Paxton and Gallagher Co.

    “Paxton, Gallagher, and Company” was founded in 1879 and was initially intended as a wholesale grocery house. The founding members were Benjamin Gallagher and William A. Paxton, but also included minor partner Robert Easson. In 1890 Robert Easson left to organize “Hargreave Bros and Easson Company” of Lincoln, Nebraska, leaving the Omaha business to be renamed the “Paxton and Gallagher Company”. The company soon expanded to include general goods and hardware, and became one of the larger wholesale hardware houses in the Midwest. The company thrived until the 1950s and was bought out by Gilbert and  Clarke Swanson in 1958.   

The Pagoma line was developed as the Paxton and Gallagher Company’s in house high end line of products and represented everything from stoves to screw drivers. The acronym Pagoma stands for (P) Paxton, (A) and (G) Gallagher of (OMA) Omaha. Pagoma axes were noted as early as 1910 and were listed in trade directories until around 1955. Marketing rhetoric indicated an early aversion to Collins axes but noted wording and pictures that indicated the line may have been supplied by the American Axe and Tool Company and/or the Kelly Axe Manufacturing Company in the first few decades of the century. Later examples of Pagoma axes resemble those manufactured by Fayette R. Plumb Inc.