These items were needed to offload goods [in bags] at the Docks and other locations.
The first Catalogue entry I can find is in 1888:

At that time only single and double Prong hooks were available with no speciality.

By 1897 there are more choices:

And more by 1909:

1921:

1928:

1938: A Malleable version of #3662 has been introduced as #3664

By 1959 the range has been whittled down to the Basics, no specialties.

And these 3 tools were themselves de-listed by December 1963

These tools may be difficult to find these days as they were probably discarded quite often, or lost. The following example may be either 3662 or 3664. I have no way of currently knowing the difference between SMALL and LARGE sizes.

 

Since the first MARPLES ‘Pig Scraper’ is to be found in the 1888 Catalogue [Item #1899], I can only surmise that prior to then, no pigs needed to be scraped!
This first tool, like its’ descendents,  had an included Hook, the purpose for which eludes me. The first description does not state that it was ‘handled’ but I think it must have been.
The same number and increased description is to be found in 1897 :

In 1903 the Hooked version [#6863] and a non-Hooked version [#6864] are found and repeated in 1909 below:

1921 below is similar:

In 1928 the Hooked version is #6863, whereas the non-Hooked version is now #6853.1/2. The handle is described as being made of Ash and is ‘Through Tanged’:

1938:

1959:

The Catalogues of 1938 and 1959 show the same information.
This tool was de-listed around December 1963 and then there was a huge uproar of delight from the piggies!!!

I will try to add other tools in this category as I find photos of them, but I will start with Caulking Mallets as I have one in my collection….

Caulking Mallets

These were introduced to aid in the use of the Caulking Irons that themselves were used to insert the caulk material that waterproofed the sections of wood that were used to make a boat, at that time. Up till that time we can only surmise that a large hammer/maul was used that would have deformed the head of the Caulking Iron. It was probably less expensive to buy Caulking Mallets of Lignum Vitae than destroy sets of steel Caulking irons?

The first mention that I can find of this tool comes in the 1888 Cat. as Item# 295A Round Head Lignum Vitae Caulking Mallet.and #296 ‘London Pattern Lignum Vitae Caulking Mallet’ but with no pictures!  At this time I cannot describe the differences between these two.

In 1897 it is listed as the same; #296 and #295A.

1909 sees another number change to #4016 and described as ‘London Pattern Lignum Vitae Caulking Mallets’  and this is echoed in 1921.

In 1928 the number has changed slightly to #4016B because the London Pattern Mallet made of Beech is added to the system, but 4016 remains the same.

In 1938 both Lignum Vitae [#4016] and Beech [#4016B] woods are still listed.

In 1959 only the Lignum Vitae 4016 is shown and the tool was discontinued in December 1963.

 

 

Two of MARPLES’ most unusual products are these implements to aid in the opening of Cigar Boxes.

First listed as item #1139C in 1897 the Rosewood scaled tool remained unchanged until it was de-listed c.1930.  The number appears as #3631 in 1909 and changed again to #3651 in 1928. Peculiarly enough it is listed in the index of 1938 but does not appear on page!!
The Beechwood handled Opener started life in 1909 as #3632 and was changed to #3652 in 1928, but no more.
Both of these openers do not appear in the 1921 Catalogue.

These are some of the most basic tools employed by Carpenters and probably the among the first manufactured by the William Marples Company.

In this section I will only be dealing with the Draw Knives that were and are still used by Carpenters today, other styles of Draw Knives may be found under other headings  [e.g. Coopers’ Tools.]  As far as I can tell these tools were listed as ‘Drawing Knives‘ until 1965 and then were called ‘Draw Knives.’

Here are the 1862 Listings…

Here are the listings from 1873:

 

Next are the 1888 listings:

The 1897 listings are next:

Next is the 1909 Listings, with the again number item #changes:

The 1921 Listings show the usual decrease in item availability:

And then to 1928:

The 1938 listings were very similar:

1959 shows only these listings:

While 1965 shows only this and that the name has been reduced to ‘Draw Knives’:

And at last 1972 is the only catalogue to show this:

Table below shows availability since 1909:

Item #	09	21	28	38	59	65	72	Description
1160	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Cast Steel
1161	Y	Y	Y	Y				London Pattern
1162	Y	Y	Y	Y				Cast Steel Egg handled
1164	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Cast Steel American Pattern
1167	Y	Y	Y	Y				Carpenters’ Common
1173	Y							Amateurs’ Common Beech
1174	Y							Amateurs’ Common Box
1175	Y	Y	Y	Y				Amateurs’ Cast Steel Beech
1176	Y	Y	Y	Y				Amateurs’ Cast Steel Box

Individual size availability by years:

#1160:   Was 8-16″ in 1909 and reduced to 8-14″ in 1921.   Was 10-12″ 1959-1965 and only 10″ in 1972. In production until at least 1979.
#1161:  Was 8-16″ in 1909 and reduced to 8-14″ in 1921 , delisted just pre-war.
#1162:  Was 8-14″ in 1909 and reduced to 8-12″ in 1928, delisted just pre-war.
#1164: Was 8-14″ in 1909 and reduced to 8-12″ in 1921 and 10-12″ in 1965.
de-listed c. Sept 1969.
#1167:  Was 8-16″ in 1909 reduced to 8-14″ in 1921. De-listed just pre-war.
#1173 and #1174:   Were both available as 5; 5.1/2; 6; 6.1/2 & 7″  in 1909 and de-listed before 1921.
#1175 and #1176: Were both available as 5; 5.1/2; 6; 6.1/2; 7; 7.1/2; and 8″in 1909 , reduced to 6 & 7″ in 1921 and increased to 5; 6; and 7″ in 1928. De-listed just pre-war.

Gallery of some Draw Knives:

The next photos are of a very rare item #1164 still wrapped up in the factory papers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a Geologists’s hammer #3566:

The hammer below is only 7 inches in total length and I believe came from a Gentleman’s set of tools from around 1900.

 

 

The vast majority of Vices produced by MARPLES were skewed towards metal work  with just a few woodwork oriented products being manufactured in later years.

First seen in the 1873 Catalogue and continuing through to the 1900s are many superb, heavy duty vices  [too many to detail here], so I have simply posted the Vices by catalogue year.  It is rare that any of these old vices will be found today as they would each have had a hard life!!  I will try to go into more detail about the available models from 1938 onwards.
[For COOPERS’ Vices please go to the Coopers’ Tools section.]

1873:

1888:

1897 Catalogue:

1909 Catalogue:

1921 Catalogue:

1928 Catalogue:

1938 Catalogue:

Around 1940 a small booklet was issued that contained some details of Vices that were then available:

Thanks to Mr. Hilter we must then jump to the next full catalogue of 1959 for details of the vices then offered:

Once RECORD TOOLS took over Marples the range was drastically reduced such that by 1965 only this entry is shown:

So the [Lancashire] Hand Vice was the longest produced vice since it appears  in 1873 and until its’ demise in c.12/1969

The following information tells you when the remaining vices shown in the 1959 Catalogue were delisted:

Vices delisted around Dec/ 1962:  #4970
Vices delisted around Dec/ 1963: #4426; 4659; 4660; 4671; 4678; 4681; 
                                                                    4682; 4684; 4696.
Vices delisted around Dec/1964:  #4673; 4674; 4675; 4676; 4677.
Vices delisted around Dec/1969:  #6275

Gallery:

The old vice shown here started out as #1937 in 1897 but the number changed to #4672 in 1909 and remained so until the last appearance in 1938. It started as being available as numbers  1; 2 and 3 but by 1909 a larger series was for sale…… 00; 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 and 6, but #6 was not shown in 1938.  It was described as an ‘Eclipse‘ vice and was listed under ‘Amateurs’ Parallel Vices‘.

Due to the nature of the product it is rare to find any good examples of any vice  before 1930 as they were all subjected to a hard life.  So most of the examples that I can show here are of more modern vices.

4675.1/2:

4676:

4677:

4678:

4682:

You can see that the Photo above [right] is of an older version having the trefoil cast in.

And the 2 photos above show an even older version with Reg.#717731

4682.1/2:

I am still working on identifying this woodworkers’ Vice:

The wooden Vice below [#62] is shown in catalogues 1988 to October 1990 and is described as a ‘Tail Vice’.

Another vice is #61 and is described as a ‘Wooden Vice with double screws’. It too only appears briefly in 1988 to October 1990:

This file is not finished yet………….obviously…

This specialised group of tools was first introduced by MARPLES in the 1928 Catalogue, but was probably available slightly before that time. They seem to have survived the incursion of Mr.Hilter into civilised life and appear for the last time in 1959. All of these tools were available until the end of 1963, all except Item #3687 [Shears], which were de-listed c.1960.

1928:

1938:

1959:

At the moment the only physical example I have of any of these tools is a Basketmakers’ Shave:

You may note that MARPLES employed the same drawing of this item in all the catalogues despite the attachment of the hinged plate being moved from a screwed into end grain position to being screwed into a cross grain position as shown in my example. [date not known]
Also, I am unsure as to whether the adjusting screw on my plane is original, as there seems to be no reason to have such a large diameter hole surrounding it.

Under this title may be found the tools that ‘Masons’ used.
There is an overlap between  a Mason and a Bricklayer. The latter being primarily involved in laying courses of bricks for a building whereas a Mason was able to integrate/lay other building stones such as granite or limestone, and not necessarily in a uniform measure. There are therefore overlaps in the tools employed and I have tried to extricate just the tools used primarily by a ‘Mason‘.

The 1873 Catalogue seems to list the earliest Masons’ Tools:

Next are the listings from 1888:

The 1897 Catalogue sees these things:

From there we progress to the 1909 Catalogue:

1921:

1928 Catalogue:

From the 1938 Catalogue:

1959:

Many tools were discontinued between 1959 and 1965.

From the 1965 Catalogue [#15]:

In the Supplement to the slim 1971 Catalogue there is only this shown:

I did set about doing a Table for these tools, going from 1909 onwards, but there are simply too many tools and variables to do this successfully!  So I can only recommend that you peruse the shown pages from the catalogues [above] and draw your own conclusions.

GALLERY:

Here I will try to show as many of these Masons’ tools as I can find .

As far as I can tell,  a MASONS’ Drag Saw and Cocks’ Combs were listed as far back as 1897, but I must assume that you know what these tools were for, because I certainly do not!!

The 1897 information is below:

The 1909 listings [as before] show a change of item numbers:

These items were not listed [ along with many tools post WW1] after the war in 1921 but re-appear in the 1928 Catalogue:

The 1938 Lists the same tools at the same prices as the 1921 Catalogue..

But the 1959 Catalogue only lists this:

The last listing of these tools, that I can find, is in the Price List of November 1963

Here you can see a good Masons’ Drag, but I suspect that the ‘Combs‘ are now few and far between.

Here is a Masons’ Cocks’ Combs #4258 A&B :

#4222 Brick Cleaning Axe:

#4310 Pointing Trowel:

#4349 Paviors’ Hammer:

This is a page wherein I will show MARPLES tools of which I am unable to identify the tool or its’ use.

These may be tools that only appeared between major Catalogues and are therefore untraceable by the usual routes!

The singular posts will be removed when I have found [or been so advised!] of the identity of the tool. But until then they will remain a MYSTERY!!.

The first one here is this probable 1950’s type of Awl.  Or could it be another tool that has been modified to be an Awl?  The handle definitely states  MARPLES and I had initially thought that it was a sail makers tool.

Please help me!!!

And this one may be a garden tool???