On the Level: Parry & Bott, Birmingham, England

Below, 2 Parry & Bott levels I've picked up along the way:

Of interest, each of the three apertures on the second level pictured contains two spirit vials.  Most levels only contain one.

Parry and Bott  were located on Baltimore Road, Hampstead, Birmingham and specialized in spirit levels.  They may have introduced the line level, the small level you hang off of a string.  They were still in business in the 1960's but have long since departed for toolmaker's Valhalla.

1951.  Source:  Grace's Guide to British Industry

Another job you wouldn't want to do: machine tool lubricator!

C.C. Wakefield & Company Ltd..  First published June 1948.  Revised Edition May 1956.

Off-road motorcycling 1940's

A group of lads preparing for a day of fun in somewhere in eastern Ontario.  From the Ted Whitney archives.

Velocette KTT

Illustration by G. Beresford

Some people should not be allowed to own tools...

Girl Guides on a train trip 1920's

The Canadian Educator for Home and School Use, Vol. 3.  Toronto:  The Iroquois Press, 1929.

Gripping Tales: Bergman O' Buffalo

The Bergman Tool Manufacturing Company was founded by Jerome E. Bergman in Buffalo, New York in the early 1900's. They offered wrenches, pliers and tin snips under several brands, including "Queen City" and "Blue Bird."  

I find their use of the contraction O' both odd and interesting.  This is usually associated with Irish usage, but Bergman doesn't seem like an Irish name.

Below, an example of the company's "Queen City" pliers:

And their "Blue Bird" aviation snips:

And battery post cleaner:

Sidecar Sunday

Too dapper for words...

End of Steamboat Service in Midcoast Maine; Dec 28 1935

John M Richardson; Steamboat Lore of the Penobscot, 1941

Steamboat Belfast of the Eastern Steamship Lines.

 

Rockland Courier Gazette

Captain Alfred E. Rawley

Speed Age 1948

Published out of Hyattsville, Maryland beginning in 1947, this magazine was the direct ancestor of Car and Driver.  The people behind the mag attempted to bridge the huge post-war gulf between the hot-rodders who preferred American iron, and the sports car crowd who were almost exclusively devoted to European cars.  It also carried news and stories about both cars and motorcycles.  The magazine failed in the 1950's, unable to appeal enough to either group to remain fiscally viable.