c. 1940's (possibly earlier) Navy Tool Bag

[Private Lugnutz]

I just found this at a flea market this morning. The shoulder and flap straps are regular canvas and the weave looks at least as old as WWII to me. The bag itself is made of extra heavy duty duck impregnated with something (typically, paraffin wax or some kind of fluorocarbon) that has made it as stiff as a board. The back and bottom are fitted with pressboard, and the corners have steel supports, giving it an even stiffer shape. All the rivets on the straps and the pressboard are copper. The buckles are iron or steel. Other than the canvas tool holder working its way over a couple of the rivets giving it its individual loops, and some rust on the steel parts, it's in remarkable shape for its age.

I am going to clean it up and try to research it further.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Some more photos revealing its construction.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

And why, in addition to the extra waterproofing, I think it's Navy. Possibly shipboard. Probably shipyard, if I had to guess. And a good chance old Philadelphia Shipyard.

 

[ALLFAST]

Very cool find there Lugz !

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, ALLFAST. Going to clean it up today, soften it, and stretch-fit it with a hard form inside and then put it away for awhile, hoping to get it back to its original shape in the front.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

That is a neat find Lugz. Hardside bottom and back look like they gave your tool bag a lot of structure making it a lot more usable than all fabric while still having the stowage advantages of a being a bag. Anchors on anything are nice to find but they really look good on those vintage buckles. Very nice. Ed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Ed. I appreciate the mutual appreciation!

A colleague and fellow WWII collector in Wales gave me some very strong leads last night.

Here are some early 1947 War Department drawings of a "Bag, BG44, with Carrying Strap", created by the QMC.

Look at the shape and then look at this new photo I just took.

While the front of my bag has some folds that have stiffened with age in that semi-collapsed shape even more than intended, it is not supposed to be rectangular. Fully stretched into proper shape, it is a polygonal shape.

I am 99% certain that what I have here is a Navy version of the same bag, or same bag design principle or style, with both of them (the BG44 and this one) probably built to older federal specifications. The polygonal shape, the front flap with two straps, the insert, the carrying strap, and especially those two wing-like flaps to keep the weather out of the seams between the front flap and the sides of the bag are all either identical or very similar. The BG44 drawing does not include the cast iron or steel corner supports on the bottom of my bag, and does not have nearly the same heavy duty D-rings and buckles, and my bag does not incorporate a carry handle at the top, but those are negligible considering the general shape, design, and principle.

Note that the date of the Revised Drawing is April 1947, but the date of the original drawing is built into the original Drawing No. at the bottom: 2-3-33. And it was part of a set of drawings made between 2-3-33 and 2-3-38. (Interesting to see "War Department" on a 1947 document, but it wasn't dissolved until late in the year, when the Army, Air Force and of course the Navy were made separate services under a cabinet-level Department of Defense.) That original drawing date confirms my suspicions about this bag being possibly even older than WWII.

As a side note, I am scratching my head seeing what I always took to be Signal Corps nomenclature (BG- for Bag, CH- for Chest, CS- for Case, TE- for Tool Equipment, TL for Tool, etc, link to full list on Radionerds site here) on a QMC document. I have never seen that before. In fact, I have never seen any other part number from any other technical branch use that nomenclature.

The "44" in BG-44 is a model number in Signal Corps parlance. The Signal Corps had over two-hundred types of bags, all with a unique identifier. BG-1 through BG-216. The BG-44 was used to carry various toolsets, including TE-21, TE-27, TE-36, and TE-41.

Here are some actual photos of a BG-44 from the Radionerds site.

Note that it follows the same pattern as the QMC drawing and has even taller pressboard inserts. But, it doesn't have cast iron or steel corner supports, the straps and the body are all the same flimsy cotton canvas - as opposed to being stiffened with impregnated fluorocarbon or wax, no extra heavy duty D-rings and buckles, and - there are no anchors on the hardware!

What I think is happening here is that the technical branches of the War Dept, including the Navy, the Army QMC and the Army Signal Corps, were most likely following the same federal specifications for a tool bag of this type, first drawn up in 1933, and then the QMC borrowed the Signal Corps nomenclature in 1947.

Either way, it is one helluva sweet old tool bag.

 

[4xdog]

That's a great bag, Lugz! Very cool.

I tend to agree with your pre-WW2 thinking. I'd bet *strongly* on waxed over fluorochemical treatment of the canvas -- Teflon (PTFE) was discovered until 1938 and it was more used for chemical resistance than simple waterproofing. Paraffin wax impregnation woulda worked fine.

The anchors are nifty. One purely speculative way they could have come to be was marine-grade hardware being specified off the shelf by the subcontractor who made it, so not necessarily designed for a naval application. (They look cast, not stamped, and quite likely brass, eh?)

 

[4xdog]

In fact, if one could buy that bag today I'm sure it would be a good seller!

 

[jabberwoki]

Damn it Lugs i need to visit you flea market. My fave one over here closed down .

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, guys.

I just gave the bag a very light scrubbing with soap and hot water and a soft brush. I wanted to clean it and make it a little more supple without removing the stiffening. It came out nicely. I scrubbed the hardware with penetrating oil and a stiffer brush. I don't believe it's brass, 4xdog. I will inspect it and score it somewhere inconspicuous later, but I think steel. All the rivets are copper.

Did you notice how they left the pencil pattern for the placement of the tool holder on the pressboard and the placement of the rivets to form the individual loops? See Pic 7 post #1. I made sure to not scrub that off.

I will post photos later. It's drying by a fireplace.

I feel you, jabber. I lost 1 of mine to a condominium complex last year.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Quick update:

A different colleague, fellow WWII collector, and all-around militaria buff just sent me this photo of a snap boot off of a Willys MB jeep door strap. He is 100% positive the anchor is a logo for the buckle maker, he has seen the same maker's mark on buckles in the 'Nam era, and he thinks they might still be in business. He thinks it's an Interwar or WWII Army bag based on that and the traces of OD green on the large snap hook.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Some AFTER CLEAN-UP shots. The next time you see any photos of this bag, it will have some period correct tools in it. Going to do some research, take my time, and think about it, and make a little 'Living History Display' out of it.

 

[Provincial]

Use a magnet to check the hardware for being steel.

Nice bag! I think the Signal Corps designed the basic pattern for the bag, and the QMC probably adapted it to a use that required heavier construction.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yeah, as I suspected. Steel.

 

[Outlawmws]

Cool bag Lugz, with the anchors I was thinking Marines rather than Army or Navy. Interesting if it is a company logo instead?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yeah my buddy hasn't found the name yet. And I haven't looked yet. Maybe Anchor something or other company. But they are showing up on all kinds of heavy duty (not apparel) wartime Army straps.

 

[Provincial]

Maybe the buckle company was run by an old Navy man, and he aggressively subcontracted for Army contract items as a form of inter-service rivalry?

 

[southalabama]

My flea markets sell harbor freight tools for more than harbor freight, drug paraphernalia and puppies.

Great find.

You should get a field promotion to corporal.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I found two companies in the WPB Major War Supply Contracts books with potential.

Anchor Canvas Products Corporation in Pleasantville, NY ($753,000 for buckets, folding canvas buckets, canvas basins, and M1936 belts, with Navy and QMC), and...

Anchor Duck Mills in Rome, Georgia ($5,572,000 for duck, duck cotton, canvas cotton, cloth, cotton duck cloth, webbing, cotton rope, and nylon duck cloth, with Navy and QMC).

Not thrilled with either one.

The first made finished products, but I'd feel better if it included bags, and it seems kind of small.

The second is very large, and I found a reference that described their trademark as an anchor with a rope wrapped around the shank, but my anchors are plain, and these types of mills (Rome was a major center for many of them) didn't make finished products, they made the material that others were using to make finished products.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Great find


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks to the detective work of a friend and fellow WWII collector in Headley near Bordon in Hampshire UK, I have identified the buckles as being Anchor Brand, a trademark (June 3, 1928) of North & Judd Manufacturing in New Britain, Ct. They had a dozen or so contracts with the QMC and Navy between 1940 and 1945 worth $1,006,000.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

That’s great


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[gnpenning]

Nice. Lugs you never disappoint. Thanks

 

[Farmer J.]

Thanks to the detective work of a friend and fellow WWII collector in Headley near Bordon in Hampshire UK, I have identified the buckles as being Anchor Brand, a trademark (June 3, 1928) of North & Judd Manufacturing in New Britain, Ct. They had a dozen or so contracts with the QMC and Navy between 1940 and 1945 worth $1,006,000.

That's it!
Buckles International, Inc.
P.O. Box 747 Meriden, CT 06450-0747 U.S.A

According to their website, which has a nice picture of an anchor and a load of buckles..

http://bucklesinternational.com/

Buckles International is the home of Anchor Brand Hardware, the world's premier supplier of metal fasteners for web straps, rope and leather since 1812. Check out our hardware for Tents, Tarpaulins, Shoulder Straps, Saddlery, Dog Collars and Leashes, Sporting Goods, Sam Brown, Flags and Banners, Luggage, Back Packs, Military Specifications and much more!

 

[SuperCat]

That's an incredible find, Lugz. I can't believe the condition that bag is in, it almost looks like it fell into a time warp and landed here after about 80 years. Looks even better after being cleaned up. This thread is better than History Detectives!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, SuperCat.

That's it!
Buckles International, Inc.
P.O. Box 747 Meriden, CT 06450-0747 U.S.A

Yes, that is their most recent incarnation, J. I'm not sure when they changed their name, but it was still North & Judd as late as 1970, the date of a Dept of the Army Technical Manual (TM 10-8400-23) for Clothing and Individual Equipment that I found, where they were listed as the supplier for the buckle and keeper on a standard duffel bag. Their TM of the Anchor Brand name and anchor claims first use in 1890. A book on the history of New Britain written in 1999 said they supplied the Union Army during the Civil War and the U.S. Army during WWI, WWII, the Korean Conflict, and Viet Nam, and that they were bought out and moved by Gulf & Western, without providing a date for that acquisition and relocation. I have no interest in tracing it any further than that.