RRrickk,
I'm glad you resurrected this old thread, or I might have missed it. I believe I can solve one of the OP's original mystery tool brand questions, based on tools I've bought while scrounging in the past year. Following are photos of a
HORNET brand 1/2" drive socket set, missing a few pieces. But the key to solving the mystery here is the metal tool box that the set was found in.
(See photo)
Each of the tools in this small box are labeled "
Hornet", just like the OP's socket.
(The ratchet and some of the sockets are missing from my set). The following photo shows the Hornet name stamped on the extension:
The metal box is painted in appropriate "
bee" colors of yellow and dark brown. But more importantly, it has two old faded decals on the front side. Both are badly faded, and hard to read. But the decal on the right side clearly reads "
Hornet" in the shape of a bee's body, with the stinger end to the right. Due to the poor condition, it's nearly impossible to see the "
H". I ASSUME that some clever artist stylized the "
H" to become part of the insect's head.
The other decal still bears part of two words. The bottom word is "
Set", and probably used to read something like, "
Set No ____". But the top word gives us a good clue to the tool manufacturer. Look at the first letter...the "
W". Notice how the first half V-shape of the "
W" descends lower than the second V-shape of the "
W"? And see the curly-cue beneath it? Recognize that logo?
Of course you do. It's clearly the
WILLIAMS logo. Look closely at the following photo of a Williams socket for logo comparison.
and I feel like I'm getting 
, so I usually head for the lazy-boy and pop Hogan's Hero's or Farscape or Firefly in the DVD to recover. I've been trying to match brands with patents and manufacturers, but then every design from every manufacturer isn't/wasn't necessarily patented (or I haven't been able to find them all yet). It's actually pretty surprising some of the one's I haven't found a patent for.
