Here's a little story which nicely illustrates something we all know - that the www is making obscure, specialist information (such as the history of tools from centuries past) accessible to people who don't have access to a university library or specialist historical journals or own lots of rare books.
I recently bought a really nice assortment of drilling tools for a tiny amount of money (but that's another story...) which included this shapely old brace:
One one side are these words:
I think that "L'Unique" could be a maker or a claim of uniqueness; "Brevete" means "patented" and S.G.D.G is possibly something in French along the lines of "Societe Generale de G..." so maybe that's the maker after all.
But the really mysterious bit is the word on the other side: Amobrequin
Naturally, the first thing I tried was Googling it. Google suggested I might mean "lambrequin" instead which seems to be a French word for a sort of fancy curtain which is nearly helpful, but not quite right.
Some bilingual readers may be already thinking "the French word for a brace is vilbrequin" which is significant too.
All falls into place when you look at the two places where Google has found this odd word. (It will soon find a third one!)
One is a post from way back in 2000, on the Old Tools mailing list, and now in their archive here.
A Paul Pedersen has found a matching brace and is asking for information. The picture links are dead, but it's clear from his description that we both have the same model of brace. He spots the "vilbrequin" similarity but the story goes dead. Nobody else knows. Nobody answers.
But since 2000, work of digitising thousands of old books has gone ahead, and Google has indexed them. It finds this particular strange needle in the mega-haystack. It's in a 1913 Michelin motorist's guide to the British Isles.
This link should take you to the right page if you want to read along. Michelin are listing the tyres and tyre-fitting accessories that the handy pre-war motorist needs. In doing so, they seem to have decided not to use boring part numbers. Instead, they have given everything they sell its own special made-up name - just like Ikea do now with the Billy bookcases and Lak tables - and not a bad idea for an international company. The names are logically grouped, so all the bits for fitting tyres with detachable rims have names starting with 'amo' and a "Brace and box spanner" is an Amobrequin. The similarity to vilbrequin would make sense to a French speaker and make the special name easier to remember.
A few pages further on and the neatly-cuffed chauffeur's arm is visible, using the brace to undo the nuts:
and here's the whole thing:
So I now know that what have is not really a woodworker's tool, but an early motorist's tool, before such things became crude lumps of metal at minimum cost. I can (very roughly) date it. And if Paul Pedersen is out there reading this, I've solved that little nagging question you've been wondering about for 12 years!
I think that's rather fun.
I recently bought a really nice assortment of drilling tools for a tiny amount of money (but that's another story...) which included this shapely old brace:
One one side are these words:
I think that "L'Unique" could be a maker or a claim of uniqueness; "Brevete" means "patented" and S.G.D.G is possibly something in French along the lines of "Societe Generale de G..." so maybe that's the maker after all.
But the really mysterious bit is the word on the other side: Amobrequin
Naturally, the first thing I tried was Googling it. Google suggested I might mean "lambrequin" instead which seems to be a French word for a sort of fancy curtain which is nearly helpful, but not quite right.
Some bilingual readers may be already thinking "the French word for a brace is vilbrequin" which is significant too.
All falls into place when you look at the two places where Google has found this odd word. (It will soon find a third one!)
One is a post from way back in 2000, on the Old Tools mailing list, and now in their archive here.
A Paul Pedersen has found a matching brace and is asking for information. The picture links are dead, but it's clear from his description that we both have the same model of brace. He spots the "vilbrequin" similarity but the story goes dead. Nobody else knows. Nobody answers.
But since 2000, work of digitising thousands of old books has gone ahead, and Google has indexed them. It finds this particular strange needle in the mega-haystack. It's in a 1913 Michelin motorist's guide to the British Isles.
This link should take you to the right page if you want to read along. Michelin are listing the tyres and tyre-fitting accessories that the handy pre-war motorist needs. In doing so, they seem to have decided not to use boring part numbers. Instead, they have given everything they sell its own special made-up name - just like Ikea do now with the Billy bookcases and Lak tables - and not a bad idea for an international company. The names are logically grouped, so all the bits for fitting tyres with detachable rims have names starting with 'amo' and a "Brace and box spanner" is an Amobrequin. The similarity to vilbrequin would make sense to a French speaker and make the special name easier to remember.
A few pages further on and the neatly-cuffed chauffeur's arm is visible, using the brace to undo the nuts:
and here's the whole thing:
So I now know that what have is not really a woodworker's tool, but an early motorist's tool, before such things became crude lumps of metal at minimum cost. I can (very roughly) date it. And if Paul Pedersen is out there reading this, I've solved that little nagging question you've been wondering about for 12 years!
I think that's rather fun.
