Tell me about my Hinsdale socket set

[AdrianBoomer]

I have done the requisite searches and turned up very little. I have also read the Alloy page but I just had a foot surgery today and I guess this is a distraction for me

I'm just interested in possibly identifying the age this particular set and any interesting tid bits. I keep it will some of my Circle H?BE stuff because I know Sears would sometimes sell Hinsdale along with their Craftsman stuff. I think they are lovely sockets, the knurling is not as refined, but I like heavy walls etc. Love to hear from a few of the resident experts

 

[four.cycle]

^ Is it 3/8" or 1/2" or 9/16" drive? is there anything marked on the box that might indicate the set part number? (i.e., 11R, 10BR, 12J)
There is a somewhat similar set shown at Alloy-Artifacts.org, but they don't assign a date to it.

check the catalog page shown HERE: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5619604#post5619604

 

[AdrianBoomer]

ha, it is 3/8th drive! No other clues on the box that I can see....

 

[four.cycle]

this one is kinda-sorta close, but the date on the catalog page doesn't really tell us how old your set might be (and recently we've established that we cannot always trust the dates people have put on these old catalog pages.)

that notwithstanding, I'd guess 1930s or 1940s vintage. somebody more familiar with the product line would be more qualified to make an estimation on vintage.

 

[AdrianBoomer]

wow, Four.cycle. Thanks for that page and this is a good start, I did not dele into catalogs so I will start doing that. Appreciate the interest and hope I can nail this down.

 

[four.cycle]

also check

ToolArchives.com

TheGarageGazette.com

papawswrench.com

remember that the search functions on most of these sites are useless on words of three characters or less. sometimes the search functions can seem useless altogether, in which case it's better to search with Google and include the website name in the search string, i.e.:
" Hinsdale ToolArchives.com "

be patient. I'm just a rookie at this game. there's somebody who knows that product line better than I do somewhere - they just haven't noticed this thread yet.

 

[Username already in use]

...in which case it's better to search with Google and include the website name in the search string, i.e.:
" Hinsdale ToolArchives.com "

I've found that the best way to search any of those sites is with Google.
Use the word or words that you're trying to search with and add site:garagejournal.com to the end of your search. That will search only the webpage that you have indicated.

So, your google search will look something like this:
3/8 drive hinsdale site:garagejournal.com

Sometimes, less is more in the search field.

Good luck and a nice looking set you have there.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hinsdale socket drive tools are tough to figure out with very few references in the public realm. There is a catalog on Tool Archives dated 1931, but I personally think it's from a Hinsdale folder, the kind of thing someone at a service station would keep, with pages from a number of different Hinsdale catalogs, probably all from the 1930's. Compliments of a member who shall remain nameless otherwise be subjected to unwanted PM's, I have access to a few pages from a Hinsdale catalog purported to be "1940's", including the 1/2-inch and 3/8-inch drive pages. The date range is reasonably consistent with the one-page ad four.cycle posted above, purportedly dated to 1947, because the ad is showing the same set. That is not unusual, especially for a pre-war set to be the same as an immediate post-war set. In fact, the whole ad appears to have been taken from the Hinsdale catalog itself, also not unusual. EDIT: That catalog will eventually make its way to Tool Archives.

The set depicted in that ad and the catalog is not your set, though. The construction of the handles is different (flat rectangular handle with knurled border grip), the sockets are straight walled without any knurling, and all the pieces have Hinsdale branding and model numbers marked on them.

I am actually trying to complete the "Utility Socket Set" shown in the ad and the catalog, and I have an active WANTED ad for the missing pieces right here on GJ, linked here. My WANTED ad includes the catalog page. I would suspect my set to be slightly older, as my metal box doesn't have a sticker - it's actually embossed with the Hinsdale logo. Also, my tools are not triple-plated, as the ads says. They are natural steel finish.

 

[AdrianBoomer]

Lugz, four.cycle and username,

thanks for the insights. I will search the catalogs and actually this morning I found an Ad that leads me to believe this particular set might be in the 1931-1933 range. Craftsman Vanadium Transitional "9-Piece" 3/8-Drive Socket Set looks very similar. AA says "Hinsdale advertising brochure from 1933 shows a similar but smaller No. 10AC set.

Definitely some of the chunkier 3/8 sockets I have come across (but I am not a big collector, I just use them). But I might just start growing this set. I have yet o see an era-appropriate Ratchet in the wild, would love to see some more pics.

 

[four.cycle]

a bit of thread drift, but indulge me here:

"...purportedly dated to 1947..."

You brought up the issue of dates in another thread HERE:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376451

After posting those images here in this thread last night, and picking through the "Wakefield" catalog pages that I have now, and posting a few pages in the "Keen Kutter" thread a couple days ago, I am really starting to have some reservations about the accuracy of the dates that have been assigned to some of these pages.
I'd like to be able to wave my magic wand and fix it, but that's not going to happen.
Your observations on the "Wakefield" catalog page trouble me, because it casts doubt on all of them in regard to the actual date of their publication. In that instance, I'm wondering if perhaps the person who put the date on them got the numbers mixed up, and it was really a 1903 catalog, not a 1930 catalog.
When I was digging for the "Keen Kutter" stuff, I found two files - both exactly the same ad - one dated 1930 and one dated 1935.

There is a value in these things, but I just don't think we can trust the dates 100% now (if we ever did.)
What we can trust, hopefully, is that they accurately show the contents of sets, as most all of them were printed long before the mass-merchandisers were sourcing proprietary sets from manufacturers (like the Home Depot "Husky" socket sets prior to Husky's acquisition by Stanley-Proto.)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Agreed, BK, but in this case we have the Hinsdale catalog to confirm the relative accuracy of the ad date. See my wanted ad.