No. 099 May, 2009
Telephone Lineman's Tool Oddities
By Harold Ratzburg
You will remember from past articles that I am interested in collecting old tools, especially those used by the US Army, and specifically those carried by the Signal Corps Telephone Linemen, numbered as the TL tools in a Lineman's tool kit. They include the six inch TL-13A Pliers, the TL-29 Pocket knife, and the leather CS-34 belt case. You may also remeber that my hobby is haunting estate sales, flea markets, and garage sales looking for more collectibles.
While at a flea market in Florida, I found a collector's dream, i.e. variations of the stuff I am collecting. As I poked through a tray of old pliers, I ran across three variations of the TL Pliers. The first one (on the left in the photo,) was easy because I was looking for six inch long pliers with the tell-tale hole in one handle. Far as I know, only the military pliers has a hole there for a lanyard or for placing a grenade ring through it so the tool would be less likely to be dropped if you put your finger through the ring. That was enough to make my day at the flea market.
As I continued poking through the box of old pliers, I happened to notice another six inch plier. It had no hole in the handle, but I did notice that it was marked TL-13. OK, big deal you say, but what makes it interesting is this. I had heard or read somewhere that the Army Signal Corps had adoped the six inch pliers after WW One because it was so handy for splicing wire in the field. They gave it the TL-13 number for issue purposes, but did not mark them as such, at least not many of them, so most every one of the millions of pliers in circulation looked the same. Without a marking, a picky collector had no way of proving that his pliers was indeed a military issue. But now I HAD FOUND ONE!!! (It is the one in the middle in the photo.) Is it important??? Only if you are a picky collector. So I guess I am a picky one.
Poking around a little more in the box, I checked out a bigger pliers, one of the size that is also issued by the US Army for Engineers and Signal Corps people. (The Army number for the larger pliers when issued through the Signal Corps is TL-107) Surprise, surprise!!! This considerably larger pliers (the one on the right in the photo) was marked TL-13A and further looking showed that there was a hole in one handle and two wire stripping notches in the cutting edges of the jaws. So here we have a mistake in Army specifications, or maybe a deliberate attempt to defraud the US Army, or goodness only knows what? But this picky collector has a one of a kind variation to a collectible tool. Obviously, this collector left the flea market with his three dollar purchase and a smile on his face. (Each of the three pliers cost me one dollar.) Time will tell the value of what it will bring on Ebay one of these days.
OTHER TOOL COLLECTING TALES
In my hobby of visiting estate sales, I run into many different types of houses. Some are literally filled with junk, some are clean and well ordered and the rest fall somewhere in between. I walked into one house in a middle class neighborhood and it was one of the cleanest, most well ordered residence I ever encountered. The owner obviously did not keep anything around that he did not need for day to day living.
But there, laying on a corner of the kitchen table was a mint condition TL-13A pliers. I did not even have to dig for it cause it was the ONLY tool in the house. So I walked away again, with a smile on my face.
In another house on another day, I ran across a TL-107 pliers. It was not marked with a U.S. but it was stamped clearly with a TL-107 marking, proving its military origination. Then as I left the house (again with a smile on my face) a man sitting by the door says to me, "Hey, I see you bought my good old pliers. I brought them home after my discharge from the Army back in 1946 and I've used them around the house since then. I hope they are going to a good home." I assured him that they were. What it means to me is that I found a neat collectible tool and in addition, it had a personal story from a previous owner with the collectible. A nutty collector always appreciates a good story with his show pieces. A lot of collectors will make up a story if it serves their purpose. I like mine original.
One last tale concerns selling on Ebay. I put up a TL-13A pliers for auction. It was a nice one, so I sat back and watched the bidding progress. The bids kept going higher and higher until they hit the incredible price of $83.00. After the deal was completed (with a smile on my face), and I sent him the pliers, I got an Email in return a few days later asking it he could return it. The scenario that I imagine when he opened the package goes like this.---------He looks at the pliers in his hand and thinks, "MY GAWD, I PAID EIGHTY THREE DOLLARS FOR THIS LITTLE THING!!!!!!!! I MUST BE NUTS!!!!!!!!!" He probably got caught up in the bidding frenzy. Maybe his wife was in on the transaction also and voiced her opinion. Anyway, my policy is to return any bid for any reason if the bidder is unhappy, so he returned the pliers and I returned his $83, (not with a smile on my face.) But to me, the story is priceless, so what the heck? End of Stories.
copyright Harold Ratzburg, 2009