working in a great
period of innovation,

there's a lot of money and
profit to be made from war,

which of course
spurs new products.

‐ [Narrator] Despite
its high price,

Black and Decker's
breakthrough drill

is quickly snapped
up by factories

producing munitions
for the US war effort.

‐ The clear need during World
War I for the hole drilling

that was provided by the
Black and Decker drill

was a major success.

‐ [Narrator] It
weighs around twice

what a modern drill does,

and it's a hundred
times more expensive.

Even so, there's no competition,
and it's a huge success.

By 1918, Black and
Decker expands.

The company is doing $1
million in annual sales,

around $13 million today,

but they're about to
face serious competition.

(tense music)

During the war, Arno
Peterson carved out a niche

in Milwaukee creating
custom made hand tools,

but Black and Decker's
success inspires him

to move into power tools.

He desperately needs cash
for research and development,

when he gets a lifeline
from one of his clients.

(phone rings)

‐ A. H. Peterson manufacturing.

Mr. Peterson, it's
Henry Ford on the line.

He says it's urgent.

(dramatic music)

‐ Yes, Mr. Ford?

‐ [Narrator] In
1918, Henry Ford runs

the largest automaker
in the world

thanks to his assembly line.

But both Chrysler
and General Motors

are eating into Ford's sales.

Now, even Black and
Decker's breakthrough drill

isn't good enough for him.

Ford wants a lighter,
smaller, cheaper drill.

‐ This is a make
or break moment.

'Cause if he's successful,

then he's gonna be famous
for inventing the drill

that Henry Ford uses.

If he's not successful,

he's gonna be the man who failed

to build the drill
that Henry Ford wanted.

(tense music)

‐ Okay, so there are
two conductors connected

to the switch box.

And the trigger's pulled.

The springs connect
with the contact plates

and chuck engages.

‐ [Narrator] Peterson
tinkers for weeks,

examining Black and Decker's
drill for ways to improve it.

‐ Look how much space
the motor takes up.

A quarter inch drill doesn't
need a motor that big.

They're grip in the
trigger is genius,

but what if we put
it behind the motor

instead of underneath?

That way a smaller casing
might be easier on the forearm.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] After weeks
of trial and error,

the drill is reconfigured
and scaled down.

(drill whirring)

‐ Well, would you look at?

Cut clean through in
five seconds flat.

I think she's ready.

Here it is, Mr. Ford.

‐ [Narrator] Peterson's drill
weighs just about four pounds,

half as much as
Black and Decker's

and about the same
as a modern drill.

‐ I've taken to calling
it the hole shooter.

(drill whirring)

‐ Well, that seems
fitting doesn't it?

‐ Henry Ford loves
Peterson's design.

In fact, he hires them to
create them for his immediately.

This is a complete game changer.

‐ Most small business
owners, you know,

in the case of
Peterson, as an example,

if you put the whale
in front of them,

they'll find the harpoon.

(soft music)

‐ [Narrator] Peterson secures
a patent on his design

and starts producing
the hole shooter

for the commercial
construction market.

The price is much lower than
Black and Decker's, just $42.

About $610 today,

but Black and Decker still
dominates the market.

‐ Part of the problem
with coming up

with the next great new
ideas is that it's hard

to communicate how
great your new idea is.

(soft music)

‐ [Narrator] To generate buzz,
Peterson's head of sales,

Al Siebert, devises an eye
catching marketing strategy.

A series of live demonstrations
in local hardware stores

with a twist.

‐ Look, boys, it's so simple,

even the ladies can use it.

(applause)

‐ Back then, all
labor was done by men.

It was not a woman's
way to use a drill.

So the fact that you
put a woman in a window

using a drill, ingenious.

(drill whirring)

They were playing off of the
sexist mind state of men,

and it worked.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] Factories
and construction sites

soon adopt Peterson's drill.

Black and Decker now see
Peterson as a serious threat.

In response, they
invest in a range of new

and improved power tools.

A grinder for cutting
and polishing metal,

an electric screwdriver,
and a new series of smaller,

less expensive drills to
challenge the hole shooter.

‐ When you have two
inventors competing

to make the best product,

you're going to push each other.

‐ [Narrator] And they
don't know it yet,

but a new rival is about
to enter the fray.

‐ Holy moly.

(tense music)

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] As the US
enters the roaring 20s,

the economy takes off,

and so does the home
building industry.

Department stores like
Sears and Montgomery Ward

even sell mail order home kits

that local builders put together

with the help new
electric power tools.

By this time,

Black and Decker has factories
throughout the Northeast

and customers as far away as
Russia, Australia, and Japan.

(upbeat music)

But competition is coming,
and from a surprising place.

(tense music)

‐ Keep at it, boys.

Smooth and straight.

If I see a variance of more
than an eighth of an inch,

I'm putting you
all on mop‐up duty.

(tense music)

‐ I need this load
done yesterday.

‐ We're on it, boss.

Moving as fast as we can.

(tense music)

Okay, let's keep
it moving, fellas.

There's no more breaks
till we get this load out.

‐ [Narrator] In a mill in
Oakville, Pennsylvania,

a 37 year old foreman is
driving his crew hard.

His name is Raymond DeWalt.

‐ He actually grew
up in the wood shop.

His father was a wagon maker.

When he had finished school,

he actually went into
that same profession,

and out of the corner
of his dad's wood shop

starts his own business

building children's
toys, games, wood chests.

‐ [Narrator] In 1922,
DeWalt lands a position

as head of a woodworking mill.

He is under constant
pressure from the owner

to speed up production.

But sawing wood is a
laborious, inexact,

and inefficient process.

(tense music)

‐ Ray DeWalt is realizing
that too many man hours

are being spent on
preparing the lumber

with the ripping of the boards

and the cross cutting to length.

And there's got to
be a better way.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] DeWalt
has no background

in engineering or design,

but he's a born tinkerer with
a knack for finding new ways

to modify his tools to
accomplish the task at hand.

And one day in 1922,
an idea comes to him.

He is sure that if he can
figure out how to invent

a saw powered by electricity,

it would be a game changer.

(dramatic music)

He tinkers with the design
for weeks using a circular saw

and mounts it onto an
arm that would pivot.

(tense music)

‐ This lets him move the saw
blade at almost any angle.

He can go up and down with it,

and that lets him make
circular cuts, make cross cuts,

make rip cuts.

He could even bore holes
and put in notches.

This tool basically
does everything

that a carpenter would
do by hand on a job site.

DeWalt calls his saw
the wonder worker.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] The same year,

a young businessman named
Paul Gardner visits the mill

about another matter.

He's amazed to see the
wonder worker in action.

‐ So, for a cross cut,

you wanna set the blade
depth to just below

the surface of the wood.

‐ Right.

‐ And then, and
this is important,

I don't lower the blade
to its cutting position

until the saws motor
is up to speed.

Otherwise, I'll end
up cutting grooves

all over the table.
‐ Got it.

‐ Now, I reckon I can do about
29 different types of cut

with this one machine.

‐ [Narrator] Gardner is just 23.

He's already a successful
tool distributor,

and is familiar with Black
and Decker's electric drill.

He knows the power
tool is the future.

He seizes the opportunity
and on the spot

asks the DeWalt if he wants
to quit his job at the mill

and go into business together.

‐ DeWalt has the
creativity and Paul Gardner

has the business savvy,

and that's how Gardner
convinced DeWalt

to go into business with him.

‐ Paul Gardner was
very ambitious,

and he could have
gone on to college,

but he went on to interview
some of the titans of American

business during that time.

Andrew Carnegie, John D
Rockefeller, and JP Morgan,

and this was really better
than any business degree

or college degree he
could have gotten.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] Someday
their tool company

will be an industry leader
in the high‐end tool market,

become a household name,

and be worth $3.5 billion.

But in 1923, DeWalt's rivals
have a commanding lead.

(soft music)

Meanwhile, Arno Peterson's
hole shooter marketing campaign

is working and his
company is taking off.

(tense music)

Then on a cold
April night in 1924,

his dreams go up in flames.

Arson is suspected,
but never proven.

(dramatic music)

His factory and his ambitions
lie in smoldering ruins.

‐ Arno Peterson has a
really difficult decision.

He can either face bankruptcy
and start all over again,

or he can choose to walk away.

(soft music)

‐ It's all yours,
Al, if you want it.

‐ Are you sure Arno?

‐ Yeah.

Yeah, I'm sure.

‐ His factory burnt down
and that just really

broke his spirit.

He gave up.

‐ [Narrator] Peterson's
head of marketing,

Al Siebert, buys the company,

but he's starting from scratch.

And with Peterson gone,
Siebert will need a miracle

to bring it back.

(upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] In 1925,
one year after fire

destroys the Peterson factory,

new owner Al Siebert is
clawing his way back.

He's rebuilt the plant,
but he knows he must expand

if he's going to compete with
Black and Decker and DeWalt.

(tense music)

Without Peterson to innovate,
Siebert's plan is simple.

Keep making the hole
shooter while looking

for ways to improve on
their rivals designs.

‐ You know fellas,

we have to find a way
to not just fix them,

but to make them better.

Take good notes.

‐ [Narrator] With the intel
gained from dissecting

Black and Decker's latest drill
and DeWalt's electric saw,

the company goes
back into production,

but they are no longer called
A. H. Peterson manufacturing.

‐ It's the same hole
shooter, same great product,

but under a new name.

From now on, it'll be
known as Milwaukee.

That's right, Milwaukee
Electric Tool Company.

And we've got big plans.

Yes, indeed.

‐ The hole shooter as it
was, he improved on that,

he made a better
motor, better cord.

He also introduced an electric
saw, a grinder, and a sander.

‐ [Narrator] Milwaukee's
improved hole shooter

sells well,

but to catch up with
Black and Decker,

Siebert desperately needs more.

(knock at the door)

‐ Come in.

‐ Mr. Siebert,
your mail is here.

‐ Thank you, Mary.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] Then Milwaukee
gets a game surprise.

‐ Well, I'll be damned.

‐ [Narrator] The Navy gives
them a valuable contract.

And for the first time,

Milwaukee can compete
with Black and Decker.

(tense music)

(saw whirring)

(dramatic music)

‐ When you see the blade
start to climb the lumber

so that it stops cutting
all the way through,

it's time to check the
roller bearings in the yolk

and give them a good
tightening, okay?

‐ [Narrator] Meanwhile,
DeWalt and Gardner

aren't taking it easy.

They set up a plant in
Eastern Pennsylvania

to manufacture the
breakthrough saw.

It's an immediate hit.

By 1928, monthly sales reach
$800,000 in today's money.

DeWalt also comes up with a
range of other power tools,

putting them further
ahead of Milwaukee

and in striking distance
of Black and Decker.

(dramatic music)

Then, just as DeWalt
is hitting its stride,

Ray DeWalt makes a
fateful decision.

‐ He sells his entire
investment in his company

for what his granddaughter
would later describe

as a pittance.

And he takes that money and
he goes to form a commune,

a religious commune
in Pennsylvania.

‐ [Narrator] Gardner
now owns the company,

but the timing
couldn't be worse.

In 1929, the most catastrophic
stock market crash

in American history sends
the economy into a tailspin.

And the white hot construction
industry is hit hard.

‐ By 1933, the construction
industry was off

by almost 87%.

So not only was
construction stopped,

but tradesmen were out of work,

tool manufacturers
were not making tools

because what would
people need tools for,

they weren't building anymore.

‐ [Narrator] Gardner is
forced to give pink slips

to much of his staff.

(tense music)

Reeling from his
partner's departure,

he is now staring
at the possibility

of a total collapse
of his company,

but his rivals are
also in trouble.

(soft music)

After dizzying success,

Black and Decker is forced to
lay off hundreds of workers.

And one of them is
extremely personal.

‐ He decides to lay off his son.

I think that that's
incredibly respectful.

And that's an example
of moral leadership.

You know, that he is
actually gonna make

the biggest sacrifice by
letting go one of his own

to show the company that
this is not something

that he wants to do,

but it's something
that he has to do.

‐ [Narrator] With his
company near bankruptcy,

Decker Sr. has a nervous
breakdown while his son

finds a job selling soap
flakes to grocery stores

for $8 a week.

But Al Jr. vows to come back.

(tense music)

It's been four years
since Alonzo Decker Jr.

was let go from his
father's company

in a massive round of layoffs

triggered by the
great depression.

With financial losses
now bottoming out,

in 1933, Decker rehires Al Jr.

But the young man doesn't get
his old executive job back.

‐ Instead of putting it back
at a executive position,

he starts him out at the bottom

as a janitor making
25 cents an hour.

(tense music)

‐ A lot of people would think

I have a right to this company.

I'm the son, an educated
son, of one of its founders.

He doesn't take that
attitude at all.

There's not a sense of
entitlement about this company,

and he wants to earn it.

‐ [Narrator] Decker's
plan is to work his way

back up to the top,

but the economy
has not rebounded

and his father's company
is barely hanging on.

‐ Hey, look at this.

What's this casing made from?

‐ That's aluminum.

Die‐cast aluminum.

‐ Oh yeah, dad was
telling you about this.

Wow, wasn't kidding.

So much lighter
than the cast metal.

How durable is it?

Customer complaints?

‐ No, they love it.

‐ [Narrator] As the country
enters the next decade,

power tools will suddenly
be in high demand.

America's industrial
priorities shift

after the 1941 attack
on Pearl Harbor

pulls the US into World War II.

‐ There's tanks,
there was artillery,

there was battleships,

there was planes and they all
needed high tech power tools

to create them.

‐ [Narrator] Black and
Decker, Milwaukee, and DeWalt

all see a surge in orders.

‐ The DeWalt wonder workers
really became popular

during World War II.

In fact, it was standard
issue on all military bases

for building
barracks and bridges

and whatever else they needed.

‐ Welcome back.
‐ Thank you.

‐ [Paul] Welcome back.

‐ [Narrator] DeWalt, now led
by a re‐energized Paul Gardner,

is able to bring on
several new employees

that are dedicated entirely
to America's war effort.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee's
improved hole shooter

is still the Navy's go to grill.

‐ We've got 10,000
ready to ship out

whenever you boys need them.

I want the first destroyer
that drops anchor in Tokyo bay

to be made with a Milwaukee.

‐ [Narrator] And black
and Decker switches

some of their manufacturing
capacity over to munitions,

as well as increasing their
output of power tools.

(tense music)

With men fighting overseas,

thousands of women use
those tools in factories

across the country.

They are recruited
by the US government

with posters portraying
a patriotic symbol

that will become an American
icon, Rosie the Riveter.

The demand for Black
and Decker drills

increases during the war,

but Al Jr., who by
now has worked his way

back up to executive,
notices something unusual.

‐ Now, how about that?

(tense music)

Hello, George?

Hi, it's Al from
Black and Decker.

I just had a quick
question for you.

‐ What happened is the
factories kept reordering drills

and Decker is concerned
that the drills

were breaking down
or burning out.

And Decker at some point finally

called the government
contractors and said,

what is happening
with all these drills?

‐ So I did some looking
into these duplicate orders,

and get this, these Rosies
like our drills so much

they're smuggling them
home for their husbands.

‐ Okay, so we make more,
keep the factory stocked.

‐ Yeah, but I think there's
something else to this.

People want to have a
drill around the house.

You know, if they
wanna hang a picture

or fix a staircase or
maybe build a new shed.

‐ Eureka, he realizes that
the next wave of power tools

is the common man.

He's got to make these tools
cheaper, less cumbersome,

so that they can be in
every household in America.

‐ About 1946, they introduced
a homeowner version

of the electric drill that
was being used in the factory.

So now the factory workers

didn't have to
take home a drill,

they could afford one to keep
it home to use all week long.

‐ Black and Decker releases
a host of household tools.

Their drill is the most popular.

They produce about 80,000
and it sells out immediately.

Decker Jr.

realizes his foresight
was right on the money.

‐ [Narrator] What happens
next changes the game

and drives the power
tool industry

to unimaginable profits.

(upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] For more
than 20 years,

there have been
three power players

in the power tool business,

Black and Decker,

Milwaukee,

and DeWalt.

(upbeat music)

But in 1949, DeWalt's owner
makes a surprising move.

He sells DeWalt to the American
Machine and Foundry Company

for $23 million
in today's money.

‐ He achieved a
goal he had set out

to do from the beginning

and by emulating these
great titans of business,

it helped him get to that point.

‐ [Narrator] A
decade later in 1960,

Black and Decker buys
DeWalt for more than double

what Gardner sold it for.

Now there are just
two contenders

duking it out in
the power tools war,

Black and Decker and
their old rival Milwaukee.

The next year, Alonzo Decker Jr.

tries to pull Black and Decker
further ahead of Milwaukee

with a bold new idea.

‐ Well, here it is gentlemen,

the world's first
cordless drill.

As you can see, no wires.

You can drill anywhere
inside, outside.

Everyone is going to
want one of these.

‐ For Alonzo Decker, Jr.

to realize and invest in
a cutting edge technology

at that time, which were
nickel cadmium batteries,

it was a risk.

He had to reconfigure
the entire tool.

It's not just the battery
and the power source,

it's having the motor
and the circuitry

to actually be
able to draw power,

enough power off of his
battery to make it effective

for somebody to use.

‐ If you were gonna be
doing a lot of projects

around the house and you
were tethered to an outlet,

you would constantly be
having to take it out

and move it and bring
it somewhere else.

In the professional setting,

they were also
tremendous benefits.

So it was groundbreaking.

‐ [Narrator] Black
and Decker introduces

the cordless drill in 1961,

and it's just the beginning.

‐ You use a cordless leaf blower
to clean off your sidewalk.

They have a cordless weed
eater, a cordless chainsaw.

All of these things came
from this development.

(tense music)

‐ [Narrator] But it's
the cordless drill

that cements Al Jr.'s
standing as the new genius

behind Black and Decker.

In 1964, following the deaths

of his father and Duncan Black,

Alonzo Decker Jr. finally
completes his journey

from janitor to CEO.

(upbeat music)

In the late 1960s, at the
height of the space race,

NASA comes to Black and Decker

with an even greater challenge,

develop a drill that
can take core samples

from the surface of the moon.

(upbeat music)

‐ Could you imagine
the astronauts

pulling a power cord
around with them?

Could you imagine
dragging an extension cord

all the way from a power
station on earth up to the moon?

(upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] It takes
years of testing,

including simulating
lunar gravity

by taking prototype
drills underwater

and onboard a nosediving
transport plane,

but incredibly, Black and
Decker eventually pulls it off.

‐ [Astronaut] Hey that
beauty is going right in.

‐ [Mission Control]
Outstanding.

(dramatic music)

‐ [Narrator] 50 years
later and back on earth,

the best selling
power tool in America

is still the one
that started it all,

a Black and Decker drill.

The company that Al
Decker Jr.'s father

mortgaged his home to help start

wins the power tools war.

(dramatic music)

But Milwaukee is
still going strong.

From 2015 to 2020, annual
revenue more than doubled

to $5 billion.

‐ Since the beginning of time

when we figured out that we
could dig a hole with a stick,

we've always been creating tools

and ways to make
our life easier.

It's basically who we
are as human beings.

And let's just be honest,

it's fun to build
stuff on the weekends.

It's fun to show your
neighbors, hey, I did that.

That's me right
there, I did that.

‐ Who knows what the
future of power tool is.

It might be that the next
generation of power tools

is going to do things that we
can't even imagine right now.

(tense music)

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0