Markings On Old Tools

[ferlew]

Son got a job lot of old tools from a boot sale.
A few of them have the mark S, then old crown, then O.
Anyone know what these marks signify please?

[heathfield]

HM Stationary Office mark. Though why they should be using tools sounds a bit strange. Normally you'd find the mark on rulers and compasses, for example.

[ferlew]

Thank you very much.
Also, several of the hammers have notches burned into them, is there any significance to this?

[jake-the-peg]

That probably just signifies they were scheduled for destruction after use in the clean up of the Windscale nuclear reactor fire

Nothing to worry about

;c)

[Alston]

@heathfield.....Are you positive that the mark is that of H.M.Stationary Office. I would have thought that HMSO would have been the initials.

Al.

[ferlew]

Bit of an update for you, there was a 1938 halfpenny in the bottom of the box, also, the tool with SO on it, appears to be a letter opener someone has converted. You can see 2 holes where the original top and bottom sections of handle would have been.

[heathfield]

Alston...No. They more often than not simply used the initiails 'SO'. See the example book cover here...

http://www.lightstraw.co.uk/gpo/hmso/

[Alston]

heathfield....I am going to concede that you have proved your original comments and should, IMO, be awarded 'Best Answer'.

Initially ferlew gave the impression that the S(crown)O was marked on a number of items, but that now appears to be down to a single article. Furthermore, she has identified it herself as the blade of a 'Letter Opener'. Understandable therefore that it could have originated from HMSO who supplied Stationary etc. to Government Departments; prior to its privatisation.

Cheers.....Al.

[ferlew]

Sorry, there is another item with the same stamp. whether it's another home made jobby, we are not sure. See what appears when we clean it up a bit. (When I say "we" I don't really mean "me" :)

[Alston]

Keep us posted ferlew. I am certainly intrigued with matters.

Al.

[ferlew]

I will.
I am beginning to think someone with a Heath Robinson streak owned these tools previously.

[heathfield]

By the way, the notches on the hammers may just be identity marks to show who they belonged to. Many who use tools do this, e.g., I'd file a couple of notches on each of my spanners in a set to show they were mine, and not someone else's.

[ferlew]

Hmmmm, we had already decided he was a murderer, and the notches on the hammers were to denote the number of his victims ;)