BSA for 132

 Put your hand on the throttle. Go. That's it. Or so they say.

Then as now...Performance sells.

Slide-in truck campers, 1964

 As applied to the full dress Harley crowd. I don't get it. 

Fortunately it was a trend that didn't last...

Keen Kutter hatchet

  Some time in the 1870s, when E C Simmons made what he considered to be the perfect softwood axe, he called it "Keen Kutter"- or so the story goes... 

  The name was extended to all the company products in 1880 and axes, hatchets, pocket knives and all sports of edge tools carried the company till Shapleigh Hardware acquired the company in 1940. The logo on the head is quite prominent and Simmons axes are apparently getting to be quite collectable. 

  The company is still around today under new owners... Website and more history here.

Bikes in the 'hood

Yes, mopeds count. 

Many years ago, the neighbour kid used one as a dirtbike, frequently two-up. I bet it's still running somewhere.

 

Seen better days...

 

Auburn, 1932

 

Avions Voisin hood ornament

Mascot from a 1928 Avion Voisin automobile. This must be the most striking hood ornament I've ever seen. There are reproductions being made. And look at the perfect logo.

Gabriel Voison was an early aircraft pioneer, he built the first European-made airplane to complete a manned 1 km diameter test flight. During WW1 he became a producer of aircraft, a pilot flying in one of his Voison III. After the war he started building luxury automobiles, using light alloys and unique details. Knight sleeve valve engines were used.

The company struggled during the depression and closed in 1939.

 

Early motorcycle throttle control

 

Early carburetors were less than efficient and required constant adjustment for both fuel and air flow. One solution to controlling the mix was with two levers on the right handlebar. The long lever controls fuel and the short one, air.  The above sketch shows positions of the two levers in controlling fuel and air to the carburetor in different conditions. Imagine trying to modulate while starting without a clutch and almost non existent brakes. 

Below, exploded view of the Brown and Barlow twin lever control.

Monday Mystery, Anchor-brand wrenches

I picked up these two old wrenches recently.  They're marked in both Whitworth and metric sizes.  Only the top wrench carries the anchor logo.  Does anyone know who made these?  

The symbol looks very similar to the one used by the British Admiralty, so perhaps these wrenches were produced exclusively for use in Her Majesty's navy?

Sidecar Sunday

 Ooops.

The power of steam

A vertical boiler road tractor built by Ransomes of Ipswich hauls a tree for one of the company owners on a specially built wagon. Year unknown.

 

Bernard Jewelry pliers, Wm. Schollhorn Company

These are a nice set of cutting pliers with parallel acting jaws, patented by William A. Bernard in 1890. The jaw mechanism keeps the jaws parallel as it opens and closes, the action is smooth and precise. 

They were probably the best known product of the Schollhorn Company of New Haven Conn. in business from about 1870 till 1948 when it was acquired by Sargent Company. 

Link to 1902 Schollhorn catalog here.

Thanks, Kevan!

 

Patent 277,220

North Star Oil

   Here's a very plain gallon oil can, apparently the same can was used for all products, with the contents rubber-stamped on the label (look closely to avoid mistakes). 

   History from Jim's Vintage Garages...

1919 - June 23rd North Star Oil began operations in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The company purchased assets of Continental Oil  and operated service stations around Manitoba.

1928 - Rebranded as North Star Oil Ltd.

1938 - Purchased Falcon Oil, Prairie City Oil and brand names Buffalo and Electro.

1950 - Fred C. Manning becomes new owner.

1955 - St. Boniface refinery built, producing 2500 barrels per day.

1958 - Fred C. Manning dies.

1962 - Company purchased by Shell, who renames the company to North Star Oil Division of Shell Oil Co. of Canada Ltd. and offices are moved to Toronto, Ont.

 

Planes in formation, Douglas O-46

 Three Douglas O-46s in the hands of the National Guard fly past the Empire State Building. New York I recognize but I had to look up the O-46. The Douglas company built a succession of observation planes starting with the O-31- released in 1930. Improvements were made over a few models which culminated in the O-46, of which 90 were built. The O-46 was obsolete by World War 2 and it was the last observation plane built by the company.

Boeing

Wooden boat project

Here's someone's wooden boat restoration/rebuild project, located at Stonington Maine. The center portion of the hull seems to be original and intact, but the ribs and sheathing at both the bow and stern are being replaced. We guessed that it might have been a sardine carrier but it's hard to tell.. Looks like it would need a lot of wood and an enormous amount of work...

 

Bay State ratchet

Bay State was a maker of wrenches and other tools, started by Edward Tudor in about 1900.  The company was best known for their Autokit wrench sets. this ratchet would probably have been part of a set. Edward Tudor organized another tool company in 1906, The Tudor Manufacturing Co. which absorbed the Bay State company. 

The patent description; Wrenches of the ratchet type, for providing a free return stroke of the handle with concentric driving and driven member the ratchet parts engaging in a direction radial to the tool operating axis a pawl engaging an externally toothed wheel.

 

Masts by the trainload

 Douglas firs roughed out for masts, en route from the west coast to the shipyards in Maine. The route had to be carefully chosen to avoid tunnels, bridges and sharp turns.

The past and the future met for lunch...

 It was tense. 

Question: Is the green truck greener than the red car?  Is using a 8250 pound vehicle to move a 200(ish) lb. person acceptable?  Give me the 2200 pound Morgan any day... 

Itma wrench

Itma was a brand name introduced in the 1950s by Belzer Tools of Germany, Chrome Vanadium as a material came into use in the mid 1920s.

 

Catalog pages from the always-great Alloy Artifacts

Trans-Canada Air Lines, Vickers Viscount

 1955

This was the first turboprop airliner in service in North America and TCA bought 51 in total and operated them till 1974. Why did TCA purchase the Viscount? Answer here.

Directions in aviation, 1941

Agnes Rogers, From Man to Machine, A Pictorial History of Invention, Little, Brown and Co. 1941

  The brand new Being 307 Stratoliner towers over the Aeronca K in front. On one hand the four engine airliner with pressurized cabin carrying 30 passengers over 2000 miles was clearly the future, but the Aeronca was one of a number of light aircraft inexpensive enough for private pilots to own and fly. A large boom was predicted for the light plane- everyone will soon own an airplane as well as a car!

Adjustable wrench

I'm not really a fan of adjustable wrenches, new or old...but this one has character. buy it, hang it on a nail in a prominent part of the garage, just out of reach so no one is ever tempted to actually use it.

 

Peter Witt streetcar

 The Peter Witt car was the staple of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) from 1921 till the PCC cars came in, and they were in service till 1965. The car was designed by the Cleveland Street Railway and named after the commissioner Peter Witt. Most of the TTC cars were built at Canada Car and Foundry in Montreal with some also built by the Preston Car Company (Preston is now part of Cambridge, Ontario) and the Ottawa Car Company. 

One car (Number 2766) out of the 575 built was saved and restored, and is still used for occasional excursions. 

Sidecar Sunday

Fritz Scheidegger  and Horst Burkhardt working hard.

 

Bluepoint Valve tool, CF-7

  This is a valve spring retainer lock replacer patented by Ira Clark of Clark Feathers and sold by Blue Point. Looks a little fiddly to use, Youtube link here, but Patent No 2,091,500 was also used by other manufacturers including: Cornwell- VT-21, Lisle- CF-7, OTC 851-A, Herbrand- VL-550, New Britain- VL-139, Matco- CF-7, Wilde K.C. MO.