Folding Rule Wood marked "JC Penney 2597 Extension Made in U.S.A."

[hurler99]

Found this rule but can find no information on Google, eBay, or JC Penney web site.

Would like to determine if it is unique enough to add to collection.

Any input would be appreciated.

Can't get photo to upload from iPad, I'll post from computer later today.

[Papaw]

I suspect  it was made for them by a regular manufacturer during JCP's foray into tools.

[Bill Houghton]

JC Penney had a fairly extensive array of tools at one time, trying to compete with Sears and Montgomery Wards.  Even into the 70s (maybe even 80s), you could get table saws and the like from their catalog.  I doubt this is a highly collectible rule, but it's a neat piece of Americana, in that it's from a time when department stores felt they had to offer tools, because everyone used them, or at least wanted to own them so they could use them if so inclined.

Penney dropped out before Ward (it's funny, I was raised to say, "Penney's" and "Wards," but it turns out neither is correct), leaving Sears to soldier on as the national department store that had tools.

[hurler99]

Thank you both.

Dad used to call Wards "Monkey Wards", a name I thought was legitimate so I called them that until their demise.

[Bill Houghton]

Oh, yes, everybody called it that.  Poor Aaron Montgomery Ward - it seems he died before the nickname came about, which is good.

And I hadn't realized until looking it up just now that Montgomery Ward preceded Sears ("Sears and Rowboat") in the mail order business.  Sears passed Ward pretty early, though, and stayed ahead.

[wvtools]

I've got one of those too.  I thought it was neat when I opened this thread, and I did not think I had one.  With 500+ zig zags, it is getting harder to find new ones without venturing into the high dollar Stanley ones.  I need to make a list to carry with me when I go out looking.

[Chillylulu]

In 1982 when i was indentured as a sprinkler-fitter apprentice a 6 foot folding rule, with brass extension, was one of the hand tools our employer was required to provide to us.

My favorite trick with one, taught to me by several journeymen in my first year, was to extend the ruler partly, then swing it in an arc with your right hand and hit another guy (who is facing you) just below his hip on his left side.  If you hit the other guy at just the right place on the ruler it would wrap around his back, then right side, then the front with the tip of the rule swinging in and tapping him right on the junk. At 19 years old I thought that trick was one of the most important taught me.

Since then, whenever wearing tools, I have always carried a folding wood rule next to my 9" torpedo level in the slim, lower pocket on my overalls right leg . They are used as much as my tape measure overall. Now I carry a wood extension rule (with brass extension on one, if not 2, sides) in my survey kit, along with my Hilti laser measure, and my 25' Stanley tape measure. The 25' tape measure is the least used measuring tool, with the wood rule and the laser getting about equal use measuring the building.

Good tool when used correctly, and much handier than a regular ruler or tape measure.

Chilly

[Plyerman]

Lord that story gave me a good laugh this morning Chili!

[Aunt Phil]

Chili did some old mechanic teach you to coil up the rope on the extension ladder so he didn't tie it to some machine headed out the door after you showed him your trick? 

You damn sure would have spent some quality learning hours clinging to a bar joist begging for a ladder if you showed some old boys I know that trick. 

Back in the 60s if an electrician walked on the deck carrying a tape measure he could either go home till he learned what trade he was in, or enjoy the winter in a ditch outside threading up 4" conduit without  anybody teaching him what a 6 foot rope was used for.   I worked a job with an old boy named Buster who was top notch as a millwright, and the first hour I learned to always ask if any measurement more than 12" Buster called out was stretched or shrunk.  He wouldn't buy a new ruler, wouldn't use a new ruler if the company gave it to him, and Buster was the only man on the job who could still read what was left of the markings on his ruler.  The hinges on that ruler were so worn it popped apart once a day.  Buster used that folding stick because it was given to him by the mechanic who signed off on Buster's papers in 1942.  After all a good ruler was expensive and brass had to be conserved for the War.  Buster had a toolbox full of new company provided rulers, but he wouldn't use one.

Worked with another man who carried an Engineer's ruler.  That contraption was marked in inches on one side and tenths of a foot on the other side.  Worked well for him, he was used to it. 

I still have my heavy duty I bought in the 60s, in the glove box just in case I need it.  If it has to measure anythng less than a foot some unfolding has to take place and some cyphering because the first fold from either end is pretty much blank wood. 

Kids coming up in the trades today all carry them chromed plastic Stanleys.  That might be why they don't learn the trade and need so much OSHA protection to keep mechanics from putting them out of their misery.

[Bill Houghton]

Don't hold back, Phil.  Tell us what you think 

[OilyRascal]

Kids coming up in the trades today all carry them chromed plastic Stanleys.  That might be why they don't learn the trade and need so much OSHA protection to keep mechanics from putting them out of their misery.

I carry a chrome plated Stanley.  EVERYDAY!  The fact I carry one has nothing to do with anything other than it is the best tape measure that can be found locally (and that we can all standardize on as a team).

EDIT:  I did find the generalization quoted above offensive, and I don't come here expecting to be offended.

[Chillylulu]

Kids coming up in the trades today all carry them chromed plastic Stanleys.  That might be why they don't learn the trade and need so much OSHA protection to keep mechanics from putting them out of their misery.

I carry a chrome plated Stanley.  EVERYDAY!  The fact I carry one has nothing to do with anything other than it is the best tape measure that can be found locally (and that we can all standardize on as a team).

EDIT:  I did find the generalization quoted above offensive, and I don't come here expecting to be offended.

Oilyrascal - what trade are you in? Most journeymen, when referring to the kids, or cubs, are talking trade specific.
I don't think it is meant to be offensive, but there is a big difference between todays kids and those of a generation ago. This is the way it has always been.
I tease my son (electrician) for carrying a 16' tape. In my trade (pipefitting, specifically sprinkler fitting) they are useless.  A 25' or 30' tape works though.

The biggest problem is lack of training IMHO.  I've heard management level types actually compare journeynen to trained monkeys.
I had 4 years of weekly lessons and giving up Saturday mornings once or twice a month plus on the job training. My son had two nights a week for 3 hrs each night for 5 years. Plus craft certifications. At least they get a summer break. All this on their own time, no pay.

The payoff, at least for MEP trades is a fair wage, currently pushing $40 / hr here in Denver. Plus benefits and insurance. No paid vacations or holidays, though.

It isn't easy, but it can be a great option for those who don't want or can't go to college.  Even better than many college degeees.

When a journeyman refers to a kid coming up these days he us referring to a trainee. By the fact that they are a teainee they don't know everything they need to, yet. If you are a trainee you should know that you are learning. If you aren't a trainee, you don't need to take offense at a comment aimed at MEP trainees.

I personally find the view a lot of office people have of tradespeople worse than any generalizations an old hand would make about the latest crop of apprentices. The old hand changes how he treats an apprentice the day the apprentice turns out. But the comments made by a few pencil pushers never change.

For myself, I was in the office before I turned out. But I still completed my training. I have still paid my monthly union dues since 1982, with no tangible or monetary benefit as far as anyone knows. I doubt that I could pull wrenches anymore with my messed up nervous system. I really doubt I would like living on  $40 an hour, either.  But I take pride in my card and my trade. Obviously you do too.  Give the old hands the benefit of a doubt and save your anger for those who really have no idea what it is we tradespeople do.

Chilly