c. 1909 Eames Socket Wrenches Automobile Set

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 1 of 10

I recently splurged for this splendid socket set…

…made in 1909 by a pair of brothers, both of them graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (we’ll get to that later….), and advertised like mad in several trade mags, including Automobile Trade Journal, The Automobile Trade Directory, The Automobile, Automotive Industries, and, to be inclusive of vehicles with motors but less than four or no wheels, The Motor Cycle, Motor Boat, and Automobile Trade Journal.

The ad was the same in all trade mags, and it could not have been more descriptive or glowing in its praise of the aspects and features of the 1/2-inch drive set I admire the most, which is the gorgeous and unique case itself.

The ad copywriter really nailed it.

“The case consists simply of a solid wood block bound with brass, with a sheet of oak-tanned leather as cover. There are no hinges or catches to break and no thin wood to smash. The leather also keeps the sockets from rattling.”

Anyone who owns any early press-steel socket sets from any OEM – e.g., Mossberg, Smith & Hemenway, Eastern Machine Screw, Charles Miller, etc – knows that all of those things are true of all wooden socket set boxes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 2 of 10

Some additional photos of the case and its construction...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 3 of 10

The tools are no slouches, either!

The hinge handle, which is nickeled, is more ingenious than they or their ad agency gave themselves credit for. Not only for the bulbous ball forged on the end that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand, or for the spring-loaded detent ball nestled inside that keeps the cross-bar firmly in place for it to be used like a T-bar, or for the seven (7) different offset hinge positions (stepped at 30*), but maybe especially for the way they turned the drive stud 45* on its axis on the hinge.

It’s not that any one of those features seems particularly unique now, in hindsight, but all of them together on a hinge handle in 1909 is unusual, utterly amazing to me, and seems way ahead of its time. In fact, other than the special version hinge handles that Snap-on made during WWII (M-10 9/32-inch drive, NS-10 1/2-inch drive, and L-10 3/4-inch drive)...

...I don’t recall seeing any other OEM mount the drive stud twisted one-quarter turn like that in orientation to the hinge and shank. If I'm wrong about that, someone please correct me.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 4 of 10

The sockets – nineteen (19) with hex openings from 7/16” to 1-1/4”, and three (3) with square openings at 7/16”, 1/2”, and 9/16” – are pressed steel, as you would imagine, but not supplied by Mossberg, or Mossberg knockoffs, as so often is the case.

They are of a slightly different construction (taller in the walls, shorter at the base) than Mossberg sockets, glossier than the dusky Mossberg sockets, too, and they all bear strange machining marks that come, I think, from the way the sheets of steel were cut, not from the way the sockets were formed.

Eames left, Mossberg right

Unless that is the result of what the ad copy refers to as “reinforced.” No sizes, no branding. I am missing a long spark plug socket. You can see the empty space where it was kept on its side with the hole for the cross-bar anchored on that brass pin on the lower right-hand corner of the case.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 5 of 10

Information on this set was very hard to come by. I had to back into the history using circumstantial sources, including some biographical information, and piece it together like a detective. No easy task given that Eames is the surname of famous mid-century American chair designers (coincidentally, also brothers, Charles and Ray) and their studio, also in Boston; the surname of one of the two extremely prolific patent assignors for Singer, the sewing machine company, very active in that same time period (George); and the surname of the inventor (Gardner) of very early arbor presses, drill presses, and other machinery for his own company, a precursor to Atlas, the Sears/Craftsman OEM.

In fact, outside of the 1909 ads themselves, I came up nil on the name “Eames Manufacturing Company”. To put the finest point on it as possible, the only place the address “44 Broad Street, Boston, Mass.” appears in the same place as that company name is on the leather lid on the set itself.

The only place “Eames Manufacturing Company” and “Boston” appears in the same place is on the ratchet itself.

I could find no Massachusetts state charter or articles of incorporation or newspaper reference to a company with that name and address. A building with that address is still standing in the old industrial sector of Boston, south of Quincy Market, in the North End Waterfront area, now converted into trendy upscale restaurants and taverns, so it’s quite possibly the location of the original metalworking shop of an early, ambitious, small manufacturer of automotive tools.

What I did find was a state charter for an enterprise known as the Eames Tool Company, dated December 1909, and located at 47 Crescent Street in Swampscott, Mass., not 44 Broad Street, in Boston, Mass.

Was it the same enterprise?

As I would come to find out, yes, which this notice in the January 1910 Motor journal advertising the same socket set helped confirm – even though the address was now listed as Lynn, Massachusetts….

…an address this state Certificates of Condition document seems to confirm.

As you can see, the $5,000 capital matches the capital of the Charter.

I discovered that 47 Crescent Street, Swampscott, was a house, and still is. It once belonged to and was the residence of Jesse Jennings Eames, the “Jesse J. Eames” mentioned in the 1909 Charter of the Eames Tool Company.

I don't know why they changed their name, or incorporated under a different name then the name on their earliest sets, but the Eames Tool Company of Lynn, Mass., was listed in state documents from 1910 through 1915.

In a 1916 Chilton’s, the Eames Tool Company address was listed as P.O. Box 51, Allston, Mass., a sure sign that they had lost whatever facility they once owned or leased in Lynn.

In 1917, the company was dissolved.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 6 of 10

So when was Eames Manufacturing Company formed? And just who were these Eames boys?

I never found an answer on the first question, but my guess would be 1909. I don’t think it would’ve been any sooner, since David Darby Eames, the younger brother, an undergraduate student of Mechanical Engineering, was still busy writing his thesis at M.I.T. in 1908, a thesis which his older brother Jesse Jennings Eames, an instructor of Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T., may have been busy reviewing!

This 1915 Alumni Bulletin indicates that Jesse J. Eames graduated in 1902, staying at his alma mater to teach, and David D. Eames followed in 1908.

My best hunch here, guys, is that these two sharp, mechanically inclined boys and brothers endeavored to cash in on the exploding automotive market in 1909. Fresh out of M.I.T., they designed a wonderful handle to turn detachable sockets of the predominant pattern (1/2-inch internal drive, 11/16-inch external drive, pressed steel), and placed the whole set in a well-conceived and handsome carrying case.

Their business and marketing savvy may not have been up to the same task as their design prowess. Or it may have just been a side effort to their primary professions all along.

Either way, after their tool-making enterprise went under less than ten years after they started it, Jesse continued teaching (rising to the rank of associate professor) Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T., and later at Harvard and Northeastern. David continued working for Lockwood-Greene, a well-respected Boston architectural firm responsible for the design of many buildings on the Registry of National Historic Places, most of them large factories and mills.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 7 of 10

Here are a few maps for reference to the various locations mentioned in this thread, including the various company addresses in Boston, the Allston section of Boston, Lynn, and Swampscott, and a zoom on the first address in the formerly industrial North End Waterfront area.

I have also highlighted where they hailed from originally, west of the city, in Framingham. The Eames name goes very deep in American history in Framingham. Thomas Eames, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, was seriously injured in the Peqout War and given a piece of land there as recompense by the Deputy Governor. During the King Phillip’s War., the farm was raided several times by natives, and several of his children were seized and eventually returned. Later, the name was associated with a maker of cotton presses, looms and other machinery in the area. I didn’t do any serious genealogical tracing to make a direct connection, but a relationship is not too hard to imagine.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 8 of 10

I could not find any other examples of this set anywhere on the net. It is not mentioned in Tool Archives, Alloy Artifacts, or anywhere on Tool Talk (Pawpaws). No references in WorthPoint or eBay Advanced ‘Sold Listings’ searches. While there is not one collectors’ sin I would rather be more guilty of than excess pride in owning OOAK tools, in this case I do wish there were others, if only to share information.

There is one other instance of a tool marked “EAMES” on GJ, believe it or not. It’s a rather unusual, unique ratchet adapter that elidas found in 2018, thread linked here, and photos appropriated from him below...

Note that it has a 1/2-inch drive female opening where the drive stud on my handle would fit. Note that the male drive studs, one on either side – implying old-fashioned reversibility, are also 1/2-inch in diameter. Essentially, elidas' Eames ratchet adaptor would convert the Eames hinge handle in my set into a flex head ratchet. If you’re thinking what I was thinking, your intuition is danged good!

This issue of Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal confirms that this is exactly what the Eames boys had in mind when they added the ratchet adaptor to their set in 1911!

elidas and I have shared some of the same collecting tastes over the years, thinking maybe especially of the amazing Spezial Werkzuege Fabrik socket sets, and this is a classic case of "Only on GJ!" synchronicity!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 9 of 10

Although the leather cover to the set includes a “PAT. APPLIED FOR” marking, I could not find a granted patent related to this set. In fact, since the marking is not on any single piece of the set, I am not sure what was applied for. I searched DATAMP, Google Patents, and the Commissioner of Patents Reports in the Smithsonian on-line archive for every year from 1909 to 1917 on “Eames”, “wrench-handle”, “socket-wrench”, “ratchet-wrench,” and “wrench”. I even searched on “case” and “box” just in case that was what they had attempted to patent.

No dice.

If anyone wants to get their Patent Google-fu going, please let me know what you discover.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Post 10 of 10

I will end, for now, with my favorite ad, an early one, from a July 1909 issue of Motor Age, different text than all the others, including a hand-sketched black-and-white pencil drawing of the set and handle.

Since I consider the entire set to be a work of art, I may just have to blow up this drawing and frame it!

 

[Farmer J.]

Wow, Nice set Lugz!
Great research too.

 

[Kev442]

Truly an outstanding product. Quite shocking that no others have turned up.
One of the few times I've been curious as to the purchase price.

 

[3baygarage]

That’s a great looking set. The handle is quite nice, a real beauty. I agree, the handle looks to be ahead of its time, as does Elidas’ attachment.

 

[pancho400cid]

Awesome. That must have cost a fortune in its' day....?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Awesome. That must have cost a fortune in its' day....?

$9, Pancho. Adjusted for inflation, that is equivalent in purchasing power to about $256.25 today. I agree with your assessment. From the leather, brass, and cherry-stained wood to the handle itself, I am thinking it was aimed at the dandies with driving gloves and scarves who referred to themselves as automobilists. And that was the coolness factor for me.

Wow, Nice set Lugz!
Great research too

Thank you, sir!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Truly an outstanding product. Quite shocking that no others have turned up. One of the few times I've been curious as to the purchase price.

It is a little surprising. As for the price, one of the few times I don't mind saying that the sum I sprung for it is very close to its adjusted inflation value. (I don't splurge too often, and I couldn't resist this one.)

I agree, the handle looks to be ahead of its time, as does Elidas’ attachment.

Right? With the ball-detent in the cross-bar hole and the sideways stud? These guys were something else! As for the attachment, I went through DATAMP trying to see if I could isolate ratchet adaptors, without any luck. I thought the reversible cog in my Eastern Machine Screw set was early (1922), beating Snap-on to their earliest cog (and that wasn;t in-line) by a year. But 1909!? Wow.

 

[elidas]

Thats great! I was out of commission all week so this is the first I've seen this. Great detective work!

 

[Lassen Forge]

Just the accessory for the running board tool box on the Thomas Flyer or Pierce Arrow...

That is actually a really nice set, and some amazing detective work on them. I have a few different early automobile wrench sets, and your sockets actually look more stout than do mine, especially at the shoulders (maybe that's where the "Reinforced" comes from"?) That handle design is pure brilliance, and add the ratchet adapter, you have the then equivalent to a modern ratchet set - revolutionary! On antique machinery those - especially the square sockets - are worth their weight in platinum... Also, in the early 20th century, spark plugs weren't yet standardized - most were 7/8, some were 1", some were similarly metric, so perhaps the reason for the missing plug socket was you needed to match it to the vehicle you were getting the kit for.

What surprised me was just how sturdy my sockets were. I figured being pressed steel they would waller out pretty quickly, but found them pretty much up to the taks I put before them. Would I spend most of a weeks wages ($2 to $2.50 a day) on a set like that if I made my living turning wrenches? You bet I would... What a time and labor saver.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just the accessory for the running board tool box on the Thomas Flyer or Pierce Arrow...

Agreed. It needs a ride with some style!

so perhaps the reason for the missing plug socket was you needed to match it to the vehicle you were getting the kit for.

Maybe. All I know is one is shown in the ads in that position and it's really long. Half the length of the hinge handle. So I'll be on the lookout.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thats great! I was out of commission all week so this is the first I've seen this. Great detective work!

Thank you, sir! Glad to see you back in action. As I was saying upthread, we've always had similar collecting aesthetics and habits, with several cases of uncommon overlap, so it should probably come as no surprise that we each have some "Eames" at home.

If you haven't done so already, you should go through that lot you found the ratchet adaptor with and see if any of those pressed steel sockets are actually Eames instead of Mossberg.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Never heard of the brand so it was good to learn about. If I see any of these pop up at the pawn shop I definitely will grab them that’s how I have gotten many vanished tool companies tools.


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[Farmer J.]

Probably irrelevant but I just checked my pressed steel socket collection for comparison. I don't have any Mossberg to compare to, but my Auto Cle sockets have the marks on them similar to the Eames one on the left in Lugz picture below, and my Accles and Pollock sets have smooth sockets looking like the Mossberg one on the right.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Never heard of the brand so it was good to learn about. If I see any of these pop up at the pawn shop I definitely will grab them...

Just for context - in terms of just how unknown and obscure Eames is, I had never heard of the brand before seeing the set, which was tipped off to me by four.cycle, he of the 'U.S. Mfgrs List' thread and the zip files database full of thousands of tools and catalog images purloined from eBay sales, who had never heard of Eames or seen the set before, either. Not saying a pawn shop find is out of the question, just managing expectations.

...that’s how I have gotten many vanished tool companies tools.

Cool beans. Whatcha got? Post 'em up. A few of us here are into the early vanished brands. You can see some of mine on my 'Roaring 20's' thread linked here. You can use the Index in the Stickie to find other threads to post on.

...my Auto Cle sockets have the marks on them similar to the Eames one on the left in Lugz picture below, and my Accles and Pollock sets have smooth sockets looking like the Mossberg one on the right.

Very interesting, J. Thanks for adding this. That could be relevant and helpful if we can find and deduce anything from literature on what processes Auto-Cle and Eames used as opposed to Accles & Pollock and Mossberg.

 

[Cruzan80]

To add to the conversation, the (A) sockets from the Ray set I just bought also look like the left version.

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[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Just for context - in terms of just how unknown and obscure Eames is, I had never heard of the brand before seeing the set, which was tipped off to me by four.cycle, he of the 'U.S. Mfgrs List' thread and the zip files database full of thousands of tools and catalog images purloined from eBay sales, who had never heard of Eames or seen the set before, either. Not saying a pawn shop find is out of the question, just managing expectations. [emoji4]


Cool beans. Whatcha got? Post 'em up. A few of us here are into the early vanished brands. You can see some of mine on my 'Roaring 20's' thread linked here. You can use the Index in the Stickie to find other threads to post on.


Very interesting, J. Thanks for adding this. That could be relevant and helpful if we can find and deduce anything from literature on what processes Auto-Cle and Eames used as opposed to Accles & Pollock and Mossberg.

I have a lot I will have to take pictures I have Plomb and Duro-Indestro and Bonney and Utica and old Western Auto Chrome X Quality sockets from the 30s also have a lot of Wizard from Western Auto also. And bunches more. Also a lot of Mustang and New Britain Tools and Upland Forge.


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[Private Lugnutz]

Ah. I was thinking you meant antique, given the context of this thread, but vintage is cool, too, of course, and we have threads for all those brands. Looking forward to seeing your stuff.

 

[Provincial]

Those linear marks are from a deep-drawing operation. The material is pulled through a die, and if not lubricated enough, leave the linear marks as the material catches on the die surface.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Ah. I was thinking you meant antique, given the context of this thread, but vintage is cool, too, of course, and we have threads for all those brands. Looking forward to seeing your stuff.

I didn’t mean to disappoint you lol. I also have a couple really old Craftsman sockets from the 40s. I have so many tools especially sockets that I probably have more than what I listed here when I get home I will take some pictures of the stuff I have. I do have an OBD 1 scan tool from the 80s too lol and some Antique Model T axle jack stands made from the Model T axle housings. And I have a hammer branded Rocket from what I would guess is probably the late 50s or early 60s.


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[Private Lugnutz]

Not at all. If you see my signature block, I collect everything from the turn of the century through just after WWII. Lots of guys here do. Again, looking forward to seeing your stuff. Take a look at the Index in the Stickie to scroll through some of the threads we have going by brand.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Not at all. If you see my signature block, I collect everything from the turn of the century through just after WWII. Lots of guys here do. Again, looking forward to seeing your stuff. Take a look at the Index in the Stickie to scroll through some of the threads we have going by brand.

Yes I have seen the New Britain and Bonney ones and I think the one for Duro-Indestro too I found I have a Herbrand Extension I picked up at the pawn shop about a year ago too I will search for a thread on that. And I have Penncraft and Sparta which I do know that is from Napa and I heard the Penncraft was sold at JCPenney a long time ago.


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[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I posted in the Bonney Thread so if you want to look you can see it’s right under your post.


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[neilreeveszz]

I am writing in regard to post 3 of 10. I have a Craftsman C-93 hinge handle with the drive stud twisted 45*. I read somewhere that it was made by Snap-on in the 30's when they would take any contract they could. The hinge head is similar to the wartime Snap-ons that you show but there are differences.

If anyone wants a picture of the Craftsman, Alloy Artifacts has one thereby almost saving me the embarrassment of admitting that I still can't post pictures. They also have pictures of the Snap-on from the early 30's that have the twisted drive stud.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for adding that note, neil. I did not know that about the C-series hinge handles. Maybe someone at Snap-on had the Eames kit!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Excited to announce that I have just completed a trade with elidas for his c. 1911 Eames ratchet adaptor, which is now resting comfortably with some of its brethren in my c. 1908 Eames automobile kit. This attachment, added by the M.I.T. alum Eames brothers to expand the utility of their original set, turns the already precocious hinge handle into a ratchet. The "EAMES" side up was for tightening, and the reverse side up was for loosening. Coarse, 12-tooth action, but for 1911, quite ingenious.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

With the tommy bar in place, and the drive stud hinged vertically, it could be used to turn nuts in some hard to reach places.

That pin in this set is for a missing spark pug socket, but it's a handle spot for the attachment for now.

Back into the display case it goes!

 

[elidas]

It looks at home.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Sure does. My set is still the only set I have ever seen anywhere. And this is the only ratchet adaptor I have ever seen, too. Kind of amazing.

 

[ooba tooba]

That’s some Brass Era history there, much of which is already gone or fading. Great find. Definitely in the right hands.

 

[ooba tooba]

For context
In 1909
Benny Goodman and Leo Fender were born.
Jack Johnson was Heavyweight Champion
Indianapolis Motor Speedway held their first event
Pearl Harbor established as Naval base
Army buys first military airplane from Wright Bros

 

[Farmer J.]

That's a nice looking set Lugz.
Just for context, and your valued opinion, where is this on the scale of 'The world's oldest socket set'?