First Day of Trivia – The First Connector Catalog 

The Twelve Days of Christmas — A Sleigh Ride Through the Years with Simpson Strong-Tie

We have our new Simpson Strong-Tie Wood Construction Connectors catalog coming out in January. In anticipation of this, I wanted to do a series of short, daily posts discussing the history of Simpson Strong-Tie products, catalogs, and random trivia through the years. In the winter holiday spirit, we’ll do this in “Twelve Days of Christmas” style. 

First Day of Trivia – The First Connector Catalog 

We published our first Simpson Strong-Tie catalog in 1957. It was four pages long. The versatile A35 framing anchor was in this catalog and we were excited about its square design offering improved load distribution because of symmetrical surfaces. By 1962, our manufacturing team incorporated a cookie-cut design, which reduced steel material usage while maintaining load performance, resulting in the A35N. The 1962 catalog also ushered in the A34N, a shorter angle connector that could fit on a 2×4. In 1972, both of these products received a speed prong. Speed prongs temporarily hold the connector in place while you drive the nails.

A35 Square Design (1957)
A35 Square Design (1957)
A35 Cookie Cut 1962
A35 Cookie Cut 1962
A35 Speed Prong 1972
A35 Speed Prong 1972
A34 Introduced 1962
A34 Introduced 1962

A Simpson catalog wouldn’t be a catalog without joist hangers, and the 1957 catalog had two kinds. The U-series face-mount hanger came in two sizes, U25 and U29. The twisted hangers formed a top-flange hanger series that could accommodate sawn lumber joists ranging from 2×8 to 6×16.

U Hangers 1957
U Hangers 1957
Twisted Hangers 1957
Twisted Hangers 1957

Keep an eye out for further historical facts about our connectors over the years!

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Author: Paul McEntee

A couple of years back we hosted a “Take your daughter or son to work day,” which was a great opportunity for our children to find out what their parents did. We had different activities for the kids to learn about careers and the importance of education in opening up career opportunities. People often ask me what I do for Simpson Strong-Tie and I sometimes laugh about how my son Ryan responded to a questionnaire he filled out that day: Q.   What is your mom/dad's job? A.   Goes and gets coffee and sits at his desk Q.   What does your mom/dad actually do at work? A.   Walks in the test lab and checks things When I am not checking things in the lab or sitting at my desk drinking coffee, I manage Engineering Research and Development for Simpson Strong-Tie, focusing on new product development for connectors and lateral systems. I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and I am a licensed Civil and Structural Engineer in California. Prior to joining Simpson Strong-Tie, I worked for 10 years as a consulting structural engineer designing commercial, industrial, multi-family, mixed-use and retail projects. I was fortunate in those years to work at a great engineering firm that did a lot of everything. This allowed me to gain experience designing with wood, structural steel, concrete, concrete block and cold-formed steel as well as working on many seismic retrofits of historic unreinforced masonry buildings.

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