2 Vintage Socket Sets

Lot 381 25-Character Title 2 Socket Sets Continental (26 - one over, do not use) 2 Vintage Socket Sets (21) Alternates: Continental Socket Set (22) 2 Metal Box Socket Sets (23) Socket Sets in Boxes (20) HiBid DESCRIPTION TWO VINTAGE SOCKET SETS IN ORIGINAL METAL BOXES - CONTINENTAL 17 PIECE 1/4 INCH DRIVE S.A.E. SET WITH ORIGINAL LID LABEL, PLUS A RED METAL BOX OF 3/8 INCH DRIVE SOCKETS WITH RATCHET Two older socket sets, each in its original hinged sheet-metal case. The first is a Continental Industrial Tools 17 Piece Socket Set, 1/4 inch drive, S.A.E., in a green-gray hammertone metal box with the original paper lid label still in place and fully readable, including the $24.95 price. Its black molded tray holds a row of twelve chrome sockets plus a ratchet, spinner handle, spinner disc, extension, and sliding T bar, all chrome plated. The second is a red sheet-metal box with a cream molded tray, holding roughly ten 3/8 inch drive sockets, mostly deep sockets, a universal joint, and a chrome ratchet with a knurled handle, with several tray slots empty. Both sets are dirty from shop storage but the chrome on the tools is largely bright. Attractive to both users and to collectors of mid-century hardware-store tool sets, since the Continental box with an intact price label and legible spec panel is the kind of thing that turns up in tool-box and advertising collections. Fits alongside the tool tote and other garage lots in this sale. Neither set was counted against its label list, neither ratchet was tested, and NEITHER SET IS REPRESENTED AS COMPLETE - the red box in particular has empty slots. Sold as a lot of two sets in their boxes. Description Set one, Continental: green-gray hammertone painted sheet-metal case with a piano-style hinge and a single latch. The original paper label inside the lid reads verbatim: $24.95 in a circle, HEAVY DUTY, CONTINENTAL, SET NO. D5A-172SWS, INDUSTRIAL TOOLS, 17 PIECE SOCKET SET, 1/4" DRIVE-S.A.E., ATTACHMENTS: 1-RATCHET / 1-SPINNER HANDLE / 1-SPINNER DISC / 1-6" EXTENSION / 1-SLIDING "T" BAR / 1-METAL BOX, MADE FROM ALLOY STEEL / HEAT TREATED / CHROME PLATED / FULLY POLISHED, 1/4" DR. SOCKETS: 6 POINT: 3/16", 7/32", 1/4", 9/32", 5/16", 11/32", 3/8", 7/16" and 8 POINT: 1/4", 5/16", 3/8", LIFETIME WARRANTY - SATISFACTION GUARANTEED, and MADE IN TAIWAN. Continental tray contents as photographed: a row of twelve chrome sockets standing in the top row, one long extension, one shorter extension or T bar shaft, one sliding T bar with a sliding cross handle, one short adapter or additional extension, one round knurled spinner disc with a square drive in the center, and one chrome ratchet with a knurled handle and a round head with a reversing lever. Individual socket sizes were NOT read from the photographs and are NOT claimed, and the tray contents were NOT counted against the label list, so no statement is made about whether this set is complete or whether every piece in the tray is original to it. Set two, red box: red painted sheet-metal case, hinged lid with a latch, fitted with a cream or ivory molded plastic tray. Contents as photographed include roughly seven chrome deep sockets in the top row, two or three shorter or shallow sockets, a chrome universal joint, and a chrome ratchet with a long knurled handle and a round head. Socket markings partly legible in the close photograph read as CHALLENGER or similar on at least two sockets, with size stampings that appear to include 1/2 and other fractions. These markings are worn and read at an angle, so the brand and the sizes are NOT claimed. The drive size reads as 3/8 inch by proportion but no drive marking was photographed and no drive size is claimed. The red box lid is hand-marked in black marker with what reads as a number, appearing to be "# 2310" or similar. This is a previous owner's or inventory marking, not a factory mark, and the exact digits are NOT claimed. Several molded slots in the red box tray are empty, and the tray also holds a white plastic dividing block and a round white knob or spinner seat. The red set is visibly incomplete and no piece count is claimed for it. Boxes measure approximately: red box roughly 12 inches long and roughly 3 to 3.5 inches wide; Continental box roughly 8 to 9 inches long and roughly 4.5 inches wide, per the tape-measure photographs. In every measuring frame the tape lies flat on the concrete in front of or alongside the box rather than hooked on an edge, so all of these figures are close estimates only. Box depth and closed height were never measured and are not claimed. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Photographed open, on a bare concrete floor. Nothing else appears in these frames; only the two boxes and their contents are included. Attribution note Continental Industrial Tools was a value-priced hardware-store and catalog tool line, and this set carries MADE IN TAIWAN on its own label, which places it in the era when Taiwanese produ