molly bolt

[Archived Topic]

I'm looking for the origin of, "Molly bolt." It apparently has something to do with a pet name for "Mary," but how that got attached to a bolt is the question.

Submitted by ( - )

[Archived Reply]

The only "molly bolt" that comes to mind is the "moly bolt", short for molybdenum bolt. Molybdenum is a silvery metallic element used to toughen alloy steels and soften tungsten alloy used for aircraft parts (and for other high stress applications).

Reply from Charles Becker (Murray KY - U.S.A.)

[Archived Reply]

I am the co-host of a weekly radio program about home repair in the mountains of Colorado, and we have been looking diligently for the inventor of the Molly bolt for more than a year. We have heard about the molybdenum suggestion, probably because the world's largest molybdenum is just 20 miles from here. We doubt that story, though, because there are no reports of any Molly bolts being made out of that metal.

We have called bolt companies, hardware experts, and three women named Molly. We have come up empty!

Help!

Jay Bauer, HalfWay Handy Show
KYSL Radio, Frisco Colorado
http://www.HalfWayHandy.com

Reply from ( - )

[indianbro]

Molly bolt has nothing to do with “molybdenum,” which is one of the elements added to steel to make various alloys.

The inventor, who patented the Molly Bolt, named it Molly Bolt. I don’t know why. I do know most Molly bolts are made from plain carbon steel not “alloy” steel.

[BonnieL]

The inventor was George Frederick Croessant. I wondered if he named it after his wife or a child. His wife's name was Mary, so perhaps her nickname was Molly?

[trolley]

I wasn't expecting a Croessant role in this story.