#HTE

The CCC Toolbox Find: “A Time Capsule of Hand Tools”

Hey readers, we’re excited to bring you this story and photo series from guest writer Dr. James E. Price. Dr. Price is an anthropologist, archaeologist and an accomplished joiner. You’ll find his bio down at the bottom. He’s managed to acquire a toolbox, still filled with tools, originally issued by the U.S. Government in 1933 for the Civilian Conservation Corps (read our story on the CCC here). It’s a very rare find with great American historical significance.

The rest of the entry is in Price’s words, edited for length and clarity. The photos and captions below are his.

Dr. Price writes:

October 29, 1929, a day so important in our history. It was the day the US stock market crashed and ushered in The Great Depression that lasted for more than a decade.

Franklin D. Roosevelt became the 32nd president in 1933. Have you heard the stories about how Roosevelt put the nation back to work as part of The New Deal, through the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps? He declared in January 1933 that he would have at least 300,000 teenage boys in training camps by July 1 of that year and he met that goal with the assistance of the US Army, The US Forest Service, and The National Park Service.

What does this brief history lesson have to do with this toolbox? For the most part the CCC as well as the WPA used hand tools. They built all sorts of structures in state parks across our nation with unpowered tools.

Eight years ago I was Chief Of Resources Management for The National Park Service at Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri and had the opportunity to purchase an original CCC tool chest as issued in 1933. This chest was found in a basement in St. Louis and had been placed there by a man who helped build a VA hospital. The Heritage Shop at Ozark NSR is now beginning the cleaning and conservation of each tool.

The purpose of this post is to introduce you to this chest and its contents so you can witness a time capsule of hand tools being opened. As time passes and we clean each tool I will be describing it and identifying its manufacturer. So, in your comments please do not ask me who made the hatchet or any other tool because I do not know yet. I will share that with you in posts over the next few months.

I hope you like your initial introduction to this chest and its contents.

This is the front of the chest on which is stenciled, “TOOL CHEST”. This is the top of the chest and on it is stenciled, “MED DEPARTMENT USA”. This is one end of the chest showing the handle and steel brackets. This is what you see when the chest is opened. This shows the contents of the top till. A numbered screen tack is with each tool. The white tags are ours as we begin to inventory the chest’s contents. This is a detail of one corner of the top till. Another detail of the top till contents. This is a view of the contents of the second till. Note the built in box in the upper left corner. This photo shows the box opened. This is a view of the contents of the third till. The tin box in the corner contains little box nails. This photo shows the contents of the bottom till which rests on the bottom of the chest but can be removed. These two marking gauges are well marked. At least some of the metal tools have been stamped “CCC”. This plane is stamped USVA, which indicates it was property of The Veterans Administration. This is a detail of some of the contents of the bottom till. There is a 220 block plane held by a leather strap in the bottom till as well as a jointer.

This post is merely your first visit with the chest and its tools. Of interest to me is, if any of you have seen a New Deal tool chest and its tools. Is this the only one to survive or are there others?

________________________________

Anthropologist and archaeologist Dr. James E. Price grew up watching his father make ax handles, gun ramrods, sassafras boat paddles, cedar turkey calls and furniture. His father taught him the art of joinery. “Woodworking was important on our Ozark farm. My family owned a small sawmill which produced lumber for use on the farm. We built buildings, repaired wagons, made furniture and boat paddles, and many other objects and structures of wood.”

Dr. Price, a sixth generation Ozark dweller, prizes the careful process of using hand tools to create objects that he sees as useful, functional art. “Without using any fossil fuel source, I can take a pile of boards and make them into an object of beauty. The tools are the instrument, and the piece becomes a kind of permanent music. If it doesn’t burn or blow away, it can last a thousand years—it will be impossible to pull apart.”

http://www.core77.com/posts/60270/The-CCC-Toolbox-Find-A-Time-Capsule-of-Hand-Tools