Strange old hammer?

[mag99]

Guys, I have an old hammer that my grandpa gave me when I was little. I have never seen another one like it. Can some one tell me anything about it? What was it used for? (looks like to open crates?) How old is it?

Stamped into the handle (not very straight, either) are the words,"Buy Only Arm & Hammer Soda"

I did search, but with the word "hammer", you can imagine the amount of entries that came up.

Thanks

 

[Jbullfrog]

It was a promotional multi-tool that came with cow soda from Arm & Hammer.

 

[autoclassicnut]

That thing is cool!

 

[J.A.F.E.]

It was used to open fruit crates. Wooden crates were used to ship produce until about the 60's. The claw end of the hammer was used to open the crates and the head was used to pound the nails out or to reclose the crate.

I have one that's similar also from my GF.

 

[ps junkslinger]

Good call, I have used similar hammers when I was younger. They were used for opening packing crates.. Very cool

 

[mag99]

Thanks.....so from maybe late 50s - early 60s....?
And the answer about being given away.......to the public with purchase of the soda?, Or given to the stores?

Just my luck, it's not a Snap-On

 

[J.A.F.E.]

Could be even older than that fruit crates go back to when the railroads started shipping produce. The 60's is when they started phasing out in favor of cardboard boxes.

Don't know why they'd be given out to the public since stores usually opened the crates but I sure don't know. It sure is possible.

 

[Kevin54]

There is one for sale here http://www.mjdtools.com/tools/list_1114/133304.htm top left hand corner of the web page

They must have been a huge advertisement thing because here is another for Campfire Marshmallows http://www.mjdtools.com/tools/list_1109/136391.htm

 

[dfndr]

Yep, that's what it is. My Grandpa was a fruit "Huckster" in L.A. Every morning he'd go to the central produce market and load his 1928 Model A Ford Huckster wagon with fruit and vegetables and drive to West LA and go house to house selling. It was a kick for me, as a young kid to go with him and start working at 4 am. I had my own hammer like that one pictured above and my job on the weekends was to use it to knock apart the lug boxes the fruit and vegetables came in and remove the nails so they could be used as firewood in the fireplace. Every once in a while a hot nail would come flying out of the fireplace and into the frontroom. My Dad would get pissed at me for missing the nail!