Spirit Levels

[Stephen Shepherd]

I am wondering when they started adding coloring to the liquid in spirit levels? I have two old ones and they have clear liquid. So, when did they start coloring 'whiskey sticks'?

Stephen

[David Keller NC]

Not sure I could pinpoint the exact date, but I'm pretty sure it was in the 1950's or so. I've several Preston levels, all produced close the time that the factory closed in the 1920's, and they're all clear.

The I.D. Smallwood factory closed down in the mid 60's, I believe, and in materials offered for sale to the tool public was thousands of level vials, all clear. Stanley level vials come up for sale in their original boxes from the 1950's occasionally, and they're usually clear also.

But I've a Johnson level from the late 1960's or early 1970's, and its level vials are all the sickly day-glo green that are common today.