Craftsman Club

I remember when July 28th, 2005 12:55 PM July 28, 2005 I remember when


You know you're starting to get on in years when the phrase "I remember when" starts creeping into your conversations.

It's been used by me for a while now (48 years young).

But, it's sort of an inside joke with me.

I don't have much of a memory left (**^?! computers).

When I was behind the register, you could give me any personal information for look ups and I could not remember it two screens away from where I was.

The younger associates could remember all of the changing displays much more easily than I did. I just made up for it with A LOT of stocking and walking the customers to the product.

My tool memory is much mo betta though.

I've been collecting, restoring and using old tools for so long that it feels like I purchased them new. Sadly, a lot of tools I own were purchased new and are no longer available.

With constant memory refreshes available via the old catalogs I have (and hundreds of books) my "memory" of back then extends well past my birth date.

I‛m not attaching any "good-ol-days" to "back then". I wasn‛t alive to experience any of those days before 1957.

I just have the privilege of "remembering".

For a real good read of back then, coupled with good ol‛ days, check out any of Eric Sloane‛s books. Titles include; "The Seasons of America Past", "America Yesterday, Our Vanishing Landscape", "American Barns and Covered Bridges. These books include factual information, wonderful stories and Mr. Sloane shows his talent as an illustrator on many of the pages.

I was a technical illustrator at one point in my life and can really appreciate another person‛s proficiency (having worked on mine).

I don‛t really feel that old. I just get little reminders, like saying "I remember when".

That second voice in the square brackets ranges from my redneck self to my 8 year old inner child. Or... maybe the child is a redneck? Get ‛r done!

Pictoral History July 30th, 2005 05:04 PM If you want a good laugh, purchase any Whirlpool DIY appliance book.

All the suggested tools (hand tools mostly) are old reliable Sears Craftsman items, right down to the putty knife.

I'm talking 1979 era Craftsman stuff. It may seem odd, but most Kenmore appliances are "110" or "665" Whirlpools in disguise.

Sears is likely responsible for most of the growth that Whirlpool had over the years. I tend to like their appliances, they are easy to service and parts are available very easily.

I remember when October 1st, 2005 11:54 PM October 1, 2005 I remember when


Sometime in the future,

I remember when the collector's tools were gold.

Now you got that blue titanium, fire red oxide and the OD green hunts-person tools.

You're all spoiled!

Why in my days, we had non-highly polished tools.

Yup. That's right. And, the multi-media entertainment stations used a viewing tube, often using RF units to assemble the data streams.

And... the tools were stamped with size marks.

Stamped!

Now you've got that LASER engraved, personalized with up to two lines tool stuff.

In my day you needed a steady hand to wield a big, heavy, noisy, vibrating engraving tool.

We didn't have custom LASER engraving, with different styles and sizes of fonts.

You had whatever you could do with your own two sweaty hands!

And no thumb scanning, auto-lock tool chests either. We used metal keys.... in mechanical cylinders, with little fingers that decoded and compared the information contained on the metal key for a security "match".

What if your zero-resistance drawer slide skids loose absolute zero temps?

Or, the manganese/beryllium coils lose power?

Ah... Silly me. You got your lithium trititanium 100 year cells powering a core that an old-fashioned bullet couldn't damage.

You're just spoiled.

We had ball-bearings at best.

And.. you needed grease to keep everything running smoothly.

Grease!

You know. The stuff that was out-lawed over two-decades ago as being anti-health conscious.

God, I'd kill for an onion ring.

Back in my day, sonny boy October 2nd, 2005 02:38 AM Now I realize I am young to some, but for years, I have had older people coming up to me and asking me, how do I do xxxxxxx; and women my mothers age, hitting on me. So I feel older!
But growing up without a gramps, after 6, I had to learn about him from his shop, and the little that grandma told me. I moved into the twentieth century last year and bought a compound miter saw (you know the corded kind). You ever built railings with a hand miter saw? Granted, I had his corded 1/4" nonreversible drills, and cordless screwdrivers (you know, they have handles, and are FLAT head), some sockets, and even a ratchet from the twenties, BC. That's before chrome for you youngun's. You wouldn't believe how many crosscut saws I have, as I still used one on occassion (second tool when I bought my house was a circular saw), people used to give me theirs from their families. "I ain't seen one of these used in years, hereya go!"
Yellow, butal handles, were "new". You unpluged your tv and appliances when not in use (yes, even the freezer). The tv I finally got rid of, a 1960 COLOR zenith, that you had to tune, and manually adjust the hugh and contrast.
Phones, you had to wait for the other party to get off the line. Hanging clothes out on the line, drinking soda pop out of bottles on the porch. A/C was out of a big box in the window, if you had it. Cars that were relatively inexpensive, though high maintence items. Playing kickball, catch, etc in the street, and cars would slow down. And you watched for them and moved out of courtesy.

Now I'm getting nostalgic, I feel like a man out of time. I'll have to see if I can find that quiz, my mother and me took a few years ago. It said I was older.