Lenox screwdrivers

[lucakiki]

First of all let me apologize if this is the wrong forum.
Hope the boss can move my question to the proper place, in case it is needed.

I need information on the " perfect handle" style Lenox screwdrivers: mainly, whend they were first introduced or manufactured.
Thank you for any help.

[Papaw]

I read a lot of the posts on the jeep forum, Luca, and it seems you are not getting much info. I have no help in your search either.

[lucakiki]

Yes, that is why I tried on here.
I was hoping that someone outside of the jeep world could tell me more aboud the lenox brand and the time frame in which they manufactured screwdrivers with a wooden handle.

[lucakiki]

Any one with an answer?

[lauver]

luca,

Your best bet is to find someone with old Lenox tool catalogs.  These would be a wealth of information regarding the Lenox foray into "perfect handle" tools.  Have you tried contacting Lenox regarding historical records?  You may get lucky.

But, for now here is what little I can tell you:

H.D. Smith Co. was the original inventor and producer of "Perfect Handle" tools, roughly between 1900 and 1930, when H.D. Smith went out of business, a victim of the depression.

After H.D. Smith went out of business, many other tool companies began copying the Perfect Handle design.  This would presumably have been sometime post 1930, and some of these companies are still making them today.

Good luck in your search...

[lucakiki]

Thank you. For my needs, just knowing whether they were already making that kind of "perfect handle" screwdriver in WWII or not would be more than enough. Thank you.

[lauver]

luca,

The PH screwdriver design appears to have been in its "heyday" between WWI and WWII.  After WWII, not so much...

[lauver]

luca,

Can you post a photo of your Lenox PH driver?  I've never seen a Lenox.

[volvadi]

I don't know much about screwdrivers, but here is a picture of a Lenox that I picked up at an estate sale last Saturday.  It's the only one that I've seen. 



Paid a dollar for everything in this picture.  Wish I would have made it to the sale on Friday instead of Saturday.  Who knows what else they may have given away.

[volvadi]

This Lenox on Ebay looks to be the same as mine, only much better.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140708015962&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

[lauver]

volvadi,

Thanks for the Lenox driver photo; looks like the typical PH design.

It's hard to believe how many OEMs and Brands used the PH design.  I think I've seen at least 20 Brands.  And, I'm not even counting all the unbranded versions.

[64longstep/Brian]

volvadi,


 I think I've seen at least 20 Brands.  And, I'm not even counting all the unbranded versions.

That just means that there will be a lot of them around for a long time for "PHARTS"

[lauver]

volvadi,


 I think I've seen at least 20 Brands.  And, I'm not even counting all the unbranded versions.

That just means that there will be a lot of them around for a long time for "PHARTS"

64,

And that is as it should be....  plentiful donor stock.

[rusty]

As to the original question, I have never seen a lenox advertisment for wood handle screwdrivers, ever, anywhere. I had sorta decided they made them only for the government. The earliest screwdriver Ad I know of is for the 'new' plastic handled screwdrivers, around 1950's....