And here's another Thorsen catalogue - 1008-8 - in PDF.

(If anyone can figure out the year of publication on this, please let me know. It's likely 1980s...)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ijudfpycu9m2g82

Once again, thanks to Eric!

Thanks again! 

There is a locally owned mom/pop tool store (The Tool Room) that has been in business all my life selling Thorsen and Proto tools exclusively.  I'm planning to stop by there tomorrow to see if the owner can educate me on Thorsen....I'll include dating this catalog in the discussion.

Decisions...decisions....what to click on.....

(If anyone can figure out the year of publication on this, please let me know. It's likely 1980s...)

They are in Dallas, so after late 70's, and they still show their manufacturing plant, so before the 90's, so definite 80's.....

Edit: The new "Socket ejector" ratchet in the catalog was patented 1985....

Edit2: Just to be confusing tho, Page 7 says "Patented and patent pending, - available 1979.....

I'm thinking that 1979 is a typo and should be 1989 and the catalog is 1988 (which would also make all the 8's in the catalog number more sensible)


(Patent 4524653 and  4524652)

Quote from: rusty on March 04, 2012, 05:16:37 PM
Decisions...decisions....what to click on.....

What did you decide?

Oh wait, we know; you made the correct decision...

Girlfriends cost money....

Money is required to buy tools....

I just sent an email to a Thorsen company in Canada to see if they could help with dating it. I'm not even sure it its the same company, keep your fingers crossed

Quote from: Fins/413 on March 06, 2012, 10:56:44 AM
I'm not even sure it its the same company...

I very much doubt it.

Ehh.....You do know there is a town in California named Ontario  right?

Thorsen Tool Company
4120 Jurupa Street, Suite 216
Ontario, CA 91761
United States
Legal Entity Type: Corporation
State or Country of Incorporation: California

(Before the Texas move...)

You are correct. I've lost my mind. I saw the CA and thought of Canada, not enough coffee

LOL!

This catalog is likely from 1978 since it states that the release ratchet wii be available in 1979.
-Don

Thorsen Tool catalog 1008-8
listed on the International Tool Catalog Library site as 1988:
https://archive.org/details/ThorsenToolCatalogNo10088

Thorsen Tool catalog 3-75
listed on the International Tool Catalog Library site as 1975:
https://archive.org/details/ThorsenCatalog3751975

Undated Thorsen Tool catalog
listed on International Tool Catalog Library site as "early":
https://archive.org/details/ThorsenToolsCatalogEarly

The patent on the Thorsen model 89J ratchet was issued June 11, 1974 (patent 3815451) and applied for March 7, 1973, making it reasonable to assume the unit was in production at the earliest in late 1972.
I am baffled as to why it would take them five years to put the unit into production, which if we are to take at face value the notation in the 1008-8 catalog that d42jeep cites above (see attachment below) is exactly what seems to be the case.
More puzzling is that notwithstanding the patent for the unit having been issued in 1974, it does not appear on either the June 15 1977 User Price List (see below) or the May 1 1978 Hardware Dealer Price List (see below), further adding to the confusion about the dates on the 1008-8 catalog.

We didn't switch over from Indestro to Thorsen until the early-to-mid-1980s, and my memory of catalogs from that era is somewhat vague now, but the graphics on the front cover scream "1980s".

There is another discussion somewhere about the "early" Thorsen catalog, which from comments made in that discussion thread it seems reasonable to assign it a date of 1929 or 1930 - the "Techni-Heat" sales pitch is definitely a clincher.

My 1933 Thorsen catalog does show the "Techni-Heat" slogan throughout the catalog and offers a different product mix than the aforementioned "early" catalog.

I am still working on updating my list of brands and manufacturers, after which I'll figure out a way to get all these catalogs scanned and see that they're made available for download at the International Tool Catalog Library.

full page. sorry about the tiny size. had to reduce it to post it here.