The Washington State University Agricultural Extension was having a plant sale that drew the wife and me out yesterday. At the fair grounds across the street there was an estate sale. We didn't see anything at the plant sale we wanted so we ventured into the estate sale. There were a few planes there, but there are already enough planes in my shop.

Ended up picking up a few things:

Hand Clamp, Bottle & Scissors.jpg

With just a little haggling they were all purchased for $6.49 including the tax. The clamp can be dated to after the time where UPC came into use. It has one of the zebra stripe stickers on the other side.

One of my first book reports was on a biography of Thomas Edison. He was my boyhood hero. Incandescent lamps intrigued me through my younger years.

That is why the little Battery Oil bottle had to come home with me:

Signature on Bottle.jpg

Battery Oil was for on top of the liquid in the rechargeable batteries used by the railroads for signals and switches. The oil prevented the liquid from evaporating when the batteries were being recharged.

A good pair of scissors is always a nice find when they don't cost much. These were made in Sheffield, England:

Richards Stamp.jpg

Stamped "Radiant Golden Age Rustless" on the other side:

Golden Age.jpg

Sheffield had over 150 scissor makers in 1970. As of 2010 is appears they may be down to just two or even less by now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffiel...00/8534091.stm

Here is an interesting pictorial:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffiel...00/8468068.stm

The bottle and clamp will stay in the shop. The scissors in the house since there are already a few pairs in the shop.

jtk