Kennedy Toolbox brochure, ca. 1970

[Pexto]

I was asked on the toolbox thread to post more from this 8-page Kennedy brochure.

Background: this brochure was in amongst a bunch of tools my dad gave me. The brochure is undated; I believe my dad bought his roller, mid chest, and top box around 1966-67, and I'm absolutely positive he had these by 1975.

Bear with me, this is the 1st thread I've started on GJ and there might be some hiccups posting large images.

I hope y'all find this interesting!

 

[Pexto]

1st post was the inside 4 pages - 2nd post is the outside 4 pages.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks for posting. I’ve copied down all of the pictures to my hard drive. They say the company was established in December 1911 and has served the industry for 55 years. That would indicate that the flyer is from ‘67 or ‘68.
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

Pexto, you might want to re-post the pics your dad's box's here as well.

Great score fining that catalog! I've never seen an older Kennedy catalog...

It's interesting to me that the bigger rollers and tops show then with the "flat" drawer pulls/ I have two of the 278 8 drawer mechanics rollers with the cover stowed in the middle. One red smooth, and one brown crinkle finish.

Does the catalog list available paint colors? (I'm having a hard time reading the text on line without a magnifier..)

I had always suspected mine were late 50's boxes, but no one ever came up with a catalog. the Dec 1911 +56 is rock solid they went at least to 67 as Don Pointed out. I still think they started those boxes sometime in the 50's , but until we can come up with more catalogs...

I don't think they went into the 70's or at least not very farm as by about 77 or so I bought a top and middle Mechanics chest stack new, that has the long extruded aluminum pulls. The replaced my 10 drawer Craftsman top that was too heavy yo take to the race track without removing two drawers to move it to the truck...

 

[Made in USA]

Mr. Pexto -

Do you have any objection to me compiling all those pics into one PDF file and submitting it to Archive.org? They have thousands of old tools catalogs etc. online.

https://archive.org/search.php?query=tool%20catalog&and[]=subject%3A%22tool+catalog%22

 

[Pexto]

d42jeep: Good job on figuring out the date! I missed that.

Outlawmws: The machinist's chests are available in "durable brown ripple baked enamel". The heavy-duty chests and rollaways are available in "brown or red ripple baked enamel". Sorry the photos aren't very good - the file size limit for JPEGs is pretty small. Just let me know if there's anything else I can clarify.

Made in USA: (Mr. Made in USA) I'd be happy if you posted these to archive.org. If you like I can send you higher quality pics; I'll try to send you a PM. I might have access to a decent scanner one of these days, but not until the pandemic eases.

Here's a pic of the roller and mid (265/270). These are in great shape except for a little rust in the bottom rear corners.

 

[Outlawmws]

Thanks Pexto,

Now that red description is interesting, as my red box is smooth red. so; Older? or Newer? I suspect older but

 

[tool_scrounge]

Thanks for posting the catalog. There is not much in the way of old Kennedy catalogs on the internet.

 

[David Jackson]

Many thanks for this thread! I have a Kennedy roller which looks a lot like the Style No. 297. I got it in the 1974 time frame as I recall; when I had a motorcycle dealership and my main mechanic bought S-O because I did and he did not want to be outdone. He sold me his old Kennedy and I still have it. I have been planning to sell it but I may not; it still works fine except one caster doesn't want to turn properly.
I have also been on the lookout for a matching top box, but have never been able to acquire one.
Actually, I must confess, the drawers, even after all these years, seem to open and close better than my 1970's KRA Snap-on boxes do.
Some pics of my box.
I see the Grainger lists various casters, does anyone know if one of theirs is correct?
Does anyone know of a top box? I have been putting a machinst's box on top, it fits fine but is not really the correct one.

 

[David Jackson]

Looking some more at the catalog pages I think I have a 278 not 297. I have another Kennedy box on top of it, and looking at the catalog some more I see that Kennedy may have sold some that way. My box on top is a 526.
For years I had also the MC 28 between the two other boxes but it doesn't quite fit the 278; looking at the catalog tells me more about what's going on. I did not get the 526 with the 278 but they are an OK match, at least according to the catalog.
My MC 28 needs a handle. I got a replacement from Kennedy but it is the current style and no way will it work with my old MC 28. The Kennedy lady told me it would not work but I ordered it anyway thinking there may be a way. Any hints would be great!

 

[Outlawmws]

DJ, the 240 or 260 on page one of the catalog would be suitable mechanics chests for your 278 (8 because of the split top drawer, the 297 had a full width top drawer)

Page 4 shows the 260/265/278 stack

 

[David Jackson]

Hi Outlaw,
Do you, by any remote chance, have one or know of one?

DJ

 

[Outlawmws]

I have the later versions of the 260 and 265 (aluminum extruded handle) in brown krinkle sitting on top of the older ( flat steel pulls) brown 278. the newer ones are the ones I mentioned buying in the mid 70's

 

[David Jackson]

Hi Outlaw,
I'm a bit curious about the age of my boxes. I got them both in the early 1970s, or at least mid 1970s. They both appear in the 1970 catalog. I wonder if Kennedy made the same boxes for 10 years or so or if they changed pretty often. Do you know?

I'm having a look at your Garage Sale. I already found one treasure, maybe!

Yrs,

DJ

Later note: sadly I confused the brand name of what I was wanting with its real name.

 

[Outlawmws]

which 1970 catalog? the one you posted we dated as 1967 - (1911+56)

Didn't you say you bought you roller used?

I know I bought mine new in the mid 70s, and those extruded pulls are still in use I believe

The machinist boxes (520, 526, et al...) have had those little plastic pulls as long as I can remember, and are still in use. I think the date back to the 30's or possibly even the late 20's before that they were brass button pulls.

 

[d42jeep]

Does anybody know of a source for the extruded aluminum handles? One was missing on my roller. I checked the Kennedy site but didn’t see any.
-Don

 

[David Jackson]

which 1970 catalog? the one you posted we dated as 1967 - (1911+56)

Didn't you say you bought you roller used?

I know I bought mine new in the mid 70s, and those extruded pulls are still in use I believe

The machinist boxes (520, 526, et al...) have had those little plastic pulls as long as I can remember, and are still in use. I think the date ac to the 30's or possibly even the late 20's before that they were brass button pulls.

There is another catalog online, a site with lots of different mfgs cats, can't remember the name of the site or date of the cat I saw ...
Yes I bought mine used probably in 1973 or 1974 and I don't know when the former owner bought it.
The little handles for the machinist's tool storage boxes are held in place differently than the handles Kennedy sells now, though the handles look about the same from the outside, maybe the new ones are a little lighter in color and the way they are atteched to the metal front of the box doors is completely different. Well before I ever got my MC someone had broken the plastic drawerer pull off the lower drawer and put a wire through the holes instead!

 

[rustyzman]

DJ, I have a 260, a 265 and a 294 in the style shown.

The 260 is mounted permanently to my vintage truck as a vintage work toolbox, complete with vintage speed parts decals. It is a nice box.

The 294 is my electronics box and the 265 serves as my middle box at work. The 294 and 260 came from the same estate sale of a late machinist, but the 265 came from another entirely.

Really glad these pages were posted, I always wondered what era they were from.

 

[David Jackson]

Hey RustyZman,

How about some photos of your boxes?

DJ

 

[rustyzman]

Here is the Intermediate Box. Forgive the mess, it is a part of my work stack. It was repainted by a previous owner.

I know I posted the top box picture on another thread, I forget which one. I will have to get a couple new pics.

 

[rustyzman]

Here are pics of the top box from another thread.

 

[RTM]

Hey all, over on the General Tool forum, I bumped a thread about toolbox slides, and trying to date things on Kennedys. I found a patent date on the slides of one of my boxes, in theory pinning it down to 1942 - 60.

I linked into this thread, as this 1967 brochure shows cylinder locks vs the hasp locks, possibly giving a different feature or two to start divvying up dates for Kennedy chest.

Toolbox drawer slides over the years...? An attempt at a historical perspective

Right or wrong? On metal boxes over the last approximately 75 years there have been 4 main types of slides/drawer removal procedures. The oldest boxes are a friction slide that will need some type of a shim inserted to clear the drawer catch. There may be an opening to insert a tool at a 90°...

www.garagejournal.com

Wondering if we have a good thread already started to really compile all the different features like the square / rounded tops, banana vs U leather handles, metal handles, plastic handles, dark rectangle pulls, light rectangle pulls, and the fancy as heck looped handles.

 

[dougf]

Would like to update this thread with some literature. I purchased a Kennedy setup (526 on top of a 270) and under a piece of paper were these two documents. I’m curious if anyone here had taken up Kennedy on their lifetime nameplate offer?

 

[Outlawmws]

I can't say I've ever seen a nameplate on a Kennedy.

 

[d42jeep]

These items came with my 620 found in 2023. I couldn’t find any dating information although with the zip codes they have to be post 1963.
-Don

 

[INSP380]

These items came with my 620 found in 2023. I couldn’t find any dating information although with the zip codes they have to be post 1963.
-Don

Beautiful box & paper…. Wow thats cool!

Steve