Bridgestone 350 twin

Something about a blonde in plaid that says speed- or something... must be the sixties.

 The last hurrah for the "other" Japanese motorcycle manufacturer...

Rex micrometer

 Apparently part of the Brown and Sharpe line, I'm not sure where the Rex name fits in. This was patented in 1923 and looks like a good solid measuring device.

Quaker State painting

I always wonder about the choice of an original painting in advertising. What possessed the art director to commission a painting of an... oil can? Once again, unsigned so we don't even know who the artist is- wonder if the original is hanging in pride of place is some collectors gallery?
 

Diamond Safety Tread Tires

1915

 

Monday Mystery, R.F. Flock

 This one is a bit of a mystery. Someone was cleaning the metal leftovers from an estate in Hamilton Ontario and found a number of these wrenches in the collection. They're clearly homemade and could be considered crude, the jaws are sawn and filed out. There are file marks in the transitions between head and handle.  Whoever R F Flock was, he spent a lot of time on these, even chrome plated them, but the job seems incomplete, the wrench does not lie flat on a table. His name is stamped on one side, yet did not mark the sizes, 13/16 and 7/8". Wish I knew more about the man!

Jaguar E Type V12

Those pipes can't be stock!

Sidecar Sunday

 German competitors R. Trapp with unnamed passenger pose with their 600cc flat twin Victoria outfit at the 1929 ISDT event. They DNFed due to tire trouble.

Cast aluminum car

Here's a nice cast aluminum toy car. No markings but nicely done, probably dating to the twenties?  It consists of basically a left and right casting, bolted together with separate driver and wheels.

 

Mechanical Drover

 This attachment/modification apparently was sold in Australia for sheep herding use, Putt along at sheep-walking pace in first gear with feet up on the pegs, the outrigger wheels apparently fold up for normal(ish) riding.

Peerless Marshall lathe

I took a long hard look at this watchmakers lathe at a local antique market. In the end I decided I didn't really need a specialized second lathe to buy accessories for- the 9" South Bend has handled the smallest things I need to. But this, with its nickel (or chrome) finish would look good just sitting in any shop. As usual Lathes.co.uk has covered this model very well. 

The other end is stamped Marshall. 

 

Another job you probably wouldn't want to do, locomotive polisher

A team of workers polish up the Pacific class engine of the Flying Scotsman, a neverending chore.

DH-125 executive jet sales calls

The aircraft was designed by de Havilland in England, the mockup was constructed to feel out the market acceptance for a jet powered executive plane. The program worked, over 1700 units were produced by a succession of  companies for 50 years after it was introduced. More history here. 

Wings in Space magazine, Dec 1963

 

Calipers

Tool Barn

 

Yellow pages

 Almost irrelevant these days. What could they have done to keep their business?

CPR poster 1942

Pretty stylish ad for the middle of the war.

Artist Peter Ewart,

 

Injection molded toy car

A nicely styled injection-molded 1940s toy car, The plastic body is Ok, but look at that cast aluminum frame! No identification except the 1948 Ontario licence plate.

 

One of my vices is vises, Combination anvil vise by James Smart, Brockville.

Here's another newer combination by James Smart. Previous post. This one is interesting because it's lightweight for such a tool,  the anvil part has such thin walls, I'd be afraid to hit it with a hammer!

 

350 Plonker, 1976

More fun than a sickle bar mower/tractor...

E type Jaguar Body assembly

Prince Philip supervising the welding during construction of the monocoque body of an E Type Jaguar. Later the front frame assembly is attached. Many parts to that car.

Chris Harvey, E Type, End of an Era, Oxford Illustrated Press 1977

 

Win a Thunderdog!

 Wow, 60 series tires and H widths on the back.

Actually, I'd like to win this NOW! Heck, I'd even take the glow in the dark Hodaka key fob...

Sidecar Sunday

Somer-Simmons, Cris (2009). The American Motorcycle Girls:1900-1915. Stillwater MN

 Remember, ladies, motorcycling is fun!

Paramount wrench

Here's another name I've never seen, quality seems ok, and its the first wrench I've seen from Korea, though I'm sure there are more...

Osborn Engineering Company Duplex steering

The joke back in the day was OEC stood for Odd Engineering Contraption, the company developed and patented the Duplex steering system shown here.  It was not a commercial success but it worked well enough that in August of 1930 the motorcycle, ridden by Joe Wright, achieved a world speed record of 137 mph with its big JAP V Twin. I wonder if normal rake and trail apply to this system. Apparently it liked going in a straight line but contemporary reports said it needed getting used to in regular use. 

 

Irus grass cutter

 

 Irus is not a name familiar to most of us in North America, I don't believe they exported here, and are apparently rare even in England. The company was formed in 1865 to make grinding mills for grain etc. In 1928 they patented a form of bar mower and entered the lawn and field mowing business with small two wheel tractor-type machines using Hirth engines. The company is still around today making sophisticated excavation and mowing machines. Company site here. History here.

The machine shown here is a sectioned prototype made for a 1946 agriculture show in Germany.  It's surprisingly modern looking. This unit is also for sale- located in Holland . If anyone is interested leave me a note in comments.

Sarome Bluebird Rocket Car

 Looking like cute little cars, these are actually novelty lighters made in Japan in the late 1950s. 

Triumph Trophy 250

Who exactly was waiting for it?

 

Fork in the road

 Although BMW was the first to introduce a hydraulically damped telescopic fork, in 1935, postwar they jumped quickly on Ernie Earles new fork. They kept the Earles fork till the end of the sixties, when they once again introduced this telescopic fork. Within a year or two, the Earles fork was gone for good.

Kilborn & Bishop wrench

Kilborn and Bishop was a forging company located in New Haven, they started making tools in 1896. A little Googling shows some more S shaped wrenches turning up but the company made all sorts of hand tools as indicated in the ad below. Note the different logo styles.

There doesn't seem to be too much info online about the company, but they were involved with a lawsuit with Crescent Tool in 1917 regarding the manufacture of adjustable wrenches. In 1924 K & B acquired the Bay State Forge Company, makers of adjustable wrenches and the Autokit tool sets. The company seems to have ended in 1937 when it was split up between Moore Drop Forge and Peck, Stow, & Wilcox.