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Help identifying this tool box

V

vizmark

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Eureka, CA
Can anyone help me identify this tool box?
I got it from a 95 year old neighbor. It has a leather handle, but no other markings. It’s not a Kennedy or Plomb.

If you have guesses, through them out there.
 

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four.cycle

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  • 1949 Hardware Age Mayes Simonsen Stevens Upson ad pp 327.jpg
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  • 1954 Hardware Age A.B.S. Allen Misener Simonsen ad pp 855.jpg
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P

Private Lugnutz

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I'm not saying it's not a Simonsen - but it has very unusual features. Simonsen made a variety of cantilevered boxes, hip roof and no hip roof (like yours), with a number and wide variety of trays and configurations, but the big ones had folding lids with a very distinctive asymmetric design, where the clasping lid and the shorter lid met in a very distinctive sharp angle shape. That one doesn't have it. Also, and this is really what caught my eye first - I have never seen any Simonsen with side carry handles! I could be wrong. Again, I'm not saying it's not a Simonsen. But if it is a Simonsen, it would be a very unusual Simonsen that is not very common or well-known. (LOVE the two-man side carry handles!)

EDIT: Here's the lids difference I am talking about...
EDIT: Added another side shot that shows it even better, and on an earlier box, without the later rounded edges, for a better comparison.
 

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O

Outlawmws

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I'm wondering if those side handles were added later by a PO. as we al know these cantilevers, start heavy, and get a lot heavier, so turning it into a 2 man pickup makes sense. I saw screws on one end, and you usually see factory handles riveted on.
 
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Private Lugnutz

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OP
I just noticed how looooong your box is! I have several hip roof cantilevered toolboxes, but the biggest is 20", a Sexauer, made by Kennedy, and it's a whopper. The Type II US Air Corps flight line spec boxes that Simonsen and Kennedy made famous during WWII were 18". I have seen Kennedy and Simonsen ads offering them in XL sizes (21" and 22" respectively), but I don't recall seeing one in person. 24 inches is an extremely long cantilevered box! It's no wonder it has side handles.

I'm no closer to positively ID'ing it, but here's a smaller Park box (#1780) in a 1952 ad next to yours.
 

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C

cochenee

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Notice the side handles welded (not riveted) and the quality of that welding. I would bet it’s an add-on.
 
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jd_1138

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Can anyone ID this box I got in an estate sale? Looks like it could be a Snap On. It's in nice shape just needs a light cleaning.

IMG_8582.jpeg
IMG_8578.jpeg
 
R

RTM

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More modern boxes should have info stamped on back bottom left side as you face the front. Might be faintly stamped, painted over, hard to see, or maybe too old, prior to stamping.
 
P

PFSard

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jd_1138 said:
Can anyone ID this box I got in an estate sale? Looks like it could be a Snap On. It's in nice shape just needs a light cleaning
Click to expand...
Shine a light on the back of the box. My Snap-On box has info stamped into the metal. Was hard for me to see/read without illumination.
 
B

Beerhippie

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RTM said:
More modern boxes should have info stamped on back bottom left side as you face the front. Might be faintly stamped, painted over, hard to see, or maybe too old, prior to stamping.
Click to expand...
Now, just how the hell are you supposed to read what's on the back side if you're standing in front?
 
R

RTM

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Beerhippie said:
Now, just how the hell are you supposed to read what's on the back side if you're standing in front?
Click to expand...
What, you didn't get the freakishly long arms and legs, the longer neck, or the XRay vision as part of the Borg assimilation? Some of us got the package deal .
 
B

Beerhippie

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RTM said:
What, you didn't get the freakishly long arms and legs, the longer neck, or the XRay vision as part of the Borg assimilation? Some of us got the package deal .
Click to expand...
An inspection camera on at least one finger per hand would come in right... handy. Commercial kitchen appliances always place the data plate where it's utterly inaccessible without tearing the kitchen apart.

BTW: I tried to get assimilated. Turns out, it's now a subscription service with a high buy-in. No more "You will be assimilated!"--now it's "You can't afford to join!"

I hear they were bought out by private equity a few years ago.
 
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