Craftsman Logo Date

[rusty]

Any thoughts about date range for this version of the Craftsman logo? It appears on a tap & die set I have....

[kxxr]

VintageMachinery.org shows this one and says it is a "shaper decal" . No more details than that but it may be a clue.
Now that they are side by side, I don't think the C looks the same. Don't ask me about the colors, I am color challenged.
If I were guessing, I would say that your logo is pre 1936.

[kxxr]

A version pretty close to yours appears on this fellow's (Tool Guyd) socket set and he dates the set to 1940, give or take. So much for pre 1936. And hey, whadya know, there's a plug for ToolTalk at the bottom of the page. Small world.
http://toolguyd.com/2010/08/craftsman-vintage-14-drive-socket-set/#

[lbgradwell]

And hey, whadya know, there's a plug for ToolTalk at the bottom of the page. Small world.
http://toolguyd.com/2010/08/craftsman-vintage-14-drive-socket-set/#

That's Stuey's site. If he's not a member here, he is at both GG & GJ...

[Papaw]

Yes, Stuey is a good guy.

[rusty]

>(Tool Guyd) socket set and he dates the set to 1940, give or take. So much for pre 1936...

I think he has the date too late, that ratchet style is earlier, and the drive bar is (H) style design (parrallel sides at the fork) with a BE marking, which makes it an early transition piece, so mid/late 30's makes sense to me....

Also, the ad pages on OWWM (thanks, I had forgotten they have logo's there) show a square bottom left corner on the C_ after 1937 or so.

Adding to that the likelihood that Sears did not change the logo's on everything at the same time, That is probably as close as I am going to get.

(The contents of the set don't help much, it doesn't quite match anything made by wells/greenfield, so I have to assume for now it was put together just for sears, which doesn't help date it any)

  --

>he is at both GG & GJ...
Not to mention having his own web site, no wonder he doesn't have time to drop in and say hi anymore; P

[kxxr]

>(Tool Guyd) socket set and he dates the set to 1940, give or take. So much for pre 1936...

I think he has the date too late...

Agreed. I guess I'll stick with my guess for now.

[Branson]

Any thoughts about date range for this version of the Craftsman logo? It appears on a tap & die set I have....

Alloy artifacts says,  "A subsequent trademark introduced the underlined logo, with the initial "C" extended to underline the mark; the earliest reference to this at the USPTO is for 1934."  The "=CRAFTSMAN=" logo shows up around 1945, so "Based on just this trademark information, we could roughly estimate production dates...1934-1944 for the underlined logo..."

[Branson]

Now that they are side by side, I don't think the C looks the same. Don't ask me about the colors, I am color challenged.

They are different.  The C in your picture is made in a gentle curve, while the other is the angled C that AA shows for post 1934 logos.

[kxxr]

Now that they are side by side, I don't think the C looks the same. Don't ask me about the colors, I am color challenged.

They are different.  The C in your picture is made in a gentle curve, while the other is the angled C that AA shows for post 1934 logos.

It is worth noting that the AA reference here is addressing sockets, specifically. It seems the printed logos, while often similar to what appears on the tools, were created and displayed with all sorts of variations apart from the tools themselves. I'm sure the marketing people and artists responsible for such variety probably never gave a thought to how all that would be interpreted some 70 years later. And, if they did give it a thought, I bet they thoroughly enjoyed the notion that it would all confuse the hell out of us!

[Branson]

It is worth noting that the AA reference here is addressing sockets, specifically. It seems the printed logos, while often similar to what appears on the tools, were created and displayed with all sorts of variations apart from the tools themselves.

A little more confusion...  I have a Craftsman underlined DOE (5/8 & 3/4), #1729.  The C in the logo is curved rather than having angled corners.  It's marked FORGED IN U.S.A. in an inset panel.  perpendicular to this, is CI.  The Cman underline is in a panel on the other side, preceded by a perpendicular N, and a + below the N.  I looks very similar to a Barcalo 5/8 & 3/4 DOE except it's 3/4" longer than the Barcalo.

Looks like the logos were also various, depending on who made the tool for Sears?