Rawl plug
A Rawl plug is a brand name for a wall plug.
It is named after John Joseph Rawlings, who is credited as having invented the wall plug, as such he named the product Rawlplug in reference to the first syllable of his name.
The story told is that the small plumbing and electrical engineering company, Rawlings Brothers founded in London in the late 1800's was awarded a contract by the British Museum, to unobtrusively fix electrical fittings to the museum walls as part of a major overhall of the museum. They used a press formed brass strap of four threaded sections placed together in a hole with hemp fibre and had invented the first wall plug hidden fixing. Just one year later they patented the invention and as a result changed the name of their business to Rawlplug in 1919.
The company has been operating for over 100 years and continues design, manufacture and supply fastenings as well as power tools and accessories. The company went on to invent and patent the rawlhammer, the rawlbolt, the spring toggle, the rawlnut, and the rawl anchor in 1947, which was the first metal drywall anchor.
Today wall fixings are made of various materials, often plastic, pvc or metal and manufactured by a variety of companies, however the name Rawlplug ( often miss-pronounced as rawplug) in the UK at least is synonymous with wall plug and is often used in its place on building sites.
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