so am I the only one that thought about how many owners of these tools scratched another line on the letter "T" to make an "F"
As the story goes, many, many moons ago, in a land far away, when men were men, in a time before autos, down on the farm...
Old Pa was out in the barn working on his wagon, trying to ready it for the following season. What season, I don't know.
As his beloved oxen looked gleefully upon him, Pa worked hard to ready that wagon. At one point Pa realized he left his best brace in the small tool shed attached to the house. His favorite brace which he called "Tucker". At least, that's what he thought the name on the brace read, as the bit barely ever left the chuck.
As usual Pa called out Ma for assistance, "Mother, Tucker". You see now, Ma was Pa's only assistant when it came to helping with the wagon and other repairs on the farm. All the boys had left the homestead looking for a simpler, easier way of life, leaving Pa and Ma all alone to tend to the farm.
Pa was always appreciative when Ma brought him a tool, including that favorite Tucker brace.
On this day however, Pa was unaware that Ma had greased that brace for him, hoping it would help the repair go smoothly. As Pa began using his favorite Tucker brace to drive home a few screws, he leaned into the work, and the tool suddenly slipped. This lead to a catastrophe. The tool was in splinters across the barn, and Pa injured as well.
As Pa, wounded, picked up the scraped up remains of his favorite tool, he looked at the name on that brace bit, the T now looking more like an F.
Hearing the clamor, Ma ran to Pa's aid, as she was the only help left on the farm. Pa cried out in agony, tears in his eyes (mainly over the loss of a favorite tool, not the pain), "Mother, *ucker!".
Hence began on that little old farm a long-standing tradition of words used when working on wheeled vehicles.
The End.