Nail Pullers

About the Book

This  book will be enjoyed by “The Antique Tool Researcher, the Flea marketer, the Tool Collector Historian”, and many others. The 39 pages of Patent information is very useful for that person looking for History of Patent Dates, Patent Numbers, or the Patentee.  The Nail Puller does the same job as the claw on the hammer, but it does it differently. Mainly, this is about the Slide Hammer type of Nail Puller, and many variations of it. There was a time when each nail was forged by a Blacksmith . That made the nail more valuable than the wood it had been driven into.  Wood was very plentiful in the mid-19th century. My book will show you examples of Square Nail Pullers that go back to 1849. If it became necessary to change your resident location, you might possibly take your house apart, just to get the nails. You might even burn your house down and pick up nails in the ashes. Herein contained are many examples of the Slide Hammer type of Nail Puller. From the stand point of History, there are many copies of Trade Magazine advertising, showing the advertisement and some times the cost of the tool, as far back as 1890. I have included a “Guide to Scarcity”, which  will help you determine the “Frequently Found” or the “Not Likely to be found” Nail Puller. Included are 252 copies of patent sketches taken from the original patents, giving the Patentee, (inventor and/or manufacturer) the patent date and patent number. There are more patents in the patent office, than nail pullers that were manufactured. Contained herein are about 60 pictures of more than 100 Nail Pullers in my collection, which are captioned to reflect points of interest. I was unable to find one of each  Nail Puller ever produced, but here is a good representation of what I could find over a 5 year period . For the Researcher, included are 39 pages of index composed by Patentee, Patent Date, and Patent Number, which are cross referenced one to the other.

About the Author

The author is a young man of 74, born and raised in Chicago, and still residing in the Chicago Suburbs and Florida. He has that get involved attitude, and tries to get the most out of life. He attended College at night, along with the meaningful school of hard knocks. The trials and errors of life being the best teacher. According to his daughter, Mary, “he is a handy guy”. He has been a Federally Licensed Amateur Radio Operator since about 1978. He has sung in many church choirs and has acted in the St. James annual play. He. has a wife of 52 years which produced 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls, now married with families of their own and residing in Illinois, Florida and Wisconsin. There are now 8 grandchildren, that are doing their own thing and are facing the challenges of life. He is an Antique Tool Addict, and a member of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association. His starting job with an Electric Utility was as an Overhead Lineman, and after a while promoting to Field Agent and then Marketing Engineer and Real Estate agent. The author was also a Real Estate Broker, which led to one of his moves with the Electric Utility. He moved to many positions over his total of 36 years in the Electric Utility business making life and occupation more interesting.