These two brass handled screw driver sets have been hanging on my shop wall for some time now.  I didn't know that they held the smaller drivers inside the handles until one of my friends informed me of the hidden ones.  To bad some were not Phillips head drivers, but Phillips heads didn't come into being until 1934 or 5.
I think they are great little tools

Before there were Dollar Stores stuffed with carded merch there were Dime Stores like FW Woolworth where tons of such screwdriver sets were sold from counters with glass dividers.

Finding a complete set today is an accomplishment.

That is interesting,  neither of these screw drivers has any brand names or marking of any kind.
Mel

The local lumber yard had a table in the middle of the salesroom that had these & other similar items for less than a dollar.  I remember getting one with a hammer head about age 6.  Still have it as well as dozens of others from tag sales, fleas, & auctions.  One of my many weaknesses,  I seem to buy every one I come across.  They usually aren't really that good as users, but I do keep on in my desk and in the table beside my living room chair  for those small jobs like battery covers.

The nested brass screwdrivers are fun, I have several stashed here and there. I also keep one in the truck, because it happens that the screwdriver, not being flared, fits perfectly in the set screw hole on a lock cylinder....

Unfortunatly, everyone who picks it up seems compelled to take it apart, they don't always feel compelled to put it back together again tho....LOL

That why you find so many partial sets.  I love to find all of the pieces while going thru a box lot or a toolbox.  Makes me feel complete.

They are still made. I bought one from a gunsmithing supply company about a year ago. Mine has a brass hammer head.

EvilDr235 

Quote from: Mel Larsen on August 05, 2012, 12:29:33 PM
To bad some were not Phillips head drivers, but Phillips heads didn't come into being until 1934 or 5.

They may not have been common, but something like Phillps screws were available at least as early as 1909.  Had to document them for a historic building.  Wish I still had all the documentation  because it passed with CA Parks and Recreation's state historian.   Apparently the cross top screws were not Phillips final design. John P. Thompson sold his self-centering design to Henry F. Phillips in 1935.   Phillips had formed the Phillips Screw Company in 1934, the year before.

Quote from: Mel Larsen on August 05, 2012, 12:29:33 PM
These two brass handled screw driver sets have been hanging on my shop wall for some time now.  I didn't know that they held the smaller drivers inside the handles until one of my friends informed me of the hidden ones.  To bad some were not Phillips head drivers, but Phillips heads didn't come into being until 1934 or 5.
I think they are great little tools

Mel, I still remember taking one of those apart while stopped at a traffic light,  it just keep getting smaller, and smaller !

Very nice ones you have there. I have 4 or 5 of them I have picked up.

Brian L.