Penneys socket set

[Oldtuleguy]

Aquired this penneys set which has a couple of penncraft pieces but most marked only jcpenney. Mixed set perhaps. Ratchet is Penncraft and is marked 3681, has two 3 inch extensions, a penncraft 3676, and penneys 3303. Maybe some sk penneys? Mixed with a little new britain?

 

[bonneyman]

Nice!

Ratchet has a New Britain look to me, or possibly Thorsen.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yes looks like new britain nbm 35

 

[BFBOB]

Easy to tell--Penncraft branded tools were made by New Britain (earlier production); JCPenney branded tools were made by S-K (later production).


except... I saw a 3/8 socket set, Penncraft branded which looked very different from any I'd seen. They were metric, and included a 16mm and 18mm socket. Sadly, they were in a "sold items" search on eBay, and I wasn't able to copy/save the pictures. Could they have been Thorsen?

 

[3baygarage]

Yeah, some JCP tools are Thorsen.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Easy to tell--Penncraft branded tools were made by New Britain (earlier production); JCPenney branded tools were made by S-K (later production).


except... I saw a 3/8 socket set, Penncraft branded which looked very different from any I'd seen. They were metric, and included a 16mm and 18mm socket. Sadly, they were in a "sold items" search on eBay, and I wasn't able to copy/save the pictures. Could they have been Thorsen?

Plastic box set?

 

[BFBOB]

Plastic box set?

As I recall, there was no box, just the sockets. Almost certainly if they were part of a boxed set it was plastic. Even the later Penncraft brands were in plastic. My first Penncraft set , bought new in '68, were in a steel box. Another I have was bought in 74 and is in plastic.

The oddballs set is very annoying, because I would have snagged them if I'd seen them before the sale!! No other Penncraft metrics I've ever seen have had the 16 or 18mm.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

OTG. Neat set. I have an orphan 3/8 drive ratchet marked JC Penney 3035. Yours if you want it. PM me a mailing address.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Thanks joco!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Ratchet arrived! Looks kinda thorseny.

 

[bonneyman]

Ratchet arrived! Looks kinda thorseny.

Oh yeah, that's a Thorsen-made.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Picked up another penneys ratchet. That makes three versions of the 3/8, new britain, thorsen and sk.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Very cool OTG! Would be interesting to know the timeline of them.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Pretty sure penncraft is earliest. Thorsen and sk not sure