Western Auto Stillson-Style 10 Inch Pipe Wrench HR2438

Description

Western Auto is one of those names that was an intimate part of what might be referred to as the fabric of 20th century America’s growing obsession with automobiles. Every town seemed to have a Western Auto or one of its affiliated businesses. Started as a mail-order business in 1909, the company opened its first retail store in 1921. By the 1960s and 1970s turmoil was the real name of the business with poor acquisition and marketing decisions being made regularly. The company was sold and purchased and sold again. In the 1990s all that was left of Western Auto was affiliate stores and even they soon disappeared as then owner Sears began conversion of the business into Advance Auto Parts.
This Stillson-Style Pipe Wrench is a reminder that Western did, once-upon-a-time exist and sold quality tools . .  and not just automobile-specific tools. Since Western was a distributor and not a manufacturer it’s worth discovering who made which tool. The Wrench resembles one made by Fleet because of the inch markings on the movable jaw shaft (see images). It is more likely that it was made by J.P Danielson or Plomb, which acquired Danielson in 1947. The reason for this is the date marking, also on the movable jaw’s shaft; “J-11-7” (see images). This code is discussed at length on Alloy Artifacts, http://alloy-artifacts.org/danielson-jp-company.html#dates. Our interpretation of this code is sometime in the late 1940s, but we make no claims about accuracy. We could be wrong and you’re welcome to tell us so!
The Wrench is in fully-functional condition and would work well as a complete restoration, partial restoration or simple clean-up for regular use. Everything moves as designed. It is straight. Any corrosion can be removed with some basic care.
We will package the Wrench and ship by USPS Priority Mail on the next regular business day following receipt of payment.