They had more stuff than a Sears Christmas Catalog...
it's so interesting to see the origins of so many common things, like roller skates... and see that they had rubber wheel skates for rinks, and plain metal ones for sidewalks...
and though the Crescent brand existed, they hadn't cornered the market
and they were not called "Tin Snips" yet, they were "Tinners' Snips"
And axes were known by the shapes, a Wisconsin, Michigan, Chicago, or California pattern
and what the hell is a Car Builders Half axe?
and this is a freaking railroad car moving lever
and a car body clamp, as they were known then, and now, known as C Clamps - is that C the abbreviation for Car? Intriguing!
Kennedy Tool Chests were already a thing!
and I learned a lot of words/names for things... Darbies, Hawks, Riffles
I have no idea what a long chain needle nose is, or how it's different from a "long" needle nose? Shorter and more curved handles?
Ever seen a double ended Crescent Wrench?
Wow, 10000 pounds cutting pressure! I wonder what other tools compare to that, and what tools have more?
and I learned what Berea stone is! I'd never heard of that before
What the hell is a barbed car nail for? I had to look that up, of course!
"Barbed car nails" were specialty heavy-duty fasteners used to build and repair wooden railroad freight cars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before trains were built entirely of steel
Because rail cars (boxcars, stock cars, and flatcars) were constructed with thick wooden framing and siding and subjected to constant vibration, heavy shifts in freight, and severe weather, standard smooth-shank nails would eventually loosen and "pop" out under this mechanical stress. To prevent this, manufacturers designed barbed car nails
and before we called them Cotter Pins, they were called spring cotters!
there's a lot more, but that's for another day, it's late and I gotta call it a day
