The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Help please!

Info needed/requested on this odd Edison item. I am considering buying the piece pictured (about 1.25" diameter), but I'm not really sure what it is. Does anyone here have any insight into its age, use, origin and value etc.??? Where was this used?

Thanks for any help,
Bob

These were attached to tools and used to check them out, or as inventory management on equipment. You can find these for pretty much any old company that had manufacturing facilities (Ford, Hamilton Beach, General Electric, Studebaker, you name it...)

These are interesting items that turn up pretty regularly. Employees in the Edison factory were assigned these tokens, which are stamped with a number assigned to each employee. When a worker needed a particular tool they would hand over the token to the person in charge of the tool department, and would then get it back when they returned the tool after use.

It was a handy bit of inventory control. If a specific tool was missing, the employee who borrowed it could be immediately identified.

Edit: Brandon beat me to it!

TinfoilPhono wrote:These are interesting items that turn up pretty regularly. Employees in the Edison factory were assigned these tokens, which are stamped with a number assigned to each employee. When a worker needed a particular tool they would hand over the token to the person in charge of the tool department, and would then get it back when they returned the tool after use.

It was a handy bit of inventory control. If a specific tool was missing, the employee who borrowed it could be immediately identified.

Edit: Brandon beat me to it!

But your explanation was more detailed and eloquent!

At one time I had about 50 of these from Ford that were unused and in sequential order. Most people use the tags from car companies as key fobs for their vintage cars.

Thanks Brandon and Rene! I really appreciate the quick responses!

Bob