See More Seymour Smith (boxed pair of bit braces)

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weaselmeatgravy

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Short background for those unfamiliar with the history is that Ruger made tools in the 1940's before starting the Sturm, Ruger & Co. firearm business in 1949. One tool Ruger made was the #1010 bit brace. Somewhere along about 1948, Ruger sold the assets and intellectual properties of his faltering tool company to Seymour Smith & Son. Both companies were based in Connecticut so it was a local transaction. Seymour Smith continued making the Ruger #1010 brace except it was then called the Seymour Smith #2310 brace.

I recently nabbed a NIB pair of the SS #2310 braces from an antique tool dealer in CA. Evidently they were shipped to hardware stores in pairs. The box is made with lots of ad copy touting the features and looks to have been designed to be used in a window or counter display. I don't specifically seek out the SS tools so I'm not sure how often these boxes come along, but the last time I saw one was 2012 according to the file date on the images that I saved of another double box but with only a single brace inside that showed up on eBay. This one has both braces.

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The interior separates the two braces with a cardboard flap that is cut out on either end to accommodate the brace knobs, and this one appears to have been stored for the last 70-odd years with the brace orientation reversed based on the box ratchet feature circles and arrows. The cardboard has "set" with the indentations and warp from this reversed orientation:

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Here is the correct orientation with the arrows pointing to the proper features:

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Pics of the other sides of the box:

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Hi i live about 3 miles from the old factory and know a few people who retired from there i dont recall seeing more than 2 complete packages like that did they ever label any with the Ruger name

Gramps
 

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