Another 3/8” Wilde 189 combo wrench for the thread!
Why is it so common?
Frankly, I hadn't really noticed the prevalence, not even when I answered
@Debcrow wondering the same thing back in 2024, but it is very odd. According to the search, yours is the fifth, all in the last five years. The most important part might be the distribution. All five of you are in five different parts of the country.
They were obviously making a full range. Maybe the reason the 3/8" shows up most often is it being one of if not the smallest in the set, and the smallest of anything always tends to go missing.
When do "we" think they were made?
My thoughts... They look plain steel. They clearly predate the style of the WITCO combination wrenches shown in the 1973 catalog in IA/ITCL. But there are
no combination wrenches (or DOE or DBE engineers wrenches) included in the 1958 or 1961 catalogs. Almost like they made them earlier, dropped them, and then started making them again in a different style.
It would be nice if the owners of the catalogs
@Mark Stansbury posted cover photos of upthread (I am guessing he purloined them from the 'net somewhere (i.e., eBay., etc)) would scan them and make them available. They included a No. 38 (1938, if their scheme is consistent), another that looked like late 30's in its resemblance to the 1938, and a No. 41 (1941). We would at least be able to verify the production period.
It's possible. But there is no record or evidence of them being a supplier of
any GMTK tools, wrenches or other, during WWII. Contracts show they sold pliers to the Navy in 1944-45 and of course the famous bayonets to the Ordnance Dept in 1942. Empirically, we know they also made valve lifters for the Ordnance Dept and some ignition wrenches for the Signal Corps.
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