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Railroad Tools Big & Small

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AntiqueBen

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It does have a very cool marking. You know some guys collect RR tools, paraphernalia, and ephemera just for the railway, right? Do you have anything else with the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway acronym on it? It's a cool and none too common marking in my experience.

Well, if you're going to put time and effort into restoring what is essentially a chop job, I would go all in. I would strip the paint off the wrench and the pipe, and I would re-build that pin holding it together with vintage hardware, even if it was outlandish. Make it look like an extension a gandy dancer would be proud of.
Actually, out of the many stamped RR tools I have, this is the only Chicago Rock Island Pacific Railway tool I have. Now that you mention them, I haven't really seen this RR stamp before.

You read my mind on what to do. I already have vintage hardware for it. I'm just going to start with taking all the paint off of everything & just see where it leads from there. I'll post my finished product when it's finished.
 
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RTM

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I agree with lugz, sort of. The bright red paint does make it easier to find when you drop it in the dirt. All my splitting wedges are painted in bright colors for just that reason.

But if it's just going to be a wall hanger I would strip it down and go with a BLO finish on the pipe and the wrench. Nice vintage hardware replacing that big screw would be a nice touch, especially if it could be easily disassembled to make it smaller to fit in a normal sized toolbox when you're done.
 

Beerhippie

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I agree with lugz, sort of. The bright red paint does make it easier to find when you drop it in the dirt. All my splitting wedges are painted in bright colors for just that reason.

But if it's just going to be a wall hanger I would strip it down and go with a BLO finish on the pipe and the wrench. Nice vintage hardware replacing that big screw would be a nice touch, especially if it could be easily disassembled to make it smaller to fit in a normal sized toolbox when you're done.
All my tools when I was working in the field were painted surveyor's orange and/or wore three-foot long festoons of surveyor's tape. When you're covering 15-20 miles/day in rough country, hours out of town, it doesn't do to lose tools. I looked a little strange with all that, but no one was there to see me 90% of the time.
 
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AntiqueBen

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Well... It's Friday evening, so I fired up a cigar & got started.
All the paint is gone...
The pipe looks period to the wrench 👍
 

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AntiqueBen

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I'm done with it for today anyways. The handle actually looks like it belongs with the rest of the wrench. I used an old flat head screw with a square nut for now. I'm going to look through all my old hardware & see if I've got something more interesting I could use. The hole in the handle unfortunately was drilled a little crooked. Not bad, but enough to drive someone like me crazy. Although, the steel on this old pipe handle is so hard I don't think I'm going to mess with trying to straighten it out. I'll just leave well enough alone.
 

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Leviton

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All my tools when I was working in the field were painted surveyor's orange and/or wore three-foot long festoons of surveyor's tape. When you're covering 15-20 miles/day in rough country, hours out of town, it doesn't do to lose tools. I looked a little strange with all that, but no one was there to see me 90% of the time.
Were you working as a surveyor?
 

Private Lugnutz

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The handle actually looks like it belongs with the rest of the wrench.
Agreed! As if it was modified in the vintage era. Well done.
I used an old flat head screw with a square nut for now. I'm going to look through all my old hardware & see if I've got something more interesting I could use.
I was thinking batwing wingnut. The bigger and fancier the better. Seriously. I know, I know, it wouldn't be low profile, but it would be quick disconnect for breaking it down into a toolbox at the end of the shift. And you're not really going to use it. But that's just me. Aesthetics is often my first priority with collectibles. It would draw attention, that's for sure.
 
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AntiqueBen

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Agreed! As if it was modified in the vintage era. Well done.

I was thinking batwing wingnut. The bigger and fancier the better. Seriously. I know, I know, it wouldn't be low profile, but it would be quick disconnect for breaking it down into a toolbox at the end of the shift. And you're not really going to use it. But that's just me. Aesthetics is often my first priority with collectibles. It would draw attention, that's for sure.
Our minds are on the same page Lugz. I looked for a big wing nut last night, but I couldn't find any big ones. I'll find something that will look cool 👍
I too like to keep things original if possible. But, original for this is different. Like you said, it may not be flush with the handle, but it needs to be easy to dismantle. I'd like to keep it in its original "modified" condition. Or who knows, they could have had several pipe handles of different lengths.

Boy, that would have been cool if one of the wrench manufacturers back in the day made a kit with a big railroad wrench & several different handles of different lengths 🤔
 

Beerhippie

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Were you working as a surveyor?
Biological surveys, range surveys, hydrological surveys (stream survey was one of the best field jobs I ever had), noxious weed surveys... you name it.

So surveys, sort of. Forestry inventories were the closest to actual land survey. I worked for the USFS for dozen seasons or so, then as a private contractor after being RIF'ed back in the nineties. That was an eye opener--doing the same job I did ans an employee, for two or three times the pay, no immediate supervisor, set my own hours... all to save the Gummint some $$.

A lost tool in the woods could easily cost me upwards of $500 for the time wasted driving into town to replace it--if it was something I could replace in whatever backwoods town I was working near. I once drove four hours to a site to realize I'd forgotten to bring a single pencil! Another day wasted.

I miss the freedom of working for myself in the boonies, but don't miss the uncertainty of contracting--and the travel.
 
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AntiqueBen

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Yeah....I suppose I got a problem 🥴
Some things are too difficult to pass up.
Just doing some cleaning this evening.
 

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four.cycle

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All my tools when I was working in the field were painted surveyor's orange and/or wore three-foot long festoons of surveyor's tape.
I doped mine all up with "yield sign yellow" after I sent a D-ring flying off into the brush about 50 feet away.
I feel your pain.
I walked 14 miles one afternoon - down to the campground and back - so I could borrow an adjustable wrench from a camper to fix the blade on the D-ring. Learned after that to pack two 7/16" open-ends and some spare nuts and bolts. (y)
 

Beerhippie

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I doped mine all up with "yield sign yellow" after I sent a D-ring flying off into the brush about 50 feet away.
I feel your pain.
I walked 14 miles one afternoon - down to the campground and back - so I could borrow an adjustable wrench from a camper to fix the blade on the D-ring. Learned after that to pack two 7/16" open-ends and some spare nuts and bolts. (y)
The point of my long festoons of surveyor's tape was that I was often working waist-high grass and shrubs. The tape on a dropped tool wold usually end up draped over the grass/brush, making it visible from a few yards away.

I once lost my field clipboard--a "Tatum", as we called them. It had a week's worth of filled forms in it, worth thousands of dollars of work. I got to find out how accurate the "track back" feature on my Garmin 12XL was that day, as I had lost it somewhere while running through deep grass and dense woods for about three miles, going from one survey site to another. Amazingly, the Garmin put me withing a few feet of where the Tatum lay, after backtracking for two miles! I never wore a surveyors vest--the Tatum was in the back pocket pouch thing--again, and learned to take out every day's work and stash it in the rig before heading out for the next day.
 

DetailSeeker

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A.T. Co. / A.T. Co. / railroad tools /

(* have not figured out what "A.T." stands for, nor their location or dates of operation. *)

1890s Dunham Carrigan & Hayden Co. catalog Vaughan & Bushnell A.T. Co. ad pp 650.jpg
I have! It's the Atha Tool Co., of Newark, NJ. (And if I know where and when Atha is from, it's because of your excellent list.)

Those tongs are in their 1912 catalog, and subsequent pages in that catalog clearly show that they mark several other railroad tools "A.T. Co." or "A.T.Co." They also mark some blacksmith tools "A.T. Co." in a 1901 catalog (that doesn't have any railroad tools, it's only six pages pulled from another catalog).

They aren't using it in their 1883 price list, and at the moment those are the only three ITCL offerings with their name in the metadata.

(I did do a search, and as far as I can tell this thread has the most recent mentions of A.T. Co. so hopefully this is useful rather than a year late to the party.)

- Frances
 
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AntiqueBen

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I found this awesome video of how a steam locomotive was made. The whole steel process is impressive. At the 7:52 mark of the video you can see a large ratchet a couple of guys are using. These videos are fun to watch. Seeing how they made the pieces from the molds & all the machinery & tools used in the whole process is neat to see. I'm sure the process doesn't look like this these days with all the present day technology.
 
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AntiqueBen

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I decided to add a feature to my old R&B Company ratchet. It's a 1" drive & I don't have any 1" sockets. I found an old Plumb 1" to 3/4" stepdown socket, so I drilled & tapped the socket & the stud on the ratchet. The ratchet doesn't have a ball detent, so I tapped it too. Now a screw will hold this socket in place & I can now use all my 3/4" sockets on this beast of a ratchet. The ratchet is already 28" long & weighs 20+ lbs. Now it will be a little heavier.
 

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AntiqueBen

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I posted this over in the Antique Ratchet thread, but I thought I would post it here too. Especially since Lowell made plenty of railroad tools.

I made an interesting purchase today. Everyone here knows I'm a big Lowell Wrench Company fan. I have quite a few Lowell ratchets ranging from small to over 4 ft long. I didn't realize that old original Lowell catalogs are as rare & scarce as they are. I've always wandered why I couldn't find any. I was lucky enough to find an original copy of Lowell's first catalog from the 1890's. It is complete & has all of Lowell's reversible ratchet wrenches in it. I understand that websites like Alloy Artifacts, Vintage Machinery, ITCL & some others have put out on their site if anyone has original Lowell catalogs to please share pics because they are so difficult to find. This catalog seems pretty rare. I think I'd have a better chance of getting struck by lightning before I could find another one. I'm sure this catalog will help answer a lot of questions we've all had about some of the ratchets from Lowell's early days. I should receive it in a few days. The seller only listed one pic.

Anyone know anything about Lowell's first catalog from the 1890's??
 

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AntiqueBen

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^ I only know who the seller is, and that he's not real flexible on price. Big time collector from way, way back. Very tall. White hair.
You may want to contact our resident maestro of all things "catalog", @Mark Stansbury, who also happens to be the site administrator of International Tool Catalog Library.
Wow, that's cool that you know the seller! The price has been the same for many years. He said he got it in New Hampshire in the 80's. Finding another one would probably be impossible though. Thanks for the info 4C. Once I get it & take a look at it, I might contact Mark 👍
 

SkyPuncher

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Going through a few of my piles trying to clean up and came across an old wrench, 1 1/8" - 1" . Anyone make out the railroad company above the tool maker mark?
1762707988162.jpeg
1762708069579.jpeg1762708149267.png
1762708230340.png

-Verona Tool Co. of Verona, Pennsylvania
Founded in 1883 at Verona, PA. They produced sledge hammers, axes, bars, picks and railroad tools. They were purchased by Ames Tools in 1997.
Mark can be found on axes, hatchets, sledge hammers, and railroad track wrenches, etc.
 
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AntiqueBen

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I wasn't sure where to post this one. It has an interesting story. I've had this monkey wrench for a while & I just never took the time to figure out the stamping on it. I'm glad I figured it out. It's a 12" monkey wrench stamped Sterling Wrench Co. Sterling O. Aug. 12, 84. The Sterling O is for Sterling Ohio.

It looks like M.E. Campfield held several patents for monkey wrenches. In the early 1880's Campfield was the President of the Cleveland Screw & Wrench Company. In 1884 Campfield was granted a new wrench patent See Patent Here & he decided to leave the Cleveland Screw & Wrench Company and pursue making his own wrenches. He moved from Cleveland Ohio to Sterling Ohio & opened the Sterling Wrench Company. Apparently this didn't last long as he went on to work with the Sessions Tool Company I think. I've not completely researched this out yet, but I thought I'd throw some pics up to see if anyone is familiar with the Sterling Wrench Company?? Most Sterling research points you to Mossberg's little bicycle wrenches. Anyone seen this stamp on a wrench before?
 

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four.cycle

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there's gotta be a reason I have this in the list twice, but I cannot think of why at the moment:


Sterling / Sterling Wrench Co., Sterling, OH / see also Russell Wrench & Novelty Co. / wrench / patent 288713 Nov 20 1883 J. Lee & 296877 Apr 15 1884 B. Ross /

Sterling / Sterling Wrench Co., Sterling OH / "Ross' Wrench" / patent 296877 Apr 15 1884 Barney Ross & patent 303385 Aug 12 1884 Matthew E. Campfield /
 
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AntiqueBen

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The AA website actually does a good job of explaining the story behind M.E. Campfield. Looks like the Cleveland Screw & Wrench Company & Sterling Wrench Co sold out to the Lamson & Sessions Co. Then Campfield became the Superintendent of Wrenches at Lamson & Session Co. L&S Co used Campfield's patent and produced wrenches stamped Lampson & Sessions (pics below), which looks identical to mine that is stamped Sterling Wrench Co.

I'm wandering now, how many wrenches was marked Sterling Wrench Co before he moved on to L&S? Did the Sterling Wrench Company continue to operate after Campfield moved on to Lamson & Sessions?
 

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Dave455

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If anybody is interested in how these tools are used, here’s a short film that shows some track maintenance.

This dates from the 1950’s, and relates to British track, but the principles remain the same. You can see the wrenches, and even an adze, being used.

At the time, this minor maintenance was all done by small gangs, and all with hand tools. Not vastly different today, especially on smaller lines.

 

alwaysFlOoReD

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If anybody is interested in how these tools are used, here’s a short film that shows some track maintenance.

This dates from the 1950’s, and relates to British track, but the principles remain the same. You can see the wrenches, and even an adze, being used.

At the time, this minor maintenance was all done by small gangs, and all with hand tools. Not vastly different today, especially on smaller lines.

I learned how to quick release my railroad jack from the film, thanks for posting.
 

Dave455

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I learned how to quick release my railroad jack from the film, thanks for posting.
Great! Glad it was useful.

I actually own one of these Key Hammers. A bit of a specialised tool, but I was given it by a friend. Almost identical to the one in the footage, but appears unused. Many of these railway tools haven’t changed in decades.

Don’t know what he used it for? Probably nothing, hence he gave it to me! Don’t know what I’ll use it for, but having more hammers has got to be better than less hammers!
IMG_2675.jpeg
 

Private Lugnutz

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Thanks for the link, Ben. The illustrations are exquisite!

I'm curious how you (and/or the current management at Lowell Wrench Company, with no other catalogs on their website, and less detailed historical information on their "About" page than the GJ Lowell thread and the Alloy Artifacts Lowell page) have determined that it's the "first" catalog.

In a related observation, I noticed that the catalog has no publishing, copyright, or other date that I can see, and that the current management at Lowell Wrench Company have not attempted to date it on their website, merely parroting your "first" claim (or perhaps you are parroting them).

I recall that when you first introduced your acquisition of this catalog on the 'Antique Ratchet' thread, you implied a date range...
I was lucky enough to find an original copy of Lowell's first catalog from the 1890's.
..., but now that I see the catalog, that can't be possible. It had to have been published later than 1903, given the reference on page 4 to the "1903 Pattern" (referring to the second Sinclair patent (743,942)) ratchet, and also later than 1908, which is when Lowell introduced the "Multo" kit shown on page 9.

Further research of the contents that I am not familiar with off the top of my head might yield an even finer idea of the publication date, but I am skeptical of it being a "first" catalog for a company that started in 1869. Now that we have a catalog to review, it will be an interesting exercise.
 
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AntiqueBen

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Thanks for the link, Ben. The illustrations are exquisite!

I'm curious how you (and/or the current management at Lowell Wrench Company, with no other catalogs on their website, and less detailed historical information on their "About" page than the GJ Lowell thread and the Alloy Artifacts Lowell page) have determined that it's the "first" catalog.

In a related observation, I noticed that the catalog has no publishing, copyright, or other date that I can see, and that the current management at Lowell Wrench Company have not attempted to date it on their website, merely parroting your "first" claim (or perhaps you are parroting them).

I recall that when you first introduced your acquisition of this catalog on the 'Antique Ratchet' thread, you implied a date range...

..., but now that I see the catalog, that can't be possible. It had to have been published later than 1903, given the reference on page 4 to the "1903 Pattern" (referring to the second Sinclair patent (743,942)) ratchet, and also later than 1908, which is when Lowell introduced the "Multo" kit shown on page 9.

Further research of the contents that I am not familiar with off the top of my head might yield an even finer idea of the publication date, but suffice it to say that I am skeptical of "first" for a company that started in 1869.
Yes, the images in the catalog are Awesome! You are now seeing what I did when I received it & could finally go through the catalog. No date. 1903 pattern. Multo kit. Unfortunately, the seller of this catalog listed it as dated 1890's. It sat that way for sale online for several years. To the point if you googled Lowell's first catalog, it told you it dated to the 1890's using the sale page of this catalog as the reference.

The things we do know confirmed by Lowell. Lowell's first catalog was for Reversible Ratchet Wrenches. It was 16 pages. It was not dated. It had no catalog number. It was printed by The Davis Press Worcester Mass.

I thought the same thing. Why would a popular tool company that started in 1869 print their first catalog in 1907-08? We've all researched Google books & other online resources for old Lowell information. If you notice it's always hardware or trade catalog advertisements we find for Lowell, especially in the late 1800's. Through all of this I've learned that Lowell did not produce a stand alone tool catalog, printed by them, in the 1800's. It was all advertisements in various books, trade catalogs & newspapers in those days. It wasn't until the early 1900's that Lowell made its first catalog, with most Lowell catalogs I've seen usually dating to the 30's & 40's.

With all this said, the catalog dates to around 1907-08, which corolates with what we see available in the catalog.
 
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Private Lugnutz

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It's not at all unusual for mfgrs to have used trade mags and pages in general hardware store catalogs before their own publication in the late 1800s. I still find 1908 very late compared to others, and it's funny how the front office ostensibly knew all the details of the first catalog (number of pages, etc) without having a copy, but hey, machts nichts. It's good to finally have one in the public domain.
 
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AntiqueBen

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It's not at all unusual for mfgrs to have used trade mags and pages in general hardware store catalogs before their own publication in the late 1800s. I still find 1908 very late compared to others, and it's funny how the front office ostensibly knew all the details of the first catalog (number of pages, etc) without having a copy, but hey, machts nichts. It's good to finally have one in the public domain.
Lowell did have "some" internal information about the catalog. They just don't posses an actual copy. I think one thing to consider is Lowell tools were "for the time" successful from the beginning & being used by the railroad & large industrial companies. The quality of the tools spoke for themselves. It seems the trade mag advertisements proved successful for them in the 1800's. Maybe they didn't feel the need to produce a catalog until they had socket sets to offer to the public, which we both know was a boom in the early 1900's. I know they offered sockets in the late 1800's, but not like the Multo line.

I'm glad it's public now too for everyone to see 👍
 

Private Lugnutz

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Lowell did have "some" internal information about the catalog.
What information? You seem to be suggesting Lowell was aware of it and had a detailed description of it as a publication (# of pages, publisher, etc), which, as I said, is an odd thing for them to record, and keep, especially when there's been no evidence from them on their website of them having any historical records, let alone sharing them. In fact, they never gave any prior indication that they were even aware of this early catalog, or its publication date, let alone it being their "first", despite it being available on eBay for years, until you contacted them. Have you ever visited the 'History' pages of other prominent hand tool mfgrs? With timelines and links to catalogs and other internal and external company documents?

Don't get me wrong, Ben, it's very cool that you bought this catalog and shared it with Lowell, and I'm glad we have any catalog to look at in addition to the trade mag and general hardware store pages, but their front office has given us no reason to have any faith in them having the wherewithal to suddenly and declaratively know when this was published and where it falls within their publications timeline.

Did they only publish one catalog? Where are the others? Does Lowell have any other catalogs?
It seems the trade mag advertisements proved successful for them in the 1800's.
Yes, as well as general hardware store ads. Make note that these marketing sources continued to be successful for them in the 1900's, 'Teens, 1920's, and 1930's - despite them publishing at least one catalog - the one you acquired. In other words, they didn't stop advertising in other places. The only facts that we can be sure of with this catalog is that it's not earlier than 1903 and that it's at least as old as 1908. It could be later. In fact, many of the illustrations from this catalog were used in trade mag ads and general hardware store catalogs that have been available on IA/ITCL for years, and dated 1917, 1920, 1928, and 1938, and many others from the same timeframe via Google Books.
 
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AntiqueBen

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What information? You seem to be suggesting Lowell was aware of it and had a detailed description of it as a publication (# of pages, publisher, etc), which, as I said, is an odd thing for them to record, and keep, especially when there's been no evidence from them on their website of them having any historical records, let alone sharing them. In fact, they never gave any prior indication that they were even aware of this early catalog, or its publication date, let alone it being their "first", despite it being available on eBay for years, until you contacted them. Have you ever visited the 'History' pages of other prominent hand tool mfgrs? With timelines and links to catalogs and other internal and external company documents?

Don't get me wrong, Ben, it's very cool that you bought this catalog and shared it with Lowell, and I'm glad we have any catalog to look at in addition to the trade mag and general hardware store pages, but their front office has given us no reason to have any faith in them having the wherewithal to suddenly and declaratively know when this was published and where it falls within their publications timeline.

Did they only publish one catalog? Where are the others? Does Lowell have any other catalogs?

Yes, as well as general hardware store ads. Make note that these marketing sources continued to be successful for them in the 1900's, 'Teens, 1920's, and 1930's - despite them publishing at least one catalog - the one you acquired. In other words, they didn't stop advertising in other places. The only facts that we can be sure of with this catalog is that it's not earlier than 1903 and that it's at least as old as 1908. It could be later. In fact, many of the illustrations from this catalog were used in trade mag ads and general hardware store catalogs that have been available on IA/ITCL for years, and dated 1917, 1920, 1928, and 1938, and many others from the same timeframe via Google Books.
First, the pictures you mention in later publications had to be used for the first time at some point, right. I know the catalog dates to 1907-08 because of the Multo set. This was their first pics of the Multo set when it first came out.

Secondly, It was never Lowell's intention to explain or share with the public what inside/historical information or knowledge they have on their catalogs. They never had any intentions of adding catalogs to their website either. Lowell was aware of their first catalog & most of its details. I don't know how or why. I didn't ask them to explain themselves. But they were not in the complete dark about it. They just didn't own a physical copy. They were pleasantly surprised it existed & they were happy to finally acquire it. Plus, Lowell has historical knowledge of their dealings with The Davis Press which corosponds to this catalog dating to 1907-08. I pitched the idea to Lowell about adding a page on their site where additional catalogs & historical information could be found, but it looks like they have decided not to go this route. Lowell made several other catalogs. Most were made in the 20's, 30's & 40's.

I've been to plenty of other tool manufacturers websites & their about us & history pages. Why hasn't Lowell provided similar information on their website? Who knows? But I can't judge Lowell on what they have or have not done based on other tool manufacturers activity. Why mess with success? Lowell has ran their company the way the wanted too pretty much from the beginning. Often differently than most others, but proven successful. Lowell has always seemed to be in a category of their own as far as I'm concerned, because of the quality & innovation of their tools.

All I can tell everyone is Lowell has internal information & knowledge of their catalogs. To what extent, I don't know. Will they ever share any of this with the public? Who knows. But I do know one thing for a fact, based on who I dealt with internally at Lowell. They would have never made the claim "first catalog" unless they were certain. Lowell is not known for just throwing anything up on their website. Just them adding those few sentences & the catalog on their site went through several people internally at Lowell to get done. It's only there because they know the information to be true based on their own internal knowledge, which had nothing to do with me. Lowell is certain on claiming it their first catalog, otherwise they would make no such claim to the public.
 
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