AMAZING NOS!! Early Craftsman Circle H socket Set standard + deep + More 1/2Dr

Description: New Old Stock Covered in heavy cosmmoline.This has persevered them well, without this the surface at least would have rusted and dulled.It is very hard to remove. I used a my jewelers buffer to polish off the cosmoline from 1 socket and pictures are shown.I also included comparison shots from some other used pieces I have from the era to show the difference. ALL Circle H MARKED 1/2" drive Socket Set Includes: 15-inch flex “T” handle Small extensionUniversal Joint4404 :3 piece flex socket set 5/8" 11/16" 3/4"4451 : 3 piece drag link socket set 2 8 point sockets 5/8' 1/2"11 12 point sockets 1&1/6" 1&1/8" 15/16" 7/8" 13/16" 11/16" 5/8" 19/32" 9/16" 1/2" 7/16" Dating 1934-1944 (from alloy artifacts) Circle H with the underlined logo = 1934-1944 The New Britain Machine Company The New Britain Machine Company began operation around 1895 in New Britain, Connecticut, and manufactured a line of machine tools as well as hand tools. As early as 1915 it was selling sets of hex-drive sockets in small tins into the new market for automotive tools. New Britain registered and used a number of trademarks, in addition to its own name; these included "None Better" in 1917 and a stylized "NB" in a circle in 1919. The very familiar "Husky" trademark was acquired by New Britain from the Husky Corporation sometime in the 1930s, although the exact date is not yet known.Note that this was the original "Husky" tool trademark — much later the remnants of New Britain Machine were acquired by Stanley, and the "Husky" mark became the house brand for Home Depot. In the 1950s New Britain registered the "Mustang" trademark, then later acquired Blackhawk Manufacturing and sold Blackhawk branded tools in addition to its other brands. The Significance of the "BE" and H-Circle Markings Relative Production Order One obvious question is whether the tools marked "BE" and H-Circle were in production at the same time, or whether one code superseded the other. In the collection of Craftsman tools here, there are numerous examples of "BE" tools with the early Craftsman block logo and underlined logo, but no "BE" tools have been observed with the Craftsman double-line logo. For the case of the H-Circle tools, there are examples with the Craftsman underlined and double-line logos, but no examples of the H-Circle mark with the early block logo. These observations suggest that the H-Circle production came later and eventually replaced the "BE" production toward the end of the life of the tool series.Origin of the Codes Another reasonable question concerns the origin or meaning of the particular "BE" and H-Circle codes. Although we don't have any particular insight for the "BE" code, we can offer a good explanation for the H-Circle code. From our earlier discussion of the New Britain Machine Company, the company's use of the Husky brand from the 1930s onward is well known. It turns out that by the early 1930s the Husky Corporation had adopted the use of an H-in-a-Circle logo similar to the Craftsman marking, in addition to its familiar Husky underline logo. This usage of the H-Circle logo was noted on the cover of a 1931 Husky catalog, discovered long after the original publication of this article. Although the details of New Britain's acquisition of the Husky Corporation haven't been found yet, it's reasonable to think that New Britain would have acquired Husky's production facilities, located at that time in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Based on these observations (and assumptions), we believe that the H-Circle mark on Craftsman tools was used to indicate production in the old Husky factory. As further evidence, we have noted the use of the H-Circle logo on some wrenches marked with the None Better brand, suggesting that other New Britain production was being marked to indicate the facility. If we accept that the H-Circle marking indicates production in the Husky factory, then the "BE" code would presumably indicate production at the company's main facilities, located primarily in New Britain, Connecticut. The observed patterns of usage for the codes can then be summarized by assuming that New Britain Machine began production of Craftsman tools at its home factory, then expanded production to the Husky facility as demand for the tools increased greatly. Finally, as production began to wind down in the mid 1940s, the Husky facility handled all Craftsman production.

Price: 399 USD

Location: Riverside, California

End Time: 2024-10-02T19:33:12.000Z

Shipping Cost: 14.99 USD