Jones and Laughlin
It doesn’t seem to be much of a leap to connect the trailer bearing the Jones and Laughlin name with the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company of Pittsburgh. The company began as the American Iron Company, founded in 1852 by Bernard Lauth and B. F. Jones, a few miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth’s interest was bought in 1854 by James H. Laughlin. The first firm to bear the name of Jones and Laughlin was organized in 1861 and headquartered at Third & Ross in downtown Pittsburgh. J & L Steel provided the most able competition to the Carnegie Steel Company in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc. of Texas offered to purchase 63 percent of J & L Steel on May 10, 1968, J&L agreeing to it on May 14, completing its purchase of 63% by June 1968 for approximately $428.5 million. It took full control of the company in 1974. In 1978, J & L Steel acquired Youngstown Sheet and Tube (Yocar single wheel trailer manufacturer). In 1981, J & L Steel bought a stainless steel mill from McLouth Steel Products in Detroit, which was probably an attempt to try to get closer to the auto market. It merged with Republic Steel in 1984 to form LTV Steel. Only 1 Jones and Laughlin single wheel trailer is known to exist.