Continental tires

 During the 1912 Belgian Grand Prix, for reasons not explained, the Continental tire depot was set up on a barge in a canal. 

Vista Domes on the California Zephyr

 Still seems like an appealing way to travel.

Model Tool kit by Mason and Parker

Nice wooden box with a lovely label. The tool set is not complete and I expect some of the tools aren't originally from the kit. The Model Tool Chest for boys was made by the Mason and Parker Mfg  Co.

H. N. Parker and Orlando Mason started the company in 1899, their first products were metal horse-drawn wagon toys, but added wooden toys in 1907. This type of Boys tool box was a popular product for the company over the years. We’ll use this post as a base to collect the tool kits as they were presented through the years. By the airplane that sits nonchalantly in the shop, this kit might have been from the twenties?
 

Brooklands Vincent Comet

 1934 model with Brooklands racing mods including the famous muffler. This motorcycle managed an average speed of over 100 mph during a race so it got its rider the coveted Gold Star.

Bemsee

Cars in the 'hood, 1956 Thunderbird

That is very sweet, even has the continental kit.

 

We used to make things in this country #371; David Maxwell & Sons

 

 Here is a hub or similar cast cover from some unknown piece of machinery or equipment but I had to go looking for more info on the company.  I've never run across any Maxwell equipment that I can remember.

 Maxwell's Limited was a foundry first established in Paris, Ontario which moved to St. Mary's, Ontario in 1888, where it became known as David Maxwell & Sons or simply Maxwell & Sons.

  In its heyday when cast iron was king, it employed over 100 people and was the largest factory in Perth County.  The two-storey building was 250 feet long, with another wing 200 feet long. The first floor was for machine work with storage in the wing and basement. Painting and finishing were done on the second floor. Three shorter wings, each 150 feet long, contained a wood shop, blacksmith shop and moulding shop. Initially, farm equipment was the main focus, but eventually it produced all sorts of horsedrawn equipment and farm tools down to wheelbarrows and butter churns.

 During World War II, production was devoted to the manufacture of hand grenades.  Following the war, it was unable to compete in the farm equipment field and ceased operation in 1964.  The factory was demolished in 1987. 

Catalogues of farm implements, washing machines, lawn mowers, butter churns, price listings, advertisement, history for the David Maxwell & Sons, St. Mary’s, Ontario.  Dates 1875-1978

Info from an ebay ad!

This is an unusual design for a horse-drawn ground-driven mower...

Online books.

Studebaker Packard for 1958

   Sadly 1958 was the final year for Packard, Studebaker was struggling too. The President did not sell well, about 4700 cars, the Commander was under 12,000. 

The joys of working with junk... Update

I'm in the middle of my annual haying frenzy, a day or two of cutting hay, waiting a day or two, glued to the weather channel, rake and bale, get it in the barn. If the weather holds. 

Not a high buck, modern process, most of the equipment dates to the 1970s (the raking tractor is a 1948 Ford 8N) and we bring in less than a thousand small squares, but it's enough for the sheep, goats, horses and whatever else my sister finds at the sales barn... I came out today to find the sun shining and a flat tire on the old 3rd or 4th-hand New Holland ground-drive rake.

 Ok, it's been neglected... Hmmm, what to do. A quick perusal of the used tire pile failed to produce a 165x 13 tire... but it's a tubeless tire... Somehow I coaxed the bead to reset and magically, it appears to be still holding air. Just for safety, I put in a partial bottle of Slime stopleak and got my raking/baling done. 

 But now the dilemma. If this was 1985, I could head to any wrecking yard for a used 13" tire from a Honda Civic or Toyota or whatever, but when was the last time you saw a 13" radial tire? A glance at the other wheel revealed an even older weather-checked but intact tire, a tube-type 5.60x15. That might even be original? But where would I find an affordable VW Beetle sized tire?  And the mismatched sizes isn't an ideal situation. Stay tuned...

Update 06/2025

  OK, a year later. Last fall a friend discovered there are 13" trailer tires on sale at Princess Auto (the Harbour Freight of Canada (sort-of). It came on a 5 bolt rim, so using my handy bead breaker  (bottom) I moved the tire to the hay rake rim and all is good- hopefully for another 20 years.

 

The farmers beadbreaker...

Ready to go!

15/32 socket

 I've never seen a socket of this measurement. 15/32 metric-ates out to 11.9 mm so it probably isn't just a standardized12 mm. It's an older Taiwanese make, no name.

 More oddness, I actually needed this today for nuts on an 8" rim I'm rejuvenating.

Abrafile rod saw

A tungsten carbide rod saw blade to fit to a junior hacksaw frame and used to cut tiles. Made by the Abrasive Tool Co. of Twickenham, England, which no longer seems to exist, little info online. 

 

Sidecar Sunday

1930 Vincent HRD

Philip Vincent wanted to make motorcycles, he was advised to buy an existing name as an entry into the market. He bought HRD from Howard R Davies in 1928.  This is a 1930 model, the Classic Motor Cycle picture taken when the bike was 30 years old so it probably isn't a good example of a stock motorcycle. The engine is a 500cc JAP as Vincent hadn't started building their own. The famous Vincent cantilever rear suspension system is already in use. 
 

Tugboats at work

1950s National Geographic 

 Just an overly dramatic shot of a freighter being tended to in Baltimore harbour.

Goso Delivery scooter wind up toy

The German toy company Goso made this 3 wheel delivery scooter windup toy, it seems to have a flap in the box to catapult the load out unexpectedly. The scooter is nice, but the box is beautiful, all the panels are cartoon illustrations of the load ejection. The toy came in two forms, the front box shown and a Vespa-esque 3 wheeler with rear box.

 

1958 Cadillac

 

    A Philadelphia flavor to this 1958 ad. The car is pulled up to the front entrance of the the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel at 200 S. Broad Street where seemingly, the passengers in the rear seat are too preoccupied to get out, despite the classy, well dressed crowds waiting on the steps. Maybe it's New Years Eve?  But please, dear, get out of the car!

 The hotel was at its height during this point of history, it began a slow decline in the 1960s and was the site of the Legionnaire's disease outbreak while hosting an American Legion convention in 1976. The hotel never really recovered and was converted to a mixed-use development after 1988.

   Because this is a Cadillac ad in the fifties, the women's gowns are mentioned, this time supplied by Nan Duskin of Philadelphia. 

   Nan Duskin was an internationally known boutique that dressed Philadelphia’s high society. They carried merchandise from major designers such as Chanel, Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani, and Yves Saint Laurent.  It opened in 1927, expanded to three locations, the main branch being a couple of blocks from the hotel. The store filed for bankruptcy in 1994.

Education

 Above, Central Toronto Academy, formerly the Central Commerce Collegiate Institute, built in 1911. Below, Central Technical School, built 1915. Looking at these buildings, I can't help but to think education was thought of differently then than it is today.

Rabone Chesterman Easiflex Rule measuring tape

The tools from Rabone Chesterman that I've found look to be high quality, usually folding wood rules or leather bound fabric tapes. This basic one with foil label must have been made towards the end of the company's existence, maybe in the 1970s? I also thought it might be an early attempt at hi viz tools but I found a black one on ebay so maybe they came in a range of colours?

 Previous post on Rabone Chesterman here.

Ebay

Ridiculous comparisons...Empire State Building vs Great Lakes tanker

 

Dunkley Pra-motor

This thing is real, a motorized perambulator introduced in 1923.  I expect one of the ownership issues might have been finding a trustworthy and capable nanny capable of operating the primitive two stroke engine and steering around the promenade while tending to the beloved offspring. It appears they came in different versions.
 

Atoms for peace

1958
About that nuclear airplane...

 

Bultraco Metralla in pieces

 Todays project I wish I had a better tank!

Close cover before striking...

 Matchbook advertising, a once popular medium, now almost completely gone...

...

Millers Falls micrometer

 Although I can't find the model number on the device a quick Google seems to indicate that it's a 940S, produced in a simplified form during World War II. Apparently it's a rebranded Goodell Pratt unit, as Millers Falls had acquired the company in 1931. (Below)

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