North Bros "Yankee" No. 31

[Nasutushenri]

Last week I bought a North Bros "Yankee" No. 31 ratchet screwdriver in a charity shop. Paid € 2.50.
It has patent markings Apr.16.95, Nov. 2.97, Sep. 5.99 and Oct. 9.00.
According to http://jp29.org/wwyankeespiral.htm later examples had also 3 Nov. 08 as date stamp.
The Nos 30 series did not have a return spring.

Is my example more than hundred years old ?

Regards
Henri

[bill300d]

No expert on these but according to the info on that site I would say yours could be.
The owner of that site has posted here before I believe. Haven't seen him on here for a while.

[mikeswrenches]

Henri, North Bros. would add a "1" in the number to indicate the return spring. Thus a no. 30 had no return spring, while a no. 130 would have a return spring. This is also true in the other numbers.

   Just to make it a bit more confusing, there are letter suffixes to indicate internal changes. e.g. the 131A. I believe there is also a 131B, but am not positive.

Also, you can not add a spring to the springless models since they are a bit shorter and also don't have the screw in the end of the handle where you load the spring.

Mike

[john k]

When did Stanley buy out the North Bros.?  3 out of 4 of these screwdrivers I pick up are marked Stanley. 

[bill300d]

I think it was 1946 John

[mikeswrenches]

I did this awhile back when I got interested in Stanley acquisitions. If you find any errors, please let me know.

STANLEY ACQUISITIONS TIMELINE

1857  Stanley Rule & Level Co. established by Henry Stanley
1863  SR & L Co acquires E. A. Stearns
1869  SR & L Co acquires patents & machinery of L. Bailey
1904  SR & L Co purchases Hurley & Wood (Hurwood)
1909  John S Fray purchased (braces, tool handles)
1913   Atha Tool Co, Newark, NJ purchased
1916   Eagle Square Co. purchased
1920  SR & L Co merges with the Stanley Works on May 1st
1921   SweetHart logo appears
1931  Farrand tape measure introduced
1934  Logo changed to the "notched rectangle"
1937  SR & L Co name changed to Stanley Tools division of The Stanley Works
1944  Russell Jennings Mfg. acquired
1946  North Bros. Mfg. acquired


The Sweethart logo appearance and disappearance dates are somewhat problematic.

Mike

[Nasutushenri]

Thanks for the replies.
I have a small collection of ratchet screwdrivers, British and German.
The North Bros No. 31 is the first American one.
A rare find in the Netherlands.
All the examples came from charity, thrift and junk shops.
I did a lot of research on the internet about Stanley Yankee ratchet screwdrivers,
and was very pleased with the North Bros one.

Regards
Henri

[turnnut]

nice group that you have, thanks for sharing.

[john k]

Originally, the Yankee screwdrivers were available boxed, in kits.  Never found one myself, but have accumulated a dozen of the screwdrivers. 

[Lewill2]

I picked this set up locally off of Craigslist the middle of last year for what I thought was a fair price. The outside of the case has it scrapes but the inside is nice and clean with a few extra bits.

[bill300d]

That's a beauty. I had no idea that they came in wood cases like that.

[p_toad]

Nice case and nice collection.  Thanks to both of you for showing.   I have a few of the screwdrivers, but nothing that nice.