Amalite Inc.

[woody 73]

The Story continues...

Or as spaceman Biff would say our hero left off in his last post about finding a treasure trove of vintage screwdrivers sitting in a can of rain water in the Texas heat.

It turns out one of the screwdrivers was only marked Amalite and that got me started in hunting down the history of that maker. Now as it turns out the spelling is off just a little bit and I got 20,000 hits for "ARMALITE" a special gun, not "AMALITE" a special screwdriver!

What I did find was an address for Amalite Inc. listed at 1884 Pitkin Ave. Brooklyn,N.Y. and a date of the early 1950's, (1954) Hardware age see link below. They indeed made screwdrivers and at some point in time got a Government Contract. After that the information is very scarce, maybe a name change to Amalite Corp. ? (Government CAGE #)

I did find That Amalite was a registered name for an amber plastic resin, but the link would not play nice today; not sure why it would not work?

Another link to a special screwdriver ratchet that you might be interested in (see below).


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-US...lPaddedFlatRateEnvelope!43214!US!-1:rk:5:pf:0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-AMALITE-...Baqo2i:sc:USPSPriority!43214!US!-1:rk:11:pf:0

https://patents.google.com/patent/US2720296A/en

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2720296.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=D...ved=0ahUKEwiF0NTlpvLeAhWn34MKHVEQCxYQ6AEIUzAH

https://books.google.com/books?id=J...ved=0ahUKEwig8uLGp_LeAhVwp4MKHcSiD_IQ6AEILzAB

https://books.google.com/books?id=V...ved=0ahUKEwj-yNihqPLeAhVow4MKHR1MA6AQ6AEINTAD

 

[twertsy]

Tough to find much on them Woody.

Earliest newspaper advert I find is April, 1950. Inconclusive as to whether it's made by Amalite, Inc. or just an Amalite handled screwdriver.

Here are a couple early patents assigned to Alamite, Inc.

Here are other patents by Anton Briglia.

 

[bonneyman]

I have/had a couple of Amalite drivers. They seemed to be good tools to me.

 

[mickeyone]

I also have a few,They are also marked bell system.

 

[woody 73]

mickeyone that man had a ton of screwdrivers but why he was keeping them in buckets of water to rust was beyond me anyhow this is what you are talking about only it has faded over the many years...

 

[Flying Mustang]

Necro thread, but I found a screwdriver that Grandpa probably “borrowed” from an Army Air Corps base in Texas in the mid 40’s...

The post above is the only reference I’ve found to the manufacturer. I’m searching for the 93rd Operations Maintenance Squadron - Consolidated Tool Kit # O1H so I can return this... there is probably still some Buck Sergeant waiting outside the Commander’s office to answer where this missing screwdriver went.

 

[Flying Mustang]

Other side

 

[Ken Koch]

When I was in the USAF, the Amalite screwdriver was part of the tool box issued. I was in avionics. This particular type of screwdriver was facetiously name the "7 Level Screwdriver". That related to your specialty code. I was in ECM, so my AFSC was 301x3 (later changed to 328x3) where the x represents 3, 5, or 7. Level 3 are the newbies, level 5 is mid range, and 7 level is senior. I was a Level 5, but declined training for Level 7 because I wasn't likely to stay in for any more that my 4 year commitment. Many of us would wear the screwdriver in our shirt pocket. It has been a long time ago (circa 1970), but my recollection is that the screwdriver has a light in the handle. You can stick it into an outlet and the light (probably neon) would illuminate so you could tell if the outlet was live. You can see what I believe to be a fuse in the handle. I never tried it out. I lost the pocket clip several years ago. It is also marked AMALITE U.S.A as is the 5 inch long flat tipped screwdriver. I found the clip today in my wife's "junk basket" where she puts things that she can't identify just for safe keeping. Happy me! My 7 Level Screwdriver was once again complete. I decided to look it up on the internet and also found nothing about the special capability of this screwdriver. If anyone knows, please let us know.

 

[Car hobby]

Here are 3 Amalite 6" #3 phillips screwdrivers that belonged to my grandfather. All 3 have good tips. These probably came from the helicopter school where he worked in north Texas.

 

[S-K Tool Fanatic!]

My Cousin has one of these in stubby fourm,we found it at second hand store. I'll see if I can get him to send me some pic's pf it tomarrow.
-Tommy

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of Bell System marked Amalite screwdrivers.
-Don

 

[genog]

A friend gave me this poor beat to **** Amalite.
I sharpened the blade end to repurpose it as a scraper

 

[S-K Tool Fanatic!]

Here you go.
-Tommy

 

[S-K Tool Fanatic!]

Scored some more at the same store!!
-Tommy

 

[S-K Tool Fanatic!]

Got another one!

 

[MisterEd]

Amalite Screwdriver with name on shaft "** & PRINCE". Perhaps Reed & Prince?

 

[RTM]

Amalite Screwdriver with name on shaft "** & PRINCE". Perhaps Reed & Prince?

That tip does look like the Reed & Prince I grabbed today by mistake.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a long and short Amalite slotted screwdrivers.
-Don