TIL Stanley the tool company is different from Stanley the cup company
Hail corporate and all that.
With a garage full of cheap-to-not-cheap tools, many made by Stanley-Black & Decker, and many of those dremeled to use the same batteries because I specifically researched their brands and market segmentation, I'm a bit nonplussed that I was today years old when I figured it out.
Not exactly the same, but Canada's domestic shipping company, Purolator, always hit my American ears oddly, and sure enough, it is related to the American oil filter company. They diversified into automotive-adjacent industries in the 60s and 70s, and the name stuck even after the courier was sold off.
It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America
Fredrick Stanley was an English Lord, and served as Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893. During that time, his children took up ice hockey, of which him and his wife became fans. The cup was commissioned in 1892, and was originally called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. It was originally intended for the best amateur hockey club, but became exclusively for professional teams on 1909.
The original iteration of Stanley B&D, Stanley's Bolt Manufactory, was founded in 1843 in the US. So while Stanley Tools are older than the cup, they are still unrelated.
There's also the Stanley Brothers of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company known for the Stanley Steamer steam-driven cars, and one of those brothers also built the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO!
I'd always sort of vaguely heard it was a poorly selling product from a company that was mostly marketing to those working outdoors, and that completely tracked with my expectations, so I never dug in deeper. I mean, it's not like they DON'T sell cups.