Vintage Ephemera

[rust in the eye]

For you Ford guys

 

[Ayrhead]

Popular Mechanics Oct. 1956…. a crescent wrench advertisement, an Edelman radiator leak tester, a cool article about testing out the VW beetle & an amazing oil filter that I’ve never seen b4…

Wouldn’t ya know it…. Today I saw this Edelman leak tester for sale… shortly after seeing it in the 1956 magazine….debating whether I should buy it or not… I think $30 is too steep of a price… if it was $10 I would snap it up.

 

[kyrbz]

 

[Private Lugnutz]

This smiling, respectful, and well-coifed motorcyclist would make a great (and iconoclastic) avatar...

 

[MR.X]

So besides having the cool letterhead / product illustration this overdue invoice letter cracks me up...Dec 24 1927...Not just Christmas Eve but also a Saturday. Frickin Old School....Just hope Scrooge let Bob Cratchit add a little coal to the stove.
Anyway, might be the same patent as Bull Dog wrench Co. FWIW, Holland is about 50 miles up the coast of Lake Michigan from Benton Harbor.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...overdue invoice letter...

Hey! Actual non-digital tool-related ephemera - and actual parchment paper, no less! Love the illo. That is frameable. (Love the hex broach in the hanging hole, too)

Just hope Scrooge let Bob Cratchit add a little coal to the stove.

 

[MR.X]

Hey! Actual non-digital tool-related ephemera - and actual parchment paper, no less! Love the illo. That is frameable. (Love the hex broach in the hanging hole, too)

Thanks. Also looks like the Hardware store being addressed just went out of business in 2025 after 150 years!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

^ That's sad, but man, they had a good run and lasted a lot longer than many others.

 

[four.cycle]

RE: Holland Steel Corp

Holland Steel's wrench also used pat. 1551763, so it is nice to know they used more than one patent.
Regards, Stan S.

 

[MR.X]

RE: Holland Steel Corp

Is the patent I showed even correct? I didn't really look at it. I see the one you're showing has R.C. Morris's name as the patentee and he appears as being one of the Holland Steel "directors" on the letterhead.

 

[four.cycle]

Well... to be quite honest, I am not sure.
When you posted that I shot a note off to Stan. Here's the entire exchange:

Original Message --------

Subject:​	Re: confused
Date:​	2026-03-30 8:47 am
From:​	Stan Schulz
To:​	four.cycle

Brian,
Some of these patents got shopped around. I'm just in the process of adding a 2nd "manufacturer" to entries for 1889 patents relating to a VULCAN HOLLOW HANDLE SCREWDRIVER. Shown in an 1890s STARRETT catalog, but made by CLEMENT MFG. Co. (Northampton, Mass).
Holland Steel's wrench also used pat. # 1,551,763, so it is nice to know they used more than one patent.
Regards, Stan S.

On Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 9:52 AM <[email protected]> wrote:

RE: patent 1557864
RE: https://datamp.org/patents/search/advance.php?pn=1557864&id=33190&set=1
shows manufacturer as "Bull Dog Wrench Co." of Benton Harbor, MI.
GarageJournal member posted last night a copy of a letter from the "Holland Steel Corp." and an illustration of a wrench - attributing it to patent 1557864
I'm a bit confused here.
BK

====

I had neither of these companies in my list yesterday. This is how I have them entered at the moment.

Bull Dog / Bull Dog Wrench Co., Benton Harbor, MI / "Bull Dog" wrench / patent 1557864 Oct 20 1925 Raymond A. Mull / see also Holland Steel Corp., Holland, MI / https://datamp.org/patents/search/advance.php?pn=1557864&id=33190&set=1 / https://datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=1551763&typeCode=0 /

Holland / Holland Steel Corp., Holland, MI / "Steel Grip" adjustable wrench / patent 1551763 Sep 1 1925 Raymond C. Morris & 1557864 Oct 20 1925 Raymond A. Mull / see also Bull Dog Wrench Co., Benton Harbor, MI / https://datamp.org/patents/search/advance.php?pn=1557864&id=33190&set=1 / https://datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=1551763&typeCode=0 /

I am shooting for 100% accuracy in this list - otherwise it's worthless. Stan is apparently of the belief that both patents apply to the Holland unit.
I'll have to sit down and wade through the text of both patent documents and see if I can make sense of it myself.

Either that or - another pair of eyes here might be able to clear the waters on this one.

 

[four.cycle]

Today 11:51 am
Brian,
2nd reply --- after reviewing the DATAMP entries for the two "similar' patents & some more additional research --- while HOLLAND says "PAT'd 1925" which leads to patent # 1,551,763 [ https://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=1551763&typeCode=0 }, there is also
BULL DOG (also patented in 1925 with patentee in Benton Harbor, Mich0 -- [https://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=1557864&typeCode=0 ]. I've seen examples of both, and tried to sort them out in the respective DATAMP entries, with cross-references.
Short answer -- two contemporary companies with similar products - each having its own patent. Oddly, It appears "BULL DOG" was first out of the gate with startup in 1924, while HOLLAND was incorporated in 1926. ((While doing the last bit of research I got diverted into reading a 1926 editorial in Michigan Manufacturer & Financial Record on the topic of "foreign immigration." ) Regards, Stan S.

====

So... if I am reading that correctly, the "Bull Dog" and the "Holland" had different patents.
I just noticed that Stan has revised the "description" field on both of those patents since earlier this morning.

 

[d42jeep]

A few spotted on eBay lately.
-Don

 

[Ayrhead]

Currently and previously owned Corvairs of various colors.
1964
1963
1965
1961
1964
1963
1965

-Don

Some nice Corvair s that you’ve had. Do you still own any now?

 

[Ayrhead]

A couple of pictures of my Automotive Service Manual Collection. I have Dykes, Motor, Chilton and recently picked up some Mitchell Service Manuals…they span from 1927 to 2000. I find the Labour Guide Manuals interesting to go through to see what some repairs might cost back in the day…

 

[d42jeep]

I’m down to just two convertibles and the van. The van awakened from its winter hibernation on 5/5.
-Don

 

[Ayrhead]

My son has the 1965 Convertible Monza and I have the 1962 Rampy. They are such a joy to ride and drive…

 

[zimman]

I was an Illustrator for many years. Technical Illustration was my speciality. Don't have too many copies now because back in the day we didn't really have anyway to archive ****. LOL. Now, pop it in the phone, all good. This is just one book of 150 raw illustrations for Ralph Sims. These were for proposals. I did AD work later on with color and Air Brush but these are all I have now.
Zim

 

[Outlawmws]

I was an Illustrator for many years. Technical Illustration was my speciality. Don't have too many copies now because back in the day we didn't really have anyway to archive ****. LOL. Now, pop it in the phone, all good. This is just one book of 150 raw illustrations for Ralph Sims. These were for proposals. I did AD work later on with color and Air Brush but these are all I have now.
Zim

I learned how in school and did a a little professionally, but my main focus was Electro-mechanical design and engineering. first career - moved into management and CAD/CAE, then inot managing and administering the systems. Later got into audit then Cyber security a totally different career.

But sometimes I just miss drawing.

 

[zimman]

I learned how in school and did a a little professionally, but my main focus was Electro-mechanical design and engineering. first career - moved into management and CAD/CAE, then inot managing and administering the systems. Later got into audit then Cyber security a totally different career.

But sometimes I just miss drawing.

I still sketch. Love it. People go nuts over it. Fast, cool. LOL
I'm 70 this year and do other stuff that's fun but if someone says "what do you think it would look like" I'm all over it. LMAO
Zim

 

[Private Lugnutz]

^ Very cool work, @zimman! My dad was a draftsman from 1947 to 1977 for Lehigh Structural Steel company, but he did a lot of side jobs as an artist and technical illustrator. My brothers and I have similar sketches for all kinds of industrial and household items framed, as well as his graphic advertising work from one year of art school. On archiving..., we were a large, frugal family. My brothers' and mine earliest notebooks, for school, were discarded D sized plotter blueprints he would bring home from work, cut up into smaller sheets, and bind. We would take notes on the blank side, but every flip side page was the fragment of something, a building, powerline towers, etc, in blueprint. Somehow we never felt poor.

 

[humber2]

Here is a view of the NSU Ro 80 engine….