How to tell vintage of Vise Grips

[Bill Houghton]

A recent post - here?  - on the eBay value of really old Vise Grips sent me out to the shop.  Alas, I don't have any really old ones, but I do have one clean pre-release-lever 7" model.  But I'm stumped at trying to figure out its age.  Alloy Artifacts apparently considers these outside their scope (at least, there's no relevant manufacturer's listing that I could see), and searches on "vise grip vintage," "...type study," etc. got me nowhere.  Does anyone know of resources for determining an age range for these?

[lbgradwell]

If you post a nice close-up, I am confident I can get you a date range at least...

In the meantime, you might want to read a thread over at the GG:

http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.php?topic=18696.msg238788#msg238788

[Bill Houghton]

LB,

Papaw suggested I post these pics with Photobucket.  So I'll try it.
---------
LB and anyone with Vise Grip knowledge,

Here are pictures:





Based on what I saw on the ads that LB helpfully posted on Garage Journal, the logo on Vise Grips appears to have moved from the side of the fixed jaw to the handle in 1947; if that's so, then these are 1947 or newer.  And I know they're older than 1957, when the release lever was added.  What I'm less sure about is the model number visible on the movable jaw.  If the drawings in the ads are accurate, there were no model numbers there as late as 1949; and, when they do appear in the 1950 ads, they appear as raised letters in a recessed rectangle.

Of course, this could be like the type studies of Stanley bench planes.  Stanley, not knowing that people would be obsessing over details, used up existing stocks of parts as they produced planes.  So I have a Type 13 smoothing plane with a Type 12 logo on the iron, oh my goodness what can be wrong?  This may be the same sort of thing; or maybe Petersen did have the model number stamped on the jaw earlier than 1950, but the artists left it out of the ad drawings for simplicity, or aesthetic reasons, or something.

Anyway, I'll be interested to hear what folks think.

[Bill Houghton]

bump...I edited my earlier reply, and realized that wouldn't signal I had new information.

[strik9]

I have one of those.   They range in from 1952 to 1957 based on the locations of the stampings.   Yours is a brother to mine.
    The search for a 1947 to 1950 version will end up making some Ebayer rich.    Bidding wars ensue with every one.

    Good users but not exactly in the collectors markets yet.

[Bill Houghton]

I have one of those.   They range in from 1952 to 1957 based on the locations of the stampings.   Yours is a brother to mine.
    The search for a 1947 to 1950 version will end up making some Ebayer rich.    Bidding wars ensue with every one.

    Good users but not exactly in the collectors markets yet.

So the ad copy showing the model number in a recessed rectangle, starting in 1950, is not accurate?  It sounds like I'd love it if these were produced in the range from 1947 to 1950, since I want to offer these on the market.

I'd be keeping these, except that - thanks to a combination of my own purchases back when I used Vise Grips to substitute for the tools I couldn't afford and my uncle's generosity when we cleaned out his garage - I've got a plenty of the models with the release lever.

And, now that I own all the tools I might need, pretty much, to work on the cars and other things that don't break down as much as the clapped-out stuff I owned when I didn't have tools, I rarely use them.  Isn't that the way of the world?

[rusty]

By the time  had a reasonably complete, decent set of SAE sockets and wrenches,
 just about every auto manufacturer in the US had finally changed the rest of the bolts to metric...

[Bill Houghton]

By the time  had a reasonably complete, decent set of SAE sockets and wrenches,
 just about every auto manufacturer in the US had finally changed the rest of the bolts to metric...

At least you didn't start out with Whitworth!

[mvwcnews]

...So the ad copy showing the model number in a recessed rectangle, starting in 1950, is not accurate?  It sounds like I'd love it if these were produced in the range from 1947 to 1950, since I want to offer these on the market. ...

If you do a google books advanced search  ( http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search )for "ton grip" -- in quotes which makes it an exact phrase search  -- with date range 1940 - 1955 you'll pull up  Popular Science  ads from Petersen Mfg.   A 1946 ad noted "zinc plated" and showed a model with no stampings but a decal on the side of the body.   A 1952 ad shows a 10" curved jaw model with the size designation in a box in the movable jaw.   Harriet Petersen Fort was in charge of  Petersen Mfg. Co.  advertising at that time and she was pretty savvy so probably kept the ads in synch with the latest production. Enjoy.

[strik9]

   Bill, next time you use a locking pliers grab one of each generation possible.    I had three generations available from the 50's to the 90's.    I tossed in an Asain copy just for fun.   It failed first every time.

     Based purely on grip, ease of use and feel the oldest version turned out to be my best mostly on grip and the solid feel of the frame.     I sold the 80's and 90's version shortly afterward.
    Your results may differ but I still have only the single lever in my stocks.

[Bill Houghton]

Mvwcnews' recommendation of Google Books was fantastic: I was able to find year by year ads, supplementing the ads in L.B. Gradwell's Garage Journal post, that showed the evolution.  I've concluded that these were probably produced in 1949 or 1950.  What I found:
*In 1947, the company logo moved from the side of the fixed (top) jaw to the top handle.  However, the 1947 and 1948 ads I found did not have any model number showing on the jaws.
*A stamped model number, like the model number on these pliers, appears on the lower jaw in ads from 1949 and 1950; in 1950, some ads show the model number as raised numbers/letters in a recessed rectangle.
*By 1951, all the drawings in ads show the recessed rectangle/raised letters model number.

So I think 1948 is too early, and 1951 too late, for this particular pair of Grips.

These are apparently the “world famous original model” No. 7, based on the copy in one ad.  I believe this refers to the straight jaw design; Petersen was adding curved jaws and wire cutters during that period.

[EVILDR235]

I have found over the years of collecting many things that companies recycle pictures in ads for what ever reason.

EvilDr235

[lauver]

I have found over the years of collecting many things that companies recycle pictures in ads for what ever reason.

EvilDr235

Evil,

I have seen this same recycling of photos and drawings in the Sears/Craftsman catalogs.  It appears they followed the line of least resistance when compiling catalogs.