The Pickop "Pick-up" pick-up

Yes, you read that right. I recently picked up a Pickop "Pick-Up" ratchet-wrench, and one would be hard-pressed to make up a story more eponymous than the story behind this tool, even if you tried!

The inventor’s name was George B. Pickop. The patent (847,601) was granted on March 19, 1907. Attached (see Pic 1) is the patent summary from DATAMP.

As you can probably already see from my photos in post #1, further shown by the action illustrated into the patent diagram, the ratchet works by turning against a fastener, then picking up the handle and moving that “lug” (as Pickop called it in his patent application) to one of seven notches in the geared socket for a new purchase, turning again, picking up the handle and moving the lug to a new notch again, and so on.

Simple open-geared ratchets don’t get any simpler or more open than this. In this case, the “gear” is actually built into the female drive member and the backward swing is freewheeling.

Naturally, then, Pickop called it the Pick-Up.

It was manufactured by the New Britain Manufacturing Company for at least 10 years, from 1908 (see Pic 2) to 1917 (see Pic 3). (Note: This is not that New Britain tool manufacturing company, which was New Britain Machine Company.)

DATAMP has an image of an undated ad (see Pic 4) showing that it was “formerly manufactured” by the New Britain Mfg Co, and currently being manufactured by the Crescent Manufacturing Company. (Note: This is not that Crescent. ) So at some point in time after 1917, it was still being made, but by Crescent instead of New Britain.

The female drive opening is 1/2-inch (see Pic 1). Ads indicate that it was made in many different sizes, from 4 inches to 24 inches (so there are some big ones out there somewhere!), with fixed geared-sockets of many different size hex service openings and depths (for spark plugs) to suit the size of the handle and vice versa. Ads also indicate it was made as a ratchet-wrench for a large automotive set that contained 31 sockets, a universal joint, two screwdriver bits, and two extensions in a wooden box. I believe that is the ratchet I have, and I would love to find the whole set!

As you can see, it requires a 1/2-inch drive male drive plug of some kind (universal joint, extension, etc), because female ratchets had 11/16” openings to accommodate pressed steel sockets with 11/16” male external drive tangs. (Their internal drive opening was 1/2-inch.) I am demonstrating in Pic 2 with a socket, universal joint and extensions borrowed from my Allen Wrench and Tool Company “Universal” No. 51 set.

George Pickop (born in Terryville, Conn., in 1876) was a prolific inventor. I am wondering if his experience in the Army had anything to do with it. In 1898 he was a sergeant in Company D, 1st Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, in the Spanish-American War. In 1903, at the age of 27, he had four (4) patents to his name as the assignor for the P. & F. Corbin Company, of New Britain, Conn., which later became Corbin Cabinet & Lock Company, and eventually just Corbin, the famous lock makers. At the age of 29 he was their “Chief Mechanic.” The patents were for a sliding door, a detachable hinge, a sash, and a bell. He must have done quite well for himself and Corbin. In 1905, 3,051 people in the state of Connecticut owned an automobile. He was #63 in the registry that year. Scanning the registry was fun. There were Wintons, Oldbmobiles, Knoxes, Packards, Locomobiles, Prescotts, etc, and a few “Self-Made” models. George’s was one of those. In 1906, the same year he patented the “Pick-Up” ratchet (a patent he kept for himself), he patented a door knob for Corbin. A year later he patented a jacket for steam engine cylinders (901,369). Ten years later, in 1919, he patented a ******** body for the Malleable Iron Fittings Company of Branford, Conn., and another lock, this time for Corbin competitor Sargent & Company, of New Haven, Conn. He must’ve been well thought of in the state. In 1939, at the age of 63, he was named the State Commissioner of Rivers, Harbors, and Bridges. He died two years later.

Has anyone seen one of these before? Does any else have one?

Pretty cool tool.

I see one at an antique store about 6 months ago but passed due to price. Seller wanted $45 for it.

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Neat design. Don’t have one but have seen them. There is one on AA under the various makers category.

3baygarage said:

There is one on AA under the various makers category.

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****, I missed that, and it's a little embarrassing that I seized on the same jokes in my write-up that they did! HAHA. Oh well, at least I dug deeper into Mr. Pickop's professional life, and I will take some small cred for discussing the drive system.

Nice pickop!

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Darn, Another Connecticut tool to look for!

Thanks, Todd. (Write-up is in the queue for TA 2.0...)

Good luck, elidas!

I do find it a little curious and strange that the Pick-Up ratchet-wrench was made by two different manufacturers over the course of at least 12 years (1907-1919) in two different versions - the fixed socket versions in several different hex sizes and handle lengths, and the detachable socket drive tool version in a very large automotive set - and yet they are so rare that only one has shown up here on GJ, a few others have been spotted in antique stores and such, and the only example AA has is a fixed socket type spark plug jobbie.

New to the forum - my dad gave me one of these sets and a google search brought me here. Thanks for the info! It answered all my questions. I'll try to add a few pictures soon.

Lost10mm said:

-my dad gave me one of these sets and a google search brought me here. I'll try to add a few pictures soon.

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Please do! Your set is much more significant to researchers and collectors than you may think. Except for ads, I have never seen a set, and no photos of an entire set exist on GJ, DATAMP, or Alloy Artifacts. Your dad has great taste in antique tools and gifts for sons!

A little backstory: The men on my dad's side of the family all have a few things in common dating back multiple generations - we all were in the military and/or law enforcement and we all are mechanically inclined. My dad retired as a tank mechanic, and I'm a mechanic on anything from construction equipment to cars to lawn mowers. Tools are very much part of our every day and our hobbies. When I was in my late teens, my dad pulled out this old ratchet set in a wooden box and said he was going to clean the grease off of it and one day he would be passing it on to me if I was interested. Instantly, I knew there was something very special here and told him YES! He didn't know much about it, and estimated it was probably from around the 1940's or so. We tried looking into it online a little over the years, but we've never found anything about it anywhere online. We've just known it's old and has great character. Well, now my dad is getting poor in health and he decided it was a good time to get it to me while he's still of sound mind before anyone else gave it away or got to it.

Now it sits in my office on top of the secretary that was rescued and refurbished from my grandparents farmhouse (If y'all know anything about this secretary, feel free to chime in!). This set was my great-granddads, who gave it to my granddad, who gave it to my dad, and now it sits with me. I hope to one day pass it onto my son.

I just happened to try searching with the right keywords today, and it brought me to this post! Then, I found the post on papaswrench which led me to Alloy Artifacts. I also saw the patent listed on DATAMP today. I will be taking all of this info, printing all of the pictures shared on here and AA in color, and putting together a little folder of info about this set to keep with it.

You already have all the info down regarding the origins of this set. Now let me provide some pictures of our family "Pickop" Pickup Ratchet Wrench Set.

One of my favorite things about this set is just how rugged and imperfect it is. There's so much character to the ratchet itself as well as each socket and attachment. I don't know why, but I get a kick out of how the hole isn't centered perfectly through this weird big attachment. You can tell someone centered that on the drill press by hand. The metal also wasn't the strongest. Maybe I'm just spoiled by our current day tools, but I would be scared to use this set with any level of pressure.

I added some pictures of it next to a modern 1/2" drive ratchet for comparison.

My dad is a bit of a woodworker as well as mechanic. He saw that the original box was falling apart, so he decided to make a replica of the box out of newer wood. The one thing he was never able to do was replicate the label. If anyone can help me find a picture of the original label that's not in rough shape, I have access to a pretty good print shop that can replicate it for the new box.

There's no intention on getting rid of the original box, and I even use it while this set is on display in the office. But, it'd be cool to add that final touch to the box my dad made at some point.

Lost10mm said:

A little backstory: The men on my dad's side of the family all have a few things in common dating back multiple generations - we all were in the military and/or law enforcement and we all are mechanically inclined. My dad retired as a tank mechanic, and I'm a mechanic on anything from construction equipment to cars to lawn mowers. Tools are very much part of our every day and our hobbies. When I was in my late teens, my dad pulled out this old ratchet set in a wooden box and said he was going to clean the grease off of it and one day he would be passing it on to me if I was interested. Instantly, I knew there was something very special here and told him YES! He didn't know much about it, and estimated it was probably from around the 1940's or so. We tried looking into it online a little over the years, but we've never found anything about it anywhere online. We've just known it's old and has great character. Well, now my dad is getting poor in health and he decided it was a good time to get it to me while he's still of sound mind before anyone else gave it away or got to it.

Now it sits in my office on top of the secretary that was rescued and refurbished from my grandparents farmhouse (If y'all know anything about this secretary, feel free to chime in!). This set was my great-granddads, who gave it to my granddad, who gave it to my dad, and now it sits with me. I hope to one day pass it onto my son.

I just happened to try searching with the right keywords today, and it brought me to this post! Then, I found the post on papaswrench which led me to Alloy Artifacts. I also saw the patent listed on DATAMP today. I will be taking all of this info, printing all of the pictures shared on here and AA in color, and putting together a little folder of info about this set to keep with it.

You already have all the info down regarding the origins of this set. Now let me provide some pictures of our family "Pickop" Pickup Ratchet Wrench Set.

Click to expand...

That is great. So you are saying, you would not trade for a chew, chalk or marbles? I like your sincerity.

Lost10mm said:

I just happened to try searching with the right keywords today, and it brought me to this post!

Click to expand...

I'm glad you found the thread!

That set is beautiful. First of its kind here. The adaptor with the leaf spring for the screwdriver bits is interesting. Also interesting that most of the pieces got the black rustproof finish, while others did not. The set is very typical of an early mechanics' set in terms of the style, make, number, and sizing of the sockets and accessories. I have a dozen or so from the same era. But they all have a mechanical ratchet. Coarse, but geared. The other New Britain and the other Crescent enterprises devoting so much effort to making and marketing a large set centered around this plucky little manual ratchet is truly unique.

Thanks for posting the backstory and so many photos. Yours and your father's treatment and display of this set befits its admirable history.

As for finding an image of the label in original condition, that could be nigh impossible. Try Google Books. It might be in an old periodical advertisement.

There is a guy I know who might make you one from the old one. He's actually in a different hobby but has made me a few one-offs. I will send you that via PM. And there's another guy on ebay who makes them. Typically, he makes popular, in demand decals, but might recreate yours for a price. I have never used him, but others here have. I will tag @Oldtuleguy , who can provide the contact.