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History First tool box?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by porknbeaner, Dec 6, 2021.

  1. I was in the garage yesterday looking for a missing box of distributers. I kind of promised a Ford disributer to a fella a while back. . . I digress sorry.

    Anyway in my hunt I came across an old craftsman tool box, about the size of a big lunch box. I forgot I had it actually. Anyway it reminded me of my first tool box, which is why I probably bought it in the first place.

    When I was about 4 or 5 years old I rummaged around in the garage and got into my old man's home tool box and found myself a pair of pliers and a screw driver. Then I proceeded to take my peddle car (a fire truck with a bell) apart.

    My dad came home from the shop and saw me with my car in pieces in the driveway. He said, "Whatcha doin *Wolfe?" I told him I was tunin' it up. He walked into the house and came back with a bottle of rum a glass and a kitchen chair. He sat right there and sipped rum and talked to me while I put it back together. I don't doubt that he helped a little bit and yes for those of you who feel the need to be judgmental I also got a sip of rum when we were done.

    The next day he came home from work with a little craftsman tool box, it had some pliers, a couple of screw drivers, a cresent wrench and a shot glass.

    So do ya remember your first tool box?

    *you probably don't know me well enough to call me that. If you do you know already. ;)
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2021
  2. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    Yes I do, but I had to make it myself, wood, bent nails and a rope handle, and no shot glass.
    No store bought pedal cars either, we made our own, baby carriage wheels, rope steering and all.
     
  3. My Grandad got me my first and Dad and Grandad added to it every chance they had. Always Craftsman tools, back when they were top notch. My first was a small Craftsman carry box, had a small socket set and small set of combination wrenches.
     
  4. Joe Blow
    Joined: Oct 29, 2016
    Posts: 1,480

    Joe Blow
    Member

    My Grandad gave me a little Tru-Test and some of his small tools. Used it for everything when I was a sprout, tool box, tackle box, slot cars, etc. Loved it, still have it (and the tools) and we're both antiques now.;)
     

  5. das858
    Joined: Jul 28, 2010
    Posts: 1,014

    das858
    Member

    I don't think i ever had a tool box when i was a kid , but my Dad would give me a 1/4 " snap-on combination wrench to carry around in my pocket. I lost 2 or 3 of those before he stopped giving me those ! My first real tool box I bought when I graduated high school and have used it for over 45 years .
     
  6. Petejoe
    Joined: Nov 27, 2002
    Posts: 12,264

    Petejoe
    Member
    from Zoar, Ohio

    9002CD54-6122-4BFA-B820-8DFEA1547A09.jpeg Cool story beaner.
    I still have mine.
    50 yrs ago, fresh out of high school.
    Got a job at a small nearby shop running a radial arm drill.
    Bought this with my first paycheck.
    A Union Chest. I was and am really proud of this thing. might as well bury me with it.
     
  7. Relic Stew
    Joined: Apr 17, 2005
    Posts: 1,208

    Relic Stew
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I made one in high school metal shop class. Still have it.
    Not a great box, just store random extra tools in it.
     
  8. I have worn out or lost a few tool boxes over the years, gave one to a young friend for his first tool box. Some of the stories are probably best left in the dust. LOL

    I have my dad's box now and his tools. I have mixed a few of mine in. It is destined to go to a young HAMBer when I check out. he don't know it yet but he will when the time comes. ;)
     
  9. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    Sure do ... it's a gray hammertone Globe "utility'' style my sister got for my dad with Gold Strike stamps for Christmas about 1960. I think it cost 11 books. I kinda took it as mine when I joined the Navy; it's been to Illinois, Washington, & California in the trunk of whatever I was driving, & flew to Oklahoma to take delivery of a '60 Bonneville coupe. Currently under a bench, loaded with all the parts & tools needed for a 6 cylinder Chev/GMC road trip. HPIM4930.JPG
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2021
  10. saltflats
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 12,594

    saltflats
    Member
    from Missouri

    I had my granddads tool box and tools tell some ass wipe stole it. :mad:
     
  11. Dave G in Gansevoort
    Joined: Mar 28, 2019
    Posts: 2,598

    Dave G in Gansevoort
    Member
    from Upstate NY

    Yes indeed! A Thorsen tote box, the type that had a 2 part lid that flipped open and was held closed by the 2 handles. It had a lift out tray. Got it with Top Value trading stamps. Filled it with a Thorsen 1/2 inch ratchet set, a Thorsen 3/8 to 1 inch combination wrench set, a pliers, a set of screwdrivers that I still have, and the few other odd tools collected by then.

    Don't have the box or the Thorsen tools anymore, but most of the rest is still with me.
     
  12. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,941

    squirrel
    Member

    My dad got me a 3/8" drive socket set from Monkey Wards in 1974...so I could fix his cars more easily, I think....it came in a good size box. Which later fit under the seat of the 59 Chevy truck, and also got a lot of use when I worked at the junkyard for a few years. Here it is in 1979, and today. Some of the tools are the same, some are different. I got really lucky finding an old picture of it.

    tool box.jpg
     
  13. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    I still have my first tool box,its actually a tackle box with a bunch miss matched tools I got from my grandfather. Could not work on a car with them but did great on bicycles and that is all I needed at the time,I almost gave it to a kid that lived next door but he left every tool he had where he last used them and that usually was all over the yard so those tools stayed in the attic of the garage.
     
  14. J. A. Miller
    Joined: Dec 30, 2010
    Posts: 2,057

    J. A. Miller
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Central NY

    I started with an old wooden Army ammo box with a rope handle. It was just something that was kicking around on the farm.
     
  15. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,141

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    What a coincidence beaner, I was rummaging around in the garden shed looking for some flower pots for my wife and pulled out my old Craftsman tool box.
    My brother bought it for me for a high school graduation present in 1972 as I was about to enter Auto Tech school and If I remember right he also bought some of the tools required by the school, still have all of them, Craftsman of course.
    I took those 396 emblems off a 1965 Impala SS that I bought in 1976 ($150), got it for the Turbo 400 to use in the drag car I was building at the time, sold the running 396 for $100 and the roller for $100.
    I have no clue where that Camaro emblem came from, one of the few Chevy models I never owned.

    20211206_095647.jpg

     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2021
  16. Three drawer lock top SNAP-ON box stuffed with Blue Point everything. Mom repo'd it from some deadbeat renter who tried to stiff her on back rent and I received it as a combo birthday/xmas present that covered all future gift giving right through high school. That box and those tools spoiled me for life:D. My buds used to call me a 'tool snob', but it didn't stop 'em from trying to borrow them....;)
     
  17. Johnny Gee
    Joined: Dec 3, 2009
    Posts: 12,602

    Johnny Gee
    Member
    from Downey, Ca

    Wish my Dad would have watched in entertainment. Mine would come out and bitch about something that didn’t suit him. But find the positive they say. He did buy me all sorts of tools I never asked for.
     
  18. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,440

    Boneyard51
    Member

    My first tool box was the square Craftsman that has since got tore up and disappeared. But for Christmas 1972, my new wife got me a ten drawer Craftsman top box and a Craftmans bottom box! I used them for years, before replacing them with a set of Mac towers. My son now has my old boxes proudly displayed in his new three bay shop! Along with half my tools!






    Bones
     
  19. 1ton
    Joined: Dec 3, 2010
    Posts: 688

    1ton
    Member

    As a young lad, still living at home with the folks, I learned to lock my box when not in use. Just one more thing my older brother taught me.
     
  20. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    After Dad said,you can't use my tools.!!Were's my 1/2in. LOL :confused:
    I got my self a old little fishing box,went to Wastern Auto with my lawnmoring $,an got 2 screw drivers>philip n flat,set of 4 end wrenchs an scockets< the very cheepist they had. But fact is,I got a lot use with my hammer boyscout axe<mybe not so super cutting,of junk car body parts I thought I needed. but worked:p
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2023
  21. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,440

    Boneyard51
    Member

    I got my Grandpa’s big ball pien hammer. He bought it in the twenties! He has replaced the handle three times and the head once! But, I have it now!






    Bones
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2021
  22. WB69
    Joined: Dec 7, 2008
    Posts: 1,958

    WB69
    Member
    from Kansas

    That is the exact same box as my first toolbox and I still have it. It's beat too crap and rides around on a tractor to this day. Doesn't take up much space. Got for X-mas from my parents.
     
  23. 2935ford
    Joined: Jan 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,843

    2935ford
    Member

    I sure do. A grey Sears Craftsman unit. For under $100 you got it filled with a bunch of mechanics tools. Sadly after changing the points on my '66 Fairlane I forgot to put the box back in the trunk. On my return from the test run, ya it was gone! :(
     
  24. I have my original tool box still, and the one I replaced it with. My original I dug out of a pile of stuff a couple of years ago and filled it up with stuff I hope never to need to use and put it in the trunk of my '50. It's an old red, Beech tool box with a lift out tray.

    It never had a shot glass in it but I'm pretty sure it's had it's share of beer and whiskey spilled on or around it. :)
     
  25. jaracer
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 2,419

    jaracer
    Member

    My Dad gave me a WWII metal ammo box with some really old tools. There was a socket set with a hex drive, some pliers, screw drivers and some really old wrenches. It went missing sometime in the 60's. My next box was a Craftsman basic mechanic's hand tool set when I started tech school.
     
  26. 0499D785-6FF2-41A0-A85C-069B3F6DFA66.png

    I got ya all beat !!!!!



    I’ll take a pic tomorrow still have my bottom roll cab from my apprenticeship, my brother gave it to me , my cousin to him snd it was given to my cousin. !!
    My guess is early 70’s Beach .

    still have all my tools I bought back then too . Plus a ton more
     
  27. stuart in mn
    Joined: Nov 22, 2007
    Posts: 2,406

    stuart in mn
    Member

    Still have mine, it's under the workbench right now filled with assorted nuts and bolts. It's one of these, they were pretty popular back in the late 1960s.

    DSC05322.jpg
     
  28. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,941

    squirrel
    Member

    And a real milk crate! I have five of those in my collection...they're pretty hard to find
     
  29. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,174

    Budget36
    Member

    Mine was a “kids set” I was probably 5/6 years old. Little tin box, small little claw hammer, pliers and two screw drivers. I used to follow my dad around carrying it, as he worked on something. It was a treat when he was doing something with wood, he’d give me a handful of nails and a scrap piece and I’d hammer them in. Kept a kid busy trying hammer a nail
    In with what probably was a a 4 ounce hammer.
    Thanks for the memories @porknbeaner
     
  30. Gabby
    Joined: Apr 14, 2007
    Posts: 299

    Gabby
    Member

    1963 from the Aldan's catalog for $29.95. Box is long gone but I am sure I still have some of the Husky tools the came with the box.
     

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