Vintage/WW2 Husky Date Codes?

[speedyspaghetti]

Hey everyone,

So a bit of a strange request - I'm trying to find a WW2-era Husky ratchet for a friend of mine. We have a bit of an inside joke - I was helping him do a 5-speed swap on his '65 Mustang at his house and was looking for a ratchet in his mess-as-all-hell toolbox and joked around with him about needing to take better care of his "vintage" Husky tools (they are, in fact, Chinese-made HD ****). Anyway, his birthday is coming up and him being a WW2 buff like myself, I thought it would be a fun/thoughtful gift to get him a real vintage Husky ratchet.

The issue I'm having is that whatever I can find online on eBay or whatever doesn't have any date codes, and I have had a hard time researching anything about date-coding vintage Husky/New Britain stuff. What specific models should I be looking for?

Thanks everyone!

 

[d42jeep]

I don’t think that they frequently have date codes although I think I’ve seen a couple. Here is my wartime New Britain 1/2” drive ratchet along with some other New Britain tools. The second picture is a Husky 1/4” drive ratchet that may be wartime. The third image shows the New Britain tools in a 1945 General Mechanics Tool Set.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

This one should work

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Husky-1940-s-1-2-Dr-Ratchet-No-H725-/114223063945

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

This fit the bill? I'm just over in Watsonville
1/2" female drive, flip to reverse.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The issue I'm having is that whatever I can find online on eBay or whatever doesn't have any date codes, and I have had a hard time researching anything about date-coding vintage Husky/New Britain stuff. What specific models should I be looking for?

They're not common, but they are out there, on NB, None Better, Craftsman BE and (H), and Husky reversible and non-reversible ratchets, starting in 1943 and ending in 1946, based on a fairly sizable survey I conducted a few years ago. Link to table of results here and scroll up from that post in that thread to see examples. Ole Slewfoot's is one of the ratchets in the survey.