Does anyone recognize this Craftsman tool chest?

[JHuston]

Hi everyone,
I've owned this tool chast for years, and , until recently, never knew who it was made for ( it had a Mac badge on the front when i got it, but was obviously far too old to be their product). Thanks to the many threads on this site about vintage boxes, I've come to realize that it's a Craftsman box, and a fairly old one, too.
The box has a set of rivet holes that correspond perfectly with a Craftsman heritage badge. The style of box is similar to examples with a "long C" style badge (or in some cases, a decal), but the layout and number of drawers doesn't seem to match any Craftsman tool chest I've seen.
Does anyone recall seeing this in an old Craftsman catalog? I believe the heritage style logo started being used around 1940 or so.

Thanks,
-James Huston

 

[Rileysan]

Hi everyone,
I've owned this tool chast for years, and , until recently, never knew who it was made for ( it had a Mac badge on the front when i got it, but was obviously far too old to be their product). Thanks to the many threads on this site about vintage boxes, I've come to realize that it's a Craftsman box, and a fairly old one, too.
The box has a set of rivet holes that correspond perfectly with a Craftsman heritage badge. The style of box is similar to examples with a "long C" style badge (or in some cases, a decal), but the layout and number of drawers doesn't seem to match any Craftsman tool chest I've seen.
Does anyone recall seeing this in an old Craftsman catalog? I believe the heritage style logo started being used around 1940 or so.

Thanks,
-James Huston

That design, with two drawer pulls per drawer, dates from 1948 and older, and spanned 3 Craftsman logos - "Long-C" oval decal (stick on that wore off easily), "Long-C" rectangular badge (riveted to the front cover), or "Heritage" era badge that was riveted to the front cover.

I haven't seen many of these (I own a heritage era version), nor are there many catalogs available online to study (1942 & 1948 are the only years I've come across with this box), so I can't offer much more information. The Heritage logo was post-war only, so your box is almost certainly near the end of production in 1948. Craftsman offered a different style top box beginning in 1949.

Brian

 

[JHuston]

Brian, thanks for giving me a better understanding of the timeline; now I know what era of catalog to keep an eye out for ( I'd dearly love to find the correct bottom box). Two questions for you. One, do you have the lift out tray ( I'm curious as to measurements) and two, what's the color scheme of your heritage era box? Both of mine were sporting several coats of paint when I received them. I believe they may have been gray with a wrinkle finish originally.

-James Huston

 

[Rileysan]

Brian, thanks for giving me a better understanding of the timeline; now I know what era of catalog to keep an eye out for ( I'd dearly love to find the correct bottom box). Two questions for you. One, do you have the lift out tray ( I'm curious as to measurements) and two, what's the color scheme of your heritage era box? Both of mine were sporting several coats of paint when I received them. I believe they may have been gray with a wrinkle finish originally.

-James Huston

My 1948 Heritage top chest was originally "Machinery Gray", as per the 1948 catalog. It's now dirty gray, lol. I also have a "Long-C" roller that's missing the rectangular badge from the front cover. It has the "blue ripple finish" just like the illustrations in the 1942 mechanic's catalog.
What I am unsure of, is the nature of the transition between the two colors. I say that because I own a 1949-1952 stack that is the original blue. It might have been an option in 1950 or 51, but I haven't seen those catalogs so can only guess

That means I don't know if your 1948-ish heritage box had both paint options.

Have you pulled the drawers to see if there's any original paint left on the inside of the box?

Here's an old picture of my 1948 top chest on a 1949+ roller. This roller is a real enigma because the heritage badge is offset instead of centered on the drawer.

Brian

 

[JHuston]

I plan on stripping the middle box first ( it started life as the match to my top box, but sadly lost it's lid/cover at some point before I found it), so I'll look for traces of the original finish.
that's an interesting lower box . Mine is, I believe, a modified Duplex.
-James Huston

 

[3baygarage]

Are you sure it had a different badge on it? I have an old Mac combo with that badge.

 

[3baygarage]

Not mine but similar:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192239

 

[JHuston]

3baygarage, the Craftsman ID came from seeing enough similar boxes; Mac doesn't seem to have made a chest with the front cover that sits proud of the body like these. As for the base, it has the peculiar recessed third drawer common to Duplex boxes, although the original twin handles were replaced with longer single ones.
-James Huston