Vintage Vise listings in 1920's catalogs

Lump · May 7, 2010

Another Garage Journal poster asked me to post these old catalog pages featuring vises in a separate thread, so people could enjoy them more. I am fairly ignorant of how forums work, but I guess this must be a good idea. So here goes.
This is from a hard-bound 1921 Beckley-Ralston catalog of automotive equipment, hardware, and tools. It was my dad's, and has been in my family for 40 years or more.
Please let me know if you guys like these old catalog pages. I have LOTS of old catalogs.

Lump · May 7, 2010

Here is another page from the same catalog:

Lump · May 7, 2010

This is from a third page, and is the last "vise" listed in this old catalog. This type vise was used when mechanics were rebuilding used batteries. (Yes, it was common for mechanics to rebuild, rather than replace dead batteries.)

Lump · May 7, 2010

Now here is a catalog page from a 1920-21 Lomont Automotive Equipment catalog. Note how the vise brand names have been obscured. Probably to prevent price comparison shopping.

Dale B · May 7, 2010

I've never seen a Columbian Anvil !! Very interesting ! Not that I want one , I have a Peter Wright .....

Lump · May 7, 2010

Now onto an old Pittsburg Auto Equipment catalog. I believe this one is from 1926. Most of thes units are PARKER or Columbian vises.

Lump · May 7, 2010

Okay, last catalog page for tonight. This is also from that 1926 Pittsburg catalog. Notice the price on that largest size Parker vise! :shocking:

Keep in mind that in 1926, a brand new Model T Ford sold for around $500 or so. So this vise was a major investment at the time.

mjozefow · May 7, 2010

NICE! Almost quick enough too! HAHA. Thanks for doing this, I will link it up.

And PLEASE "AD" more! They are fantastic!

porphyre · May 8, 2010

These are great. Here's a quick 1920's dollar conversion chart....

Source:
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

What cost $1 in 1920 would cost $10.62 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1921 would cost $11.89 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1922 would cost $12.69 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1923 would cost $12.46 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1924 would cost $12.44 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1925 would cost $12.14 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1926 would cost $12.02 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1927 would cost $12.25 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1928 would cost $12.41 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1929 would cost $12.41 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1930 would cost $12.73 in 2009.

Dunno about that deflationary period in the mid '20's, but whatever.

I think it's interesting I paid $30 for my vise, which is probably of this vintage (WWI - 1920's). I bet the original owner paid around $30 too!

Lump · May 8, 2010

porphyre said:
These are great. Here's a quick 1920's dollar conversion chart....

Source:
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

What cost $1 in 1920 would cost $10.62 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1921 would cost $11.89 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1922 would cost $12.69 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1923 would cost $12.46 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1924 would cost $12.44 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1925 would cost $12.14 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1926 would cost $12.02 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1927 would cost $12.25 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1928 would cost $12.41 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1929 would cost $12.41 in 2009.
What cost $1 in 1930 would cost $12.73 in 2009.

Dunno about that deflationary period in the mid '20's, but whatever.

I think it's interesting I paid $30 for my vise, which is probably of this vintage (WWI - 1920's). I bet the original owner paid around $30 too!

Wow!! I hate to think of that #60 vise being multiplied by a factor of 95 X $12.02. Holy sh***! :shocking:

BanjoSavesTheDay · May 8, 2010

I would LOVE to have a Parker No. 60. I have seen a picture of one it and it is one mother of a vise.

Thanks for uploading those pictures, it was a very interesting read!

old salvage · May 8, 2010

Interesting that even as early as 1921 both Morgan and Columbian had cylindrical hubs for the screws.
Thanks for posting all this.

lwlobo · May 8, 2010

I love seeing the old catalog pages, thanks! I've definately got my eyes out for an old beefy vise.

DavidB · May 8, 2010

Great scans of the catalogs! Do you have any with Prentiss vices? Specifically anything with a Bulldog 515/525 if you have it.

Thanks!

toolnut · May 8, 2010

After all the years vises have been around you would think that there would be a million of them available at a decent used price. What happened to all of them? Just get tossed to the scrap yard? By the way - like the adds! :thumbup:

Packard V8 · May 8, 2010

After all the years vises have been around you would think that there would be a million of them available at a decent used price.

In the industrial environment for which the larger units would have been purchased, vises are a consumable. Workers saw, burn, hammer and otherwise abused them, sometimes three shifts a day.

thnx, jack vines

DavidB · Jun 5, 2010

I'm not going to post pictures but if you go on ebay and search for "vise ad" you'll get a whole lot of results from folks selling paper ads. A lot of them can be enlarged to be clearly readable. I found a couple ads of Prentiss, Bonny, Columbian, Sargent, Reed, Charles Parker, and more.

David

Mickey O · Jun 5, 2010

sawatch · Jun 5, 2010

toolnut said:
After all the years vises have been around you would think that there would be a million of them available at a decent used price. What happened to all of them? Just get tossed to the scrap yard? By the way - like the adds!

Probably got melted down for the WWII effort.

Joe B. · Jun 5, 2010

toolnut said:
After all the years vises have been around you would think that there would be a million of them available at a decent used price. What happened to all of them? Just get tossed to the scrap yard? By the way - like the adds!

It seems to me that there are a lot out there. They don't come up super often but there are plenty out there that go for a fraction of their price new. I guess it help if you live in a place that had a lot of industry 70 years ago.

Adam McLaughlin · Jun 7, 2010

Well, that does explain some things. A good Wilton in this decade goes for something like.... $750 so a vise back then going for todays dollars of $900 or so doesn't seem out of place.

Adam

Lump · Jun 11, 2010

Someone was trying to identify a vise today in a post with photos, that looked like the Columbian vice shown here on a scan of pg 277 of the Pittsburgh catalog. Now I'll get out that original catalog and compare the listing to the photo in his post.

Lump · Jun 21, 2010

I still cannot find a listing among all my old catalogs for that big Parker vise I missed at the auction this past weekend!

tcheat · Jan 3, 2012

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I found a few Parkers listed in an Ellefeldt catalog I have. The photos in the front of the catalog are copyrighted 1946, so the catalog is probably from that timeframe:

Thought these might be of interest to someone, especially the description of the Parker swivel base.

HandyManny · Jun 18, 2012

toolnut said:
After all the years vises have been around you would think that there would be a million of them available at a decent used price. What happened to all of them? Just get tossed to the scrap yard? By the way - like the adds!

Packard V8 said:
In the industrial environment for which the larger units would have been purchased, vises are a consumable. Workers saw, burn, hammer and otherwise abused them, sometimes three shifts a day.

thnx, jack vines

sawatch said:
Probably got melted down for the WWII effort.

I'd say all of the above is true. Back in those days (probably more so than today) equipment got used pretty hard and yes things did wear out. Lot's of metals got sold for cash to be melted down to make raw material for the war effort both during WWI and WWII. Also the fact that there are probably thousands of these old Vises and Anvils still stitting in old barns and shops across this country, some still being used and some not. Plus the fact that many of the few existing factories and blacksmith shops that are still around today in this country still use vises, anvils, and even drop-forges that are often 100 years old. Sad to say that I bet a great many of these old tools were simply thrown out and burried in a landfill because the owners decendents didn't know their value in use.

Lump · Jun 18, 2012

HandyManny said:

I'd say all of the above is true. Back in those days (probably more so than today) equipment got used pretty hard and yes things did wear out. Lot's of metals got sold for cash to be melted down to make raw material for the war effort both during WWI and WWII. Also the fact that there are probably thousands of these old Vises and Anvils still stitting in old barns and shops across this country, some still being used and some not. Plus the fact that many of the few existing factories and blacksmith shops that are still around today in this country still use vises, anvils, and even drop-forges that are often 100 years old. Sad to say that I bet a great many of these old tools were simply thrown out and burried in a landfill because the owners decendents didn't know their value in use.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure you're right about all of that, Manny.

tumblweed9999 · Aug 17, 2013

Just bought this at a Garage sale. $15.00. Googled P V Co NY, and Gipsy and came up with a Prentiss Gipsy #67. Any idea what year this was made? I see 2 old catalogue pages on ebay displaying Prentiss ads. The one from 1896 has this style depicted available in model #'s 65 66 0r 67.

Lump · Aug 18, 2013

Can't help you myself, Tumble...but I'm sure someone on GJ can and will!

sha · Aug 6, 2015

Lump said:
Another Garage Journal poster asked me to post these old catalog pages featuring vises in a separate thread, so people could enjoy them more. I am fairly ignorant of how forums work, but I guess this must be a good idea. So here goes.

I didn't see the 2010 date at first so it threw me off whenever I read "I am fairly ignorant of how forums work" from a guy with 3K+ posts

Vintage Vise listings in 1920's catalogs

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