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Stanley No: 45 'E'

A

Argus

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One way and another I seem to have accumulated a number of combination and plough planes of all sorts over the past few decades….and here's one for the historians.

However, there is one thing that has puzzled me somewhat and that is a boxed Stanley 45 that I picked up in a second-hand shop a very long time ago. It is a standard Stanley 45 – all in good order, perfectly usable, no rust and complete with all the bits. It is no different from any other good No: 45, as you'll see from the picture - the plane itself is not marked with a modified number.I don't think that it was ever used until I bought it.

It is in a dark brown wooden box – finger-joint corners – and was made in the USA. The external paper labels are complete.

Alongside the usual makers name label on one side is another label that says, “ One 45 E Plane". Without a great knowledge of their production history, I estimate that this one dates from either side of the last war. Given that production of many non-essential items in tooling in the US either ceased completely or paused in the early 1940s, I expect that it is in the last section of the 1930s. Post-War imports to the UK of this type of tool were very rare and expensive.

I’ve always assumed that the ‘E’ denoted an export model….. and this is the part that I never really understood.

Is it commemorative of something?

What was its date, given the unique marking?

If it was an ‘export’ model and expecting that tariffs would apply both sides of the Atlantic during the 1930’s in any case, why was it distinctly marked?

Any Ideas?
 

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2nd to last post in that thread says your item is extremely rare, with a value to suit. :eusa-clap:
 
Thank you for the research, Bob.

It's not the value as such it's the fact that I didn't know much about it.
I surmised that it was pre-war, mid 30's ( over 80 years old) and assumed that it was denoted for export.

Many of the original links in the sawmillcreek posts, photos etc are now defunct, but I was curious as to its age. I do use it from time to time and although I cannot remember where I got it - back in the 80s - it had little or no use.

I thought at the time that it may have been a retirement trophy.......
 
Well, I had another look and the original booklet that came with it, has an imprint date in very, very small print at the base of the back page, I believe of 8-35..... so that would put it in the late 1930s.

As I said, the plane and all the parts are spotless. It is in excellent condition. Not a spot of anything on it and it works very well. All the blades are present, no rust and most have never been edged. I do use it occasionally and as with most ploughs it's down to a hard-core of a few blades that are in constant use.

It is a standard No: 45 of that period, including all the box, manual leaflet and packing - the only thing is that extra sticker on the end of the external box that denotes that it is either 'E' for export or 'E' for England.

Thanks, Bob for your thoughts and efforts. As I said, I'm a sucker for metal ploughs and it is one of many that I have on the shelf.

I'm not concerned about the perceived value....... It will outlast me and hopefully stay intact and usable, as will all my tools, for many more users.
 
I'm a bit more of a treasure hunter than you. That plane has serious value (as planes go, it will be in the top 5% of prices worldwide). If you have other planes (or even not), my thinking would be to sell that one at auction and then with the proceeds buy something that I dont already have. 8-) 8-)

Or spend it on the family......er....... no...., option one I think. :lol: :lol:
 
New one on me. Definitely one for serious collectors with deep pockets and lots of confidence in a piece of gummed paper label... Not a peep about it in the Old Tools List archives or Blood & Gore, but that doesn't surprise me because they're US-centric, and presumably if they were for export you won't find them in the US. So they're rare there - wonder how rare they really are here? Obviously in that condition, yes (s'lovely), but originally there might have been lots. I mean how many boxes have retained their paper labels in a workshop environment?

I also found myself wondering what Stanley's angle was. There were certainly plenty of moves made by many manufacturers to get round large import tariffs into the Commonwealth at the time, and maybe having a "unique" (ha-hum, cough cough) model just for that market wriggled round a financial burden somewhere? Be interesting to know if they turn up in Canada or Australia too, as that'd go some way to decide between "England" and "Export". My instinct is that England isn't the answer, because although 'Murricans casually use England to cover the whole of the British Isles, I'm not convinced an international business would. But then again...

Ah well, more questions than answers. Interesting though. Thanks for posting, Argus.
 
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