Cut Tacks

[Bob Strawn]

I grew up in the era where all the fine woodworking skills where being forgotten. (I was born in 59) There were odd mixes of quality and junk at the time. Most of the common tools of the day would be considered total junk now, but some have rightfully become worthy prizes for hand tool users and collectors.

I have been remembering the items that where on the home tool racks and shelves of that day. The minimum equipment on a shelf would be a tack hammer, a flat head screwdriver, a few nails and screws in baby food jars and a box of cut tacks. Sometimes that rack was mounted on a door. I am not kidding. The cut tack is one of the few items that existed in every store, every house, every kindergarten, art studio, grade school, church and garage. Just about everyone from that era will remember them clearly and exactly what it felt like to have one stuck in their foot.

The were used for picture framing, upholstery repair, attaching leather or fabric to wood and the like. The problem is that practically no one in that age did any of that stuff. What is puzzling me is that the era of plastic and disposable had already started. Why did everyone have these? We had heavy staples and staple guns already. Even people without a nail set for finishing nails would have tons of cut tacks. Frankly if you needed one you could walk down a road and find one amidst the cigarette butts.

Does anyone know why everyone had these things apart from their inevitable use as caltrops for barefoot children?

Bob

[Mark Stutz]

Can't answer why, but I remember the rows of baby food jars. The lids were nailed to the bottom of a 2X4, so the jars hung down and you could see what was in them. Only took two turns to unscrew it to get to the contents!

[george wilson]

Are you saying that cut tacks are no longer available? I buy them still.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Bob,

I sort of remember a picture and idea in one of the Popular Mechanics or Popular Science, or something like that, with suggested attaching baby food jars to a board under shelves above your work bench to put screws, nails, etc. in. I also remember seeing the resulting set ups in more than one garage, as Mark mentioned above. Lots of folks had them. When our kids were the right age for baby food, the jar lids had some sort of foam casting for the threads for the lids, and they did not hold up very well, not near as well as the old steel lids did.

For what its worth, my mom did some re-upholstery work on some of our furniture, and did use those tacks. I also remember using the tacks to attach some sort of heavy fabric or vinyl coated fabric, or something similar, to some lumber, but can't remember the details....its been a long time ago. I still have a few sizes of them in my garage. So some of us did use them for those things.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

There are some of those type of tacks/nails in a few different drawers and bins in my shop.

One of the most elaborate baby food jar storage systems in my memory is one a neighbor had with a hex core made of plywood strips. It hung in a bracket that allowed the six rows of jars to rotate. My memory is there were five jars per row making a total of thirty storage jars. My recollection is that there were some small jars and larger serving baby food jars.

Just another slice of home storage systems.

jtk

[Bob Strawn]

Are you saying that cut tacks are no longer available? I buy them still.

No the evil things still exist. I have boxes of them in various sizes still. The sharpest and hardest to remove tiny nail thing. I understand why folk like us have them. I do leather work with my woodwork and at times they are indispensable. The question is why did everyone else have them?"

Bob

[george wilson]

They are handy for many purposes,I suppose.

[Bill Houghton]

Another term was "carpet tacks," and they were used to hold down carpets so they wouldn't curl at the edges. I've used them for that purpose, and they work very well. Maybe that was why everyone had them.

And, as far as "no one in that age did any of that," I guess it depended on the house you grew up in. My parents certainly did some of the things you mention.

[Bill White]

Just used some this week to repair the dust cover on the bottom of an antique setee. My trusty Osborne magnetic tack hammer sure did come in handy.
Bill

[Mel Fulks]

Not as many specialty products then and people had less money. Ive seen the tacks used as thumb tacks. To repair cigar boxes to hold junk a little longer. And people were always patching up old upholstery. And of course before guns were brought to school they were often placed in chairs, so many claim to have invented that one that I won't speculate here as to who the real genius was.

[Tom Stenzel]

I remember my Dad using carpet tacks to put down some carpeting when I was about 5 or 6. My brother and I used them to carpet a bedroom. Why? It's what we had.
I never spit tacks though. Considering some of the other stupid things I've done that now seems suprising.

-Tom