Pg 10 - Old-Style Machinist Chests

Old-Style Machinist Tool Chests & Cases

1883 - 1918

Old-Style wooden tool chests and cases were manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were heavy, bulky, ornate, had handles at each end and were not considered portable. When loaded with tools it took 2 men to move them.

Shown is a C. E. Jennings Old-Style Chest # 4 Special

For the Old-Style Machinist Tool Chests and Cases there’s simply not enough historical information available to determine who all the various manufacturers may have been. However, I do know that the following three major companies did manufacture them.

Goodnow & Wightman, Boston, Mass., offered their 4-drawer Machinist Tool Case with a closable front panel in 1883 - 1914.

R. Bliss Mfg. Co., Pawtucket, RI, introduced their own line of Machinist and Jewelers Tool Chests in their new 1899 Catalogue. 1914 was the last year for that line. They were primarily a manufacturing firm for wood screw clamps, lithographed wood objects and wood toys. However, they did offer Boys’ and Youths’ tool chests and ‘Gentlemen’s Excelsior Tool Chests’, which had trays, but no drawers, in their 1889 catalog.

C.E. Jennings & Co., New York, NY, introduced their line in their 1901 Catalogue. 1918 was the last year of manufacture for these chests.

It appears that Jennings competed with R. Bliss full bore and won the battle. It’s amazing how similar the chest dimensions and features are. This makes it very difficult for the user to distinguish between the two companies. I have more catalogs, specifications and dating info relative to C. E. Jennings than any other Old-Style manufacturer.

Goodnow & Wightman, Boston, Mass., introduced their 4-drawer line THE “ACME” Machinist and Jewelers Tool Chest in 1902 and their last year was also 1914. These had similar features to R. Bliss’s.