Vintage Craftsman Tools

Craftsman began as the in-house tool brand for Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1927. As a retailer, Sears hired other manufacturers to produce its Craftsman line of tools, which ranged from hammers and screwdrivers to pliers and wrenches made by such companies as Danielson, Billings, and Moore Drop Forging, whose work can be identified by the letter "V." These manufacturers took their design cues from Tom Dunlap, who managed Sears' hardware division and specified that all Craftsman tools should be chrome plated. Today, collectors of vintage Craftsman tools look for a number of distinguishing marks and characteristics, which can be used to date a tool and determine its manufacturer. Mechanics tools made in the decades after World War II, for example, share a common logo, the word "CRAFTSMAN" in capital letters bracketed on either side by a pair of horizontal lines. Tools made during the 1930s, however, were branded in a variety of ways. Sometimes the word "CRAFTSMAN" in capital letters would be forged onto one side of the shank of a wrench, with the words "CHROME-VANADIUM" forged on the reverse. In other cases, the words "CRAFTSMAN VANADIUM STEEL" were stamped into a tool, while other tools featured depressed lozenge-shaped areas to contain the words "CRAFTSMAN VANADIUM" or just "CRAFTSMAN" alone, with the lower portion of the "C" extending as a line beneath "CRAFTSMAN." More clues can be found in the letters and numbers used to identify tool manufacturers, although it's not uncommon for a single manufacturer to be identified by different letters and numerals, depending on the tool and the year it was made. Danielson, for example, made Vanadium adjustable wrenches for Craftsman—the ones produced from 1934 to 1939 are stamped "A.O."; those made in the early 1940s are stamped "312.1"; and Danielson tools made for Craftsman after World War II bear the letters "LC." Moore Drop Forging, which produced untold numbers of postwar Craftsman tools, is the exception that proves the rule, identified by the letter "V" both before and after the war. Beyond the vintage Craftsman tools made for mechanics and carpenters, Sears also used the brand to sell lawnmowers beginning in 1934 and a full line of garden equipment beginning in 1948. And while Craftsman socket sets had been around since 1932, the quick-release ratchet did not appear until 1966.