Plumb Tools #1212 And # 3018 Wrenches U.s.a. Lot# 9153 on 2040-parts.com

In the earlier days guarantees were offered for a period of time as opposed to "lifetime." Consequently, unless there was a frequent change in design, an indication of the year of manufacture was necessary.

With this in mind coupled with the collectors natural desire to actually date some of the remaining Plomb tools, Mr. John Baldwin of Los Angeles examined thousands of Plomb tools. He came to the conclusion that tools manufactured between 1927 and 1942 did in fact have stamped indications of their year of manufacture. He also found that there were very occasional deviations from this schedule possibly caused by the individual production divisions; particularly during the depression years of the thirties, when management was reluctant to modify still productive stamping equipment.  Here are the results of John's investigations:

1927-1933 ---- These tools have a round "o" in the word Plomb, have Los Angeles as the manufacturing locale, and will have a stamped number normally followed by a letter. The number represents the year of manufacture, i.e.., 7 represents 1927. The numbers then are 7,8,9,0,1,2,3.

1934 - 1939 ---- These tools will have a "point down" triangle in place of the "o" in Plomb.  The numbers will be 4 through 9 representing the year of manufacture.

1939 - 1942 --- Tools manufactured during these years will be marked USA as opposed to Los Angeles and will have the number 9,0,1,or 2 stamped on the body.