Bradley GT

Bradleys were kit-cars out of Minnesota designed to be built on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis.  The firm went under in 1981.  Liberace owned a GT.   Maybe that's why.

Full circle

The Supermarine Spitfire had its roots in the beautiful airplanes that Supermarine built to contest the Schneider Trophy competition after WW1. During the Second World War the concept of a Spitfire on floats came from the Norwegian campaign against the Germans where airfields were few, proposed again for a campaign in the Greek Islands and finally against the Japanese in the Pacific. A total of 5 were built, none saw action.

From The Supermarine S4-S6B, Profile Publications Ltd., Leatherhead, Surrey, no publication date

We used to make things in this country. #95: Belleville Hardware & Lock Mfg. Co., Belleville Ontario

The Belleville Hardware & Lock Manufacturing Company was located on Pinnacle Street in Belleville, Ontario.  I can't find any reliable information on the company, other than it seems to have been bought out by the Corbin Lock Company of Canada (a subsidiary of P.&F. Corbin of New Britain, CT) around 1947.  Although you can't really make it out from the photo, the lovely door latch above (that's solid polished brass, by the way, not plating) has "Belleville Sargent" cast into it.  The Sargent Manufacturing Company of New Haven, CT did buy Corbin Lock, so this door latch must have been made after this happened.  Sargent is now owned by the Swedish lock giant, Assa Abloy.  (As an aside, the name Assa dates back to 1881, when the blacksmith/founder's wife embroidered his name forwards and backwards on a pillow:  August Stenman, Stenman August.  The Swedes are weird this way:  google how the pop group Abba got its name.)

I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way.

To quote Wolfman Jack, "I got the angles, baby, you got the curves."  From an ad for (what else?) a men's product in Life, February 1947.  Looks like a Vargas girl.  Not quite in keeping with the blog's theme, but who's complaining?

Pliers Feature

Below is something the Duke put together regarding the patterns on pliers handles.  These are often interesting designs, intended to be attractive as well as functional.  For instance, the American firm Kraeuter took out a design patent in 1914 for their "Don't Slip" pattern which is on my own example of their pliers (and which looks identical to the German Boker pliers in the collection!)  In 1915, Peterson took out a design patent for the "checker dot" pattern used on Crescent pliers (and which looks the same as the Williams pattern--curious, as the companies were never connected and Crescent --as well as Williams' original competitor, Billings and Spencer--was ultimately bought by Cooper Industries, while Williams ended up as a subsidiary of Snap On).  It also looks very similar to the Channellock design, but this company has remained family-owned until the present.  The Alloy Artifacts website has links to these designs on Google Patents.
The patterns show greater differences among American manufacturers than among German ones.  You'll see that the Hoppe and HPW designs are virtually identical.  Interesting, I wasn't sure what HPW stood for, but looking at the patterns I think it probably stands for Harry P Will.  It would also seem that Crappy Tire used them at one point to make their pliers, because I have several waterpump pliers stamped both HPW and CTC.  Curiously, I can find no info on either Harry P. Will or Hoppe (and I have quite a few Hoppe tools, including ratchets, sockets, locking pliers, pliers and other stuff).  Their logo was their name inside an oval.

Bump, twang and owwww!

From Edwin T. Hamilton, The Boy Builder.  Dodd, Mead & Co., 1933.

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

Miss Lucky Green

Loblaws introduced its "Lucky Green Stamps" in 1959.  The basic idea was that customers were rewarded for purchases with green stamps, which they could redeem for products offered in a separate catalogue.  The mascot was "Miss Lucky Green" who apparently pointed a wand towards the "Magic World of Gifts."  The coin above shows how, at age 8, she helped to celebrate Canada's centennial.  Reward programs have now moved online, but it's more awkward to lick your monitor.

OSSA in 1960

Now, that's a poster.

One Thousand Mosquitos

From the de Havilland archives; July 1945, just a month before the Japanese surrendered. Plant workers at de Havilland's Toronto factory celebrate the completion of their 1,000th Mosquito fighter bomber.

And from Flight magazine, dated June 25 1945- less than a month before the photo above. In total 1,133 Mosquitos were built at Downsview.

Probably the finest tribute to the Mosquito came from Herman Goering;

"In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked."

Behind the wheel of an Austin-Healey 100 Six

Larry Reid,  A Guide to Rallying.  New York:  Sports Car Press, 1957, 1960