Show your vintage Bridgeport tools!

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked this up at the flea this morning. Universal or No. 7 combination slip joints. Not sure. Not marked or worn marking. Not quite as pretty as a couple of these that LS has found and posted in the past here.

 

[d42jeep]

I picked up a very nice prewar shorty DBE on Friday. The evaporust made it look almost like new.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Pulled this tiny Radio-Lectric wrench out of a toolbox at the flea this morning. @LesserSon found the same one last year (pg 4, post #124), and we immediately discovered that @Oldtuleguy has the whole 3-pc set in its original pouch (post #125)! @four.cycle posted the cat excerpt in post #126. Finding the other two and the pouch will likely be difficult to pert near impossible, but I look forward to hopefully being surprised one morning!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

That's a very clean example. I like the little lightning bolt stamps on those.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's a very clean example.

Maybe too clean. They're supposed to be mottled with Hy-Tone, which is all but gone on this example.

I like the little lightning bolt stamps on those.

Me too!

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have a set of those somewhere... in the tiny leather pouch. I thought I posted them?
..... it appears I never photographed mine. photo images are from ebay, but I seem to recall that my set came in a pouch in much better condition (maybe I'm imagining things.) interestingly, they also apparently private-labeled those, at least for one company.
I do not know what you mean by "Hy-Tone", but the finish does seem to vary between these two sets (both ebay images, and after looking through them three times, I don't think either of these are the set that I own:

(* NO clue who "Litchfield N.Y." is.... the "Litchfield" I have in the list is in Iowa. - BK )

 

[Private Lugnutz]

photo images are from ebay, but I seem to recall that my set came in a pouch in much better condition

Well, if you can find it, I'm sure we'd all love to see it, but we have OTG's complete set, including the pouch for more direct reference and inspection.

interestingly, they also apparently private-labeled those, at least for one company.

What company?

do not know what you mean by "Hy-Tone",

It's BHM's own term for that "mottled" finish in their ads and catalogs. I assume it refers to whatever rust-proofing substance they used to achieve the finish. Akin to the way Vlchek branded their cadmium finish as "Velco". (BHM was name crazy. They gave names to every type of screwdriver they made.)

EDIT: I suppose it could also refer to some kind of tempering or heat treatment.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Post 125, they do look a bit mottled...

Post in thread 'Show your vintage Bridgeport tools!' https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/show-your-vintage-bridgeport-tools.400970/post-9245295

 

[Private Lugnutz]

NO clue who "Litchfield N.Y." is

I'm assuming it's the location of their little leatherete pouch supplier.

they do look a bit mottled...

Definitely. They used the same finish on some of their forged DOE wrenches.

 

[RTM]

Litchfield is listed in DAT as wrench maker, but no other information, Could be someone found a little leather pouch full of wrenches

Directory of American Toolmakers (pre-1900)

 

[four.cycle]

^ this is the only "Litchfield" I've found so far:
Litchfield / Litchfield Mfg. Co., W. Parker at David (near Broadway), Waterloo, IA (originally Webster City, IA) / est. 1879 inc. 1903 defunct by 1929 / implement wrench / http://www.cedarnet.org/tour/sites/087-litchfieldco.html / https://www.campsilos.org/wp-content/uploads/excursions/grout/two/act5j.htm / https://www.preservationiowa.org/news/endangered-mandalay-mansion-cedar-falls/ /

still not sure if "mottled" equates to that discoloration which looks to me like heat-treatment. OTG's look like maybe they've got some sort of glaze on a bit of them - like old NB stuff?

maybe I'm just being slow today. not enough sleep lately I'm getting stupid.

 

[four.cycle]

Directory of American Toolmakers

Is all that data on that CD those people sent to me?
I never opened it.
Are you kidding me?

I never had time to get around to reading what was in that package... I sent them a check years ago and they sent me the CD that appears in the Amazon ad.
I'll have to dig for it later. Have to go take care of Mom for a few days and then do the mad-dash-before-Christmas thing.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

still not sure if "mottled" equates to that discoloration...

I'm 100% sure that it does. I have BHM wrenches with mottled finish, there's no better word for it, and it's explicitly shown in catalogs. See 1930, page 52. They also used it on their pliers (see pages 56 and 57).

...interestingly, they also apparently private-labeled those, at least for one company.

You didn't reply to my question about this statement. What company? EDIT: Disregard. I didn't realize you were referring to that Litchfield button on the pouch.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I am really hoping to get this mess here untangled at some point in the near future.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What mess? If you mean the mysterious Litchfield N.Y. logo, I think you're overstating. We have all kinds of ads and catalogs and examples indicating BHM, and even the wrenches inside the one pouch that has that odd logo are marked BHM. Don't vex yourself.

 

[RTM]

Is all that data on that CD those people sent to me?
I never opened it.
Are you kidding me?

If it has a yellow / red bottom, and an image of a mill I think on top, yea, that's it. Should look something like this, without the crack. 24Mb, about 1175 pages of data. Sorted by name, by state, by city I think are the different section.




There was a book too, but a lot harder to work thru. (Think Lugz has an early copy of that.) The lead author was in a WW group I was part of, so he looked up lots of stuff for us. After he passed, I bought the CD.

The Directory of American Toolmakers: Early American Industries Association (E.A.I.A.): 9780943196053: Amazon.com: Books

The Directory of American Toolmakers [Early American Industries Association (E.A.I.A.)] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Directory of American Toolmakers

www.amazon.com

On their website they also sell a copy of the Chronicle magazine library. I'm currently waiting on my copy. It has user written articles on many topics relating to old tools and old tool using. Spans lots of topics outside WW, so not as satisfying IMO, but I bought it for reference work. Something I was poking around at recently was on there, and the DVD was cheaper than buying a book or two.

DVD – The Chronicle Of The Early American Industries Association : 1933 – 2007 – EAIA

eaiainfo.org

 

[four.cycle]

What mess? If you mean the mysterious Litchfield N.Y. logo, I think you're overstating. We have all kinds of ads and catalogs and examples indicating BHM, and even the wrenches inside the one pouch that has that odd logo are marked BHM. Don't vex yourself.

The mess in this house. Long story. Keeps getting longer. The replacement of the south wall of the house forced me to move stuff around in a hurry, making it all even more of a jumble.
The "Litchfield" in question is the name stamped in gold on that leather "Radio Lectric" pouch I posted above. I am assuming it was a private-label thing that BHM made, I just do not know for whom it was made. Maybe it was a freebie promotional thing.

@RTM -
found it.

 

[d42jeep]

I spotted one of the “X” wrenches on eBay that I didn’t have. The seller didn’t know who made it which kept the price reasonable.

Here it is with my others, several of which were generously provided by Lesser Son.


-Don

 

[LesserSon]

The "Litchfield" in question is the name stamped in gold on that leather "Radio Lectric" pouch I posted above. I am assuming it was a private-label thing that BHM made, I just do not know for whom it was made. Maybe it was a freebie promotional thing.

I postulate an alternate theory: the pouch was manufactured in Litchfield NY and sourced by (not from) Bridgeport.
I know nothing specific about Litchfield, but upstate NY had a significant leather tanning industry until the early 1980s, which could have supplied the raw materials for any number of area sewing shops. The reddish color suggests hemlock barks tannins, from the dominant regional conifer.

 

[d42jeep]

This Perfect Handle screwdriver arrived in the mail yesterday. It’s the first Bridgeport branded one I’ve seen. I suspect that it’s wartime although I couldn’t find it in any catalog. I’ll be adding it to the perfect handle display in the basement.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked up another Matchless today.

 

[d42jeep]

Shiftless dropped off this Bridgeport auto wrench yesterday that was a nice two tone red and black. That offended my sensibility so it now looks like this. I like the BHM logo.
-Don

 

[daddyopoppy]

I had posted this in another thread but was asked to post here as well. This hammer as well as a few other interesting tools was given to me by my wife’s uncle when we were helping him clean out his house and move to an apartment. I like the oddballs especially hammers.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice! I could be wrong, but I think it might be the first one we've seen on the thread. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mark Stansbury]

Hardware Age, July 11, 1940, ad showing a Bridgeport nickel-molybdenum DOE being tested.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Am I seeing things or is that a metal sleeve over the other end of that wrench looking suspiciously like a cheater pipe?

Also, that ad is the gift that just keeps giving. You could triple post it in the Plomb and Bernard threads.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this rather new looking prewar shorty DOE at an estate sale yesterday.
When I was adding the new wrench to the Bridgeport box I noticed something about a 3/4” x 5/8” DBE. Even though it had “Forged Steel” markings which was changed due to the WW2 metal restrictions, there were traces of the earlier “Nickel Molybdenum“ markings showing. I hadn’t spotted that before.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

1912 Hardware World Bridgeport Hardware Mfg, Co. ad pp 113

1926 Hardware Retailer Bridgeport ad pp 121

1927 Hardware Retailer Bridgeport ad pp 112

1927 Hardware Retailer Bridgeport ad pp 122

1927 Hardware Retailer Bridgeport ad pp 138

1928 Hardware Buyers Catalog Bridgeport ad pp 657

 

[four.cycle]

1928 Hardware Retailer Bridgeport ad pp 136

1929 American Exporter Bridgeport ad pp 98

1954 Hardware Age Bridgeport ad pp 397

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a recent Bridgeport screwdriver find.
-Don
It looks like these in the ad BK just posted.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 1/2” Bridgeport nutdriver at this morning’s estate sale.


-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yo, BHM fans, x-linking some nice pliers I found this morning, posted on the 'Pliers' thread, trying to keep it going.

Pliers; How Many Is Too Many?

Pliers are easy to dismiss and misplace. Eventually you need one. Or find another one at that sale . . . Craftsman Water Pump Pliers, Non-Slip

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Old Radar]

Found at an estate sale on the last day of the year and cross posted from the 2023 Garage Sale and Let's Show Our Wood threads:

Manufactured by Bridgeport Hardware Manufacturing Co., the ferrule is stamped NON SKID No.5, & Patent No. 1,738,405.
Patent was granted 3 Dec 1929. It still has some of the non-skid grooves on the tip and is in overall great shape for a screwdriver pushing 100.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snagged this BHM in-house MQ engineers wrench at the flea this morning. This a bona fide WWII-correct Jeep wrench. The "27C" is the ISN. I don't recall if it was on this thread, the DOE thread, or perhaps a thread talking about Jeep and GMTK wrenches, but I've posted before about these wrenches going from 'Nickel-Molybdenum' in the 30's to 'Molybdenum-Alloy' just before WWII to 'Forged Steel' during WWII and after, all with the same style panel. I've had a few through the years, but they are not common.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I found this crate tool at the flea market this morning, but it's not a Matchless (No. 90) or a Tomahawk (No. 99). It has the early, thinner handle (like @Arne73 's first generation Tomahawk) but a high model number (No. 121) and an oval branding. Note that the hammer is pinned on, the way Hobbs' various patents were pinning various attachments (such as the scraper blade on the Hustler). I looked through the 1930, 1940, and 1953 catalogs, and a slew of trade mags from 1908 through the 1920's. It's a stumper. And I have no idea what was opposite the hatchet. Nearly impossible to ascertain with it chipped away and whittled down like that. Apologies for the fugliness, but it was in even rougher condition to begin with.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The differences are more obvious when it's hanging out with the cousins.

 

[LesserSon]

Lacking advisement illustrations, my WAG is the protuberance is a brush clearing hook.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That doesn't quite fit with it being in the crate tool line, but you could be right, LS. I'm going to keep looking for it.

 

[four.cycle]

1915 American Exporter Bridgeport Hardware Mfg. Co. ad cover


1920 Hardware Age Bridgeport Hardware ad pp 18


1925 Bridgeport Hardware Co. catalog pp 14-15

Bridgeport Hardware Mfg. Co. Tomahawk Tool - 1930 Bridgeport catalog No. 25 pp 7

 

[RTM]

Ok, gotta dig into the hard copy library. From catalogue #23, 1925. My guess on the protuberance : Cutter for opening corrugated paper cartons and cases.




And no, I can’t send this one to the ITCL, as it is a reprint.