>I believe many employees took home tons of tools ...
Most likelt.
My dad, years ago, went to an auction at a factory in CT where they were making craftsman sockets, (They went under, he was buying machines)
He said there were sockets in the machines, sockets in bins all over the place, sockets rolling around the floor, sockets rolling around in the parking lot, sockets in the grass next to the parking lot.....
If an employee wanted to take a couple of sockets home, I doubt it would have been much of a challenge...