Collections Item Detail

DescriptionClamping Handle [Tape Puller] model no. N7936, made by Keuffel & Esser Co., (Hoboken), no date, circa 1946-1962. Chrome plated brass, 2-1/2" x ca. 2-1/2" x ca. 1/2" thick. Two finger pulls, one fixed, one pivot. Item is marked with the K&E logo, product number and "U.S.A." Device is used for applying tension to a tape meaure (steel tapes or band chains) to increase the accuracy of a measurement or to safely pull a long (and heavy) length of metal tape. The tape is inserted between the two bosses (posts) with the pivot handle open; closing the two grips to each other clamps it on the tape which allows the user to then pull the tape measure taught. First appears under this stock number in 40th edition catalog of 1944 and through the 42nd edition of 1954 which would have covered the end the decade. While it may have been available as early as 1944, it is probably postwar and more likely from the 1950s. K&E had their main office and factories in Hoboken at this time.