Slaymaker lock

   John Slaymaker started his company in 1888 to make locks for the Pennsylvania railway. In 1898, the company started making steam cars, but Mr Slaymaker soon abandoned the now-named Baldwin Automobile Manufacturing Company venture to return to his locks. With the Pennsylvania Railway connection, I wonder if the Baldwin Locomotive company was somehow involved. 

  He purchased the T. Slaight lock company in 1904 and that company was renamed the Slaymaker Lock Manufacturing company, until 1917, when W.E. Fraim of the E.T. Fraim lock company bought in changing the nam e to simply Slaymaker Lock Co. In 1921, John Slaymaker exited, prompting yet another name change. 

 Manufacturing so often seems to be just a game of musical chairs. 

   So quite likely this lock dates to that 17 year period.  And finally, nothing really of note in this cheap lock except the Slaymaker logo.

 

Jaguar XK150

One of my vices is vises. Trojan

A sad old neglected and abused vise.  According to Garage Journal, Trojan was the economy line for Parker. The ones I see online usually have a cast-in model number.

 This one was outside at a local antique market, rusting away with a broken base and seized up, a shame. 

A substantial flange is broken off the base, it should be like the view below.

Flying boats in London

Short Calcutta 1928

Short Solent 1948

Short Sunderland

Every city needs more seaplanes.

Film at British Pathé

Motorcycles on record albums, Living Strings play the Monkees

 Miniskirt, a Honda 90 and the Monkees, there's the sixties right there. 

"Living Strings" was a RCA Victor-created band for making easy listening cover tunes...

We used to make things in this country #374 DMP Minibikes

 Lots of manufacturers were getting involved in the motorized leisure market in the late sixties and early seventies. Delhi Metal Products produced a line of minibikes, this Rupp clone Trail-Champ has full suspension and the inclined Tecumseh motor with torque converter.

Delhi Metal Products was a supplier of fans for furnaces and air handling systems, also antennas and other metal products. The company was bought by a US company General Instrument in 1973 for the antenna business. I suspect that was the end of the minibike production.

Woodworking Machines in four languages

  Here's an interesting idea for a book. Definitely from a different era, it consists of 350 pages of examples of woodworking machines with descriptions and details in four languages, intended to make translations easier for salesmen and others in the industry. Lots of variety of manufacturers, most of the names are new to me.

H E Horten, Woodworking Machines in four languages, Holt Publishing, 1968

 

Scott Trivan

  In 1929 Scott motorcycles was working on an air cooled single cylinder 298cc engine to expand into the lightweight market. That motor was not a success but plans were already in the works to use that engine in a three wheel delivery van. A few prototypes were made and a company- S. A. V. Light cars was set up to market it but soon disappeared.

Jeff Clew, The Scott Motorcycle, The Yowling Two-stroke, G.T. Foulas & Co. 1974

 

Traveler

   Here's a minor little sharpening stone, sent to me a reader in New Jersey (thanks, Jay!). He said he had found this promotional item from a company in Brampton, Ontario (near Toronto) at a sale in New Jersey. It would be fun to learn how it actually ended about 540 miles away from home.

 We moved to a 10 digit phone number format in about 2001 so it must be at least 25 years old. The company seems to be still in business today.

 

Marion, Indiana, Dec 1958

 Found on dozens of Tumblrs and below, on Googlemaps in July 2023.