Craftsman 1/4 Drive Set, not plated?

[Debcrow]

This set originally belonged to a WWII vet. From what I can find being Craftsman V it is post WWII.
It looks like it was never plated. I know chromium was clamped down for Korea, did they not plate them during that period?
All this had on it was a grey coating that rubbed off easily on a rag.
There is no rust anywhere on the tools, which is not uncommon for dry southern New Mexico. It has not had a rough life, there is still a small piece of the Craftsman decal on the top of the box lid.
Most of the surfaces are not smooth except the flats with printing on them, like they lacked a final polish finishing of the rough castings.

 

[Cruzan80]

My guess is CAD plated. I know some of the =V= were CAD plated, my WAG is also Korean war. I know the box they are in, the box-head ratchet, etc were all early 50's when Moore Drop Forged started.

 

[Lesserstore]

The cadmium plated tools would have been made between late 1951 to late 1954 according to the Sears catalogs.

 

[bonneyman]

Whatever the icing is on them they are nice!

 

[d42jeep]

Back in 2019 I found a cad plated 1/2” drive set and the research at that time indicated that they were made about the time frame that Lesserstore indicates above. I don’t believe that there were governmental metal restrictions then but Craftsman was probably trying to save money. I suspect that the less attractive tools were a sales failure and they switched back to chrome plating shortly thereafter.
-Don

 

[Debcrow]

Thanks.
I'm pretty sure there were some kind of Government restrictions during Korea or a shortage of some metals.
I have been into old cars for many decades, Korean War era vehicles had very poor and usually bad chroming when found unrestored.

 

[d42jeep]

A quick internet search turned up information about shortages of copper and nickel during the Korean War era. Both of those metals are key to chrome plating. Here are a couple of quotes from different articles.
-Don

“Korean War Shortages​

Prices of more valuable metals such as copper and nickel reached their height during mid 1951 through 1953. Though U.S. shortages were much less than in WWII, there were price increases in the market that affected the financial bottom line of auto and truck manufacturers.”

Second article.

” Nickel Supply in 1946-71. A primary nickel shortage was experienced in the United States from 1950 to 1957. This shortage was the result of rationing by Canadian producers, from which the United States imports about two-thirds of its nickel. This rationing caused U.S. steel producers (nickel is used in the production of stainless steel) to revert to the production of low-nickel steels. The Government continued to buy metal for defense stockpiles and placed nickel under allocation from August 15, 1951, to November 1953. The nickel shortage was less severe in 1955 due to the diversion of nickel, scheduled to be stockpiled, to the consumer sector”

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for that, Don. Good to know.

Lots of KW era wrenches I own have black oxide finishes, which has always made me suspect that the federal government either had to re-establish WWII-like restrictions or learned that alternative finishes (that would have included cad), which were more economical, were sufficient for their anti-corrosive needs, and specified them to save costs. But KW being past my collecting niche, I hadn't ever done any research to show that.