Codger_64
Moderator
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
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Here is a brief ramble I promised a few days ago. MAC Tools was a good retailer customer of Schrade iin the seventies / eighties, and on into the 1990's with their racing sponsorship of Harry Gant and others. I happened upon this oddity knife a couple of weeks ago. One of my very few LB-5 SFO's.
MAC TOOLS HISTORY
Mac Tools was conceived and incorporated in 1938 as the Mechanics Tool and Forge Company and elected Ralph McPherson and Otto Tucker as the first President and Secretary of the organization. These two men scraped up all available capital, a paltry $5,000, to secure a building and buy used machinery so they could begin production.
World War II brought prosperity to the Mechanics Tool and Forge Company because of the sizeable government contract received in 1942. In 1944, they recapitalized with the help of the Securities Commission.
Shortly after their capital investment, the company received a proposal from Clem Poole, concerning the opening of a socket division. Though they recognized the need to introduce sockets into their product line, they did not have the means to finance the opening of the division because of their recent investment.
The management of Mechanics Tool and Forge decided to open a new, associate company with virtually the same stockholders, rather than expanding the existing product line. On October 30, 1944, the Clinton Tool Company was born. With Clem Poole as its president, Clinton operated in the same building as Mechanics Tool and Forge and is the lineage from which the present day line of sockets and accessories hail.
In 1945, Russ Darrah, a 20-year veteran of the hand tool industry, presented Mechanics Tool and Forge with a program designed to purchase an allied line of tools. This resulted in the formation of Mac Allied Tools which was moved to Akton to facilitate shipping. Even though there were three companies functioning as one, their collective product was always referred to as "Mac Tools."
1961 launched the companies into the modern era, when Mechanics Tool and Forge officially changed its name to Mac Tools in 1963, and that left the association between Mac Tools and Mac Allied under the collective banner of Mac Tools, Inc. In 1979, the long association between Mac and Mac Allied severed. Today, Mac Tools has a product line in excess of 8000 items, and still uses the direct sales approach with a mobile sales force of distributors.
In 1984, after some years of selling Schrade knives to their customers via their mobile sales force, MAC ordered an Imperial Schrade Frontier knife to commemorate their 46th anniversary. In 1985 they continued the series with a Schrade Grandaddy Barlow commemorating their 47th anniversary. And in 1986 MAC Tools ordered up a special LB-5 for their 48th Anniversary knife.
The 48th Anniversary Limited Edition commemorative had a round MAC / Quality Tools blade etch, nickle silver liners and pins and a special nickle silver shield stamped Make Mine MAC, red filled, on the mark side. Another blade etch, MAC TOOLS,, and a second red filled shield with the date 1938 - 1986" decorated the pile side. They came displayed in a red flocked vac tray in a silver slip top gift box with red printing on top. The nickle silver bolsters were serialized. This is number 757. It has the standard production tang stamp:
Uncle Henry
SCHRADE+
LB-5 U.S.A.
Michael
MAC TOOLS HISTORY
Mac Tools was conceived and incorporated in 1938 as the Mechanics Tool and Forge Company and elected Ralph McPherson and Otto Tucker as the first President and Secretary of the organization. These two men scraped up all available capital, a paltry $5,000, to secure a building and buy used machinery so they could begin production.
World War II brought prosperity to the Mechanics Tool and Forge Company because of the sizeable government contract received in 1942. In 1944, they recapitalized with the help of the Securities Commission.
Shortly after their capital investment, the company received a proposal from Clem Poole, concerning the opening of a socket division. Though they recognized the need to introduce sockets into their product line, they did not have the means to finance the opening of the division because of their recent investment.
The management of Mechanics Tool and Forge decided to open a new, associate company with virtually the same stockholders, rather than expanding the existing product line. On October 30, 1944, the Clinton Tool Company was born. With Clem Poole as its president, Clinton operated in the same building as Mechanics Tool and Forge and is the lineage from which the present day line of sockets and accessories hail.
In 1945, Russ Darrah, a 20-year veteran of the hand tool industry, presented Mechanics Tool and Forge with a program designed to purchase an allied line of tools. This resulted in the formation of Mac Allied Tools which was moved to Akton to facilitate shipping. Even though there were three companies functioning as one, their collective product was always referred to as "Mac Tools."
1961 launched the companies into the modern era, when Mechanics Tool and Forge officially changed its name to Mac Tools in 1963, and that left the association between Mac Tools and Mac Allied under the collective banner of Mac Tools, Inc. In 1979, the long association between Mac and Mac Allied severed. Today, Mac Tools has a product line in excess of 8000 items, and still uses the direct sales approach with a mobile sales force of distributors.
In 1984, after some years of selling Schrade knives to their customers via their mobile sales force, MAC ordered an Imperial Schrade Frontier knife to commemorate their 46th anniversary. In 1985 they continued the series with a Schrade Grandaddy Barlow commemorating their 47th anniversary. And in 1986 MAC Tools ordered up a special LB-5 for their 48th Anniversary knife.
The 48th Anniversary Limited Edition commemorative had a round MAC / Quality Tools blade etch, nickle silver liners and pins and a special nickle silver shield stamped Make Mine MAC, red filled, on the mark side. Another blade etch, MAC TOOLS,, and a second red filled shield with the date 1938 - 1986" decorated the pile side. They came displayed in a red flocked vac tray in a silver slip top gift box with red printing on top. The nickle silver bolsters were serialized. This is number 757. It has the standard production tang stamp:
Uncle Henry
SCHRADE+
LB-5 U.S.A.
Michael
