Crafstman tool organizer

[tom coffey]

I have this Craftsman tool organizer(?) that my late father worked out of for 35+ years. He was the mechanic and manager of a bowling alley in the town where we lived. The bowling alley was built in 1959-60 and opened in '60'. It was Glen Burnie Lanes in Lenoir NC, named after Glen Burnie MD, the owners wife's hometown. Dad had worked for the owner in a furniture factory and had the reputation of being able to fix anything. He got transfered from the factory to the bowling alley. After he retired the bowling alley was sold and the building was used for something else. The owner gave dad all the tools that he had worked with over the years.
Unfortunately after dad took this home the roof of his garage leaked and it got wet and rusted the bottom out. I plan to fix the damage and use it and pass it on to my son and grandsons. Anybody else got one like it?
The last pic shows the bottom (with it sitting upside down). See the rust damage.

 

[vavet]

That's a cool story. It's hard to tell the scale from the pictures, but it's maybe about 3 feet tall and hung on the wall to house wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.
I've never seen anything like it, but I'm a relative whippersnapper compared to that toolbox, so it's no wonder.
It'd be cool to keep it as original as possible, but you've got to fix that rust, for sure. I'd have to resist the temptation to strip all the old paint and give it a shiny new paint job, because I think the original paint will always be cooler than new paint. Dents, scratches, and dings are not damage to a toolbox. They are battle scars and should be worn with pride. That conflicts with my desire to have things neat, shiny and perfect. I think in the end, you have to do what your dad would've done. I'd imagine the answer is cut away the rusty metal, bend some new pieces and weld them in place. Cover them with some paint, but don't respray the whole thing. The relatively minor surface rust on the top and the inside should stay. My 2 cents.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

That's a nice providence to that wall cabinet Tom. Sears sold those through the 1950s and into the early 60s. There was a mechanics version and a carpenters version. They made several changes to the interior layout over the years. Based on the logo of yours, it's late 58 or later. I'd say not much later as at some point early 60s they went to a more economical pegboard interior. This clip is from the 59 Spring and Summer. The wall cabinets are very sought after by Craftsman collectors.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have the mechanic version

 

[tom coffey]

I'm pretty sure it was bought in '59 or early '60 when the bowling alley was being built & equipped for Dad to work on the automatic pinsetting machines. The owner/builder bought the tools that Brunswick Corp suggested for maintenance on the new machines. Dad learned quickly and actually made some improvements & upgrades to the machines over the years that Brunswick was impressed with. A representative from Brunswick was present when the machines were sold to a bowling alley in another town and prepared to move. He said he had never seen machines that old that were as well preserved an that Brunswick would like to have a pair for their museum. The other bowling alley operated for 25 years then closed during the covid disaster.

 

[cshades]

I just bought this last weekend at the swap meet. it is pretty cool. the inside is pretty nice the outside is just rust. i am thinking of painting the outside and leaving the inside alone. i love the diagrams printed on the inside. i am going to use it at the shop for my overflow tools