Old catalogue from John Hall Tools online

[AndyT]

I stumbled across this today - another useful scanned catalogue of tools, free to download, which I don't recall seeing mentioned on here or included in any lists of scanned catalogues. It's from John Hall Tools who were big in South Wales and in Bristol, but are no longer trading.

It's a 92 page book and covers all the usual tools for woodworking and building, including exotic American tools from Millers Falls and Stanley. Wooden planes were from Bristol makers Greenslades but other makes were available if preferred. (There's a selection of planes by Norris and Preston as well, and Vaughan and Bushnell make a brief, rare appearance too.) There's no date internally, but the listing at the Internet Archive says it's from 1910 and that looks about right to me from the print design and layout.

You can download it as a searchable pdf here: https://archive.org/details/illustratedcatal00john_2 or at the Hathi Trust if you prefer.

There's a short history of the company here on Flickr with a picture of one of their old Bristol shops - https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebo ... otostream/ .

 

[Mr_P]

Very interesting, many thanks for posting.

I have a few John Hall Catalogues but nothing as interesting as the 1910 one, mine are mainly 1960's and one from 1971. Here is the back page of 1968 might as well pop it here

I also have a few "Tools" Catalogues with varying firms on them Taylor and Sons Bradford, Kennedy's, Richard Melluish and the one above but thats the latest 1968 so slighly different "Tool Catalogue" and different publisher on the back but the rest are printed by S.Glossop & Sons Ltd, New Street Cardiff Could just be a coincidence as John Halls Head office was in Cardiff (Churchill St)

The dark blue ones are both John Hall 1966 & 1971

So does anythink there is a connection between the "Tools" catalogue and John Hall ?

Does anyonew know when they ceased trading ?

 

[AndyT]

I'm sure there were some generic catalogues that were overprinted with different retailers' names on - I have one, marked as Tyzack, which I've seen on eBay with different names on. Maybe your 'Tools' catalogue is another such one?
There is sometimes a note to say that the catalogue only shows some of the range, which looks like a clue to me. (This John Hall one says the same.)
Certainly, catalogues must have been a huge job to prepare, print and distribute. Maybe John Hall were trying to recover some of their costs?

 

[Bm101]

Thanks Andy,
I learn quite a bit browsing these old tool catalogues. Sometimes just about tools, I find it fascinating, sometimes it links processes together in my know-nuffink woodworking brain and I get more of an understanding of something bigger. (Might just be me! )

Mostly it just sits in the back of my mind and gently accumulates and gathers dust. If Hannibal Lector and Sherlock Holmes have 'Mind Palaces'. I have a 'Mind Lean-to' if I'm honest. I left the window open to so many of the memories get a little rusty. And probably a pigeon or two got in for a while and that. The roofs a little leaky. You get the idea. It's hardly a steel trap.
But sometimes.
Some answers turn up in the most peculiar and lucky places. And you go. 'Would you look at that. Now there's a thing.' And you start doing Google searches for something that 30 seconds before you had no idea existed as a solution to a problem that you have that you could see no solution to.

In this case its two words. 'Core Drifter'.

Many Thanks as always Mr T.

=D>

 

[D_W]

Excellent - item 321 on page 30 is on its way to me as we type. (supposing UK customs doesn't hold it up as being a restricted item, as they have been doing). Item 347 arrived last night.

Slightly less new than the ones listed, though.

 

[Bod]

Remember when looking at the prices, the average wage in 1910 was £70 per year.

Bod

 

[Argus]

Dating the production dates of those electric drills on page 80 may provide a better clue to the publication date of this catalogue.
Their design appears appear a little advanced for 1910.......

 

[RogerP]

Fascinating!

Thanks Andy.

 

[bugbear]

Dating the production dates of those electric drills on page 80 may provide a better clue to the publication date of this catalogue.
Their design appears appear a little advanced for 1910.......

Just working through;

p9 Millers Falls 772 brace, introduced 1914
p19 MF 445 push drill 1925-1933
p34 V&B plane introduced 1923
p37 Stanley #55 with 55 cutters 1925 onwards
p38 (and others) Preston Tools before 1934
p45 Spearior early 1930's

So (reading back) the catalogue is from around 1931-1934

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

Brilliant detective work there BB!

I should have read it more carefully before rushing to share it. Many thanks.

 

[Bod]

Remember when looking at the prices, the average wage in 1910 was £70 per year.

Bod

In view of recent information.Average wage in 1930 was £700 per year.

Bod

 

[Eric The Viking]

I remember John Hall Tools with some fondness.

They had a modern shop at the front of the Clifton Down shopping centre up until the early 1980s, when, I think, the business finally closed. That was only down the road from where I worked, and I bought quite a few things there, although at this distance I can't remember exactly what. But they were a wonderful place to while away a lunchtime, and many of my colleagues thought so too.

I didn't realise that the business had such a long history in Bristol.

 

[Woodchips2]

I bought a few tools in the 1960's from their shop in the Morgan Arcade in Cardiff and still have them. Like Eric I used to while away a lunchtime just browsing and dreaming if my premium bond came up!

Thanks for sharing.

Regards Keith

 

[Argus]

Like you, I remember the shop in Cardiff.

There were, as I recall a number of large retailers who came a copper in the 1980s......... John Hall were one, prior to that were Gardners in Bristol and when I moved to Reading, Sarjents in Oxford Road relieved me of many a pound note.

 

[Ciaran Markey]

Hello there!

In need of help for sure! I recently purchased an old John Hall woodworking lathe, runs like a dream. Unfortunately, I need a new chuck and jaws for it. Naturally the TPI measurements are imperial, and no modern chucks fit even with thread adapters. I know I'll sort it out eventually, however, really what has aroused my curiosity is that I just can't find any information or even pictures of a John Hall woodworking lathe anywhere.. If anyone has any information on them, or anything to offer at all, please let me know

Much obliged,
Ciaran

 

[Argus]

A picture may help to identify the actual maker.

John Hall were retailers and would have been unlikely to have made the lathe themselves.
It was common for the larger shops to have the purchasing power to buy in leading makes with their own name on the tools frequently extending this practice to machinery.

Axminster carry on this tradition.

 

[AndyT]

As above. What sort of date is it? It might show up with another retailer's name on too.

 

[Argus]

If I recall, Andy, John Hall in Cardiff closed sometime in the 70s........ may be wrong and they lasted to the 80s, but they have been gone a long while.
I think that they also had a shop in Swansea and Bristol.
I bought a lot of stuff there as an apprentice; there was a shop in Morgan Arcade and it was like Aladdin's cave

 

[AdrianUK]

This vice was my fathers, it’s been hidden away for years, but I was pleasantly surprised to see this post, thanks Andy and all for the info.
Its priced at £2.70 so I guess its what…towards the end of the companies history. I don’t ever remember seeing it, my father had a couple of bench vices on his work bench so no why he purchased this is a mystery.

 

[Chisteve]

Thanks for the download really like those old tool catalogs