here's one you don't see too often
- Thread starter M-EGT
- Start date
Adam McLaughlin
Well-known member
Bravo!
RivennHewn
Well-known member
Are you talking about the level, or the desk that far out of level?
RivennHewn
Well-known member
Cool old level.
Love the vintage stuff.
Love the vintage stuff.
rockchucker
Well-known member
Nice! I have an old Machinist's Pratt-Whitney Box that is pretty old. Not that old though I don't think.
rickhigginshtbr
Well-known member
Love those old wooden levels!
4x4gearhead
Well-known member
I sure would love to find one like that, imagine the things it has helped make perfect! Nice.
jeffmoss26
Well-known member
Very cool!
dadsEH
Well-known member
Found some history for you...... would appear its circa WWI....
In 1912, Goodell-Pratt acquired the Stratton Level Company, a well-known manufacturer of carpenter’s and machinist’s levels located in a small factory at 26 School Street in Greenfield. A local fixture since 1869, the company had been founded as Stratton Brothers by Edwin A. and Charles M. Stratton, onetime building contractors who wanted to exploit their patent for adding brass strips to the edges of wooden levels to protect them from dings and chips. The levels were a success, and one of the operation’s best customers would turn out to be the Millers Falls Company. Millers Falls catalogs featured Stratton wooden levels from 1878 until almost 1890. The levels would reappear in the catalog in the mid-1890s after the Millers Falls Company’s attempts to manufacture its own wooden levels came to naught. A third brother, Oscar G. Stratton, worked for the firm although it does not appear that he became a partner. When Charles died in 1893, the name Stratton Brothers was retained.
Edwin Stratton’s son-in-law, the company’s production supervisor, Roland O. Stetson, bought the business in 1902. O. L. Richtmyre became the operation’s new president, and Stetson remained in charge of production. Stetson continued the Stratton tradition of manufacturing high-quality wooden levels but expanded the line to include moderately priced models as well. In 1908, after a brief attempt to re-brand the business as R. O. Stetson, the operation was incorporated as the Stratton Level Company. The Goodell-Pratt Company bought the business in 1912 and moved production to the second floor of its Greenfield plant shortly afterward. Roland O. Stetson became a Goodell-Pratt employee. The acquisition of the Stratton Level Company brought a well-respected line of wooden levels to Goodell-Pratt
In 1912, Goodell-Pratt acquired the Stratton Level Company, a well-known manufacturer of carpenter’s and machinist’s levels located in a small factory at 26 School Street in Greenfield. A local fixture since 1869, the company had been founded as Stratton Brothers by Edwin A. and Charles M. Stratton, onetime building contractors who wanted to exploit their patent for adding brass strips to the edges of wooden levels to protect them from dings and chips. The levels were a success, and one of the operation’s best customers would turn out to be the Millers Falls Company. Millers Falls catalogs featured Stratton wooden levels from 1878 until almost 1890. The levels would reappear in the catalog in the mid-1890s after the Millers Falls Company’s attempts to manufacture its own wooden levels came to naught. A third brother, Oscar G. Stratton, worked for the firm although it does not appear that he became a partner. When Charles died in 1893, the name Stratton Brothers was retained.
Edwin Stratton’s son-in-law, the company’s production supervisor, Roland O. Stetson, bought the business in 1902. O. L. Richtmyre became the operation’s new president, and Stetson remained in charge of production. Stetson continued the Stratton tradition of manufacturing high-quality wooden levels but expanded the line to include moderately priced models as well. In 1908, after a brief attempt to re-brand the business as R. O. Stetson, the operation was incorporated as the Stratton Level Company. The Goodell-Pratt Company bought the business in 1912 and moved production to the second floor of its Greenfield plant shortly afterward. Roland O. Stetson became a Goodell-Pratt employee. The acquisition of the Stratton Level Company brought a well-respected line of wooden levels to Goodell-Pratt
netcaretaker
Well-known member
Love the 4 digit patent number, very cool!
Bugeyed Earl
Well-known member
Very nice tool! I've got a few tools from my grandfathers on each side of the family (including an old brass-edged carpenter's level,) they really do provide a tangible link to the past. I'd hang them on the wall of my garage, but I think my grandfathers would be pissed that I'm not using them.
rickhigginshtbr
Well-known member
they can't be mad as long as, a, it's level, obviously, and b, you use it when needed.
It's no older than 1926. The Goodell-Pratt No. 2712 level is listed as a "new tool" in the Goodell-Pratt 1926 catalog number 16. Millers Falls purchased Goodell-Pratt in 1931 and merged the Goodell-Pratt line with their own, and the Goodell-Pratt name ceased to exist sometime thereafter. I found it listed in a 1931 catalog too, so we know it was made for at least that long under the Goodell-Pratt name.
So, the best guess for your great-grandfather's 12" level is that it was definitely made no earlier than 1926, and probably no later than 1931.
You can see an online copy of the 1926 Goodell-Pratt catalog here:
http://www.roseantiquetools.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/goodellprattno.16.pdf
The level is on page 349 of the catalog (page 168 of the PDF).