I reached out to the Museum of Our Industrial Heritage; http://www.industrialhistory.org
email: info@industrialhistory.org 2 Mead Street, Greenfield, Massachusetts
They immediately responded.
They said, "The 1930's was a time of the Great Depression. Many companies were failing including Greenfield tool companies. The Millers Falls Company took over the failing Goodell Pratt Company and rebranded their products. Both companies had financial issues, but the Millers Falls Co. was in better condition."
Unfortunately, they also said, "This drill is not listed in our Millers Falls catalogs of the period."
Anyway, it looked as though my drill might have had its beginnings with the Goodell Pratt Company.
So I went searching for a Goodell Pratt Catalog; looking for the Mother Breed, so to speak. There were no such catalogs after the merger, which I was also informed. But I found some from prior to the Depression.
Picture #1 is from Goodell Prattt's 1926 Catalog. Says it's a 5/8" drill. At this stage of evolution, I don't see much resemblance to my drill. It looks like a darn beer keg. And it seems it might have a Toggle switch.
I nailed that down with a snippet (#2) from a YouTube video of some knowledgeable dude. He was dismantling this old Goodell Pratt while Hungarian Rhapsody was playing.
I ran across this site; https://oldtoolheaven.com. and from this source I learned the Millers Falls and Goodell Pratt merger occurred in 1931. Millers Falls was making electric drills just as far back. Picture #3: 1926 catalog cover.
This illustration clearly shows the drill has a Trigger Switch, which suggests that aside from rebranding, Millers Falls introduced modifications.
Or perhaps in this case, rebranding wasn't involved.
Picture #4: 1930 Millers Falls Catalog. There's a 3/4" drill. Below the 7/8" drill, it states, "equipped with No. 2 Morse Taper Socket instead of a three-jaw chuck." Significantly, this is one year before the merger.
Picture #5 out of the Millers Falls 1938 Catalog; The Model 678 7/8" Drill has a "No. 2 Morse Taper Socket, but can be made to handle straight shank drills up to 3/4 inch by using the No. 1034 Chuck...."
Things are looking more like my drill, but the 1938 Trigger Switch is situated just under the Housing.
Pictures #6 & 7 are consecutive pages from a 1949 catalog. Models 658 and 734 have that Trigger Switch right where I been wanting to see it. Detailed but not pictured in the catalog, is the the larger No. 801 1", which has a "No. 3 M.T. Socket."
I do not as yet see a Carbon Brush Cap
Bottom picture #8 looks like it just stepped out the 1949 catalog. Some years ago. That aftermarket gold paint.
Well this is where the road ends. There's other features of this drill of mine such as that particular Nameplate. And all the screws are deep Slotted. I figure it was made in the 50s, maybe just into the 60s.
Ingersoll Rand bought Millers Falls back in 62.
