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Craftsman 12" Bandsaw – Fully Rebuilt + Turning Blanks

Monday

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Monday

#1

Monday

Gary Smyth

They�re called �soakers� by collectors and were attached to a device of wood used in the United States from the 1880s to the mid twentieth century. The wooden device was replaced using another material after. They are part of a group of collectible that is, according to some, pass� by the 1980�s, and to others the next new thing in for collectors who want to collect and display them but for the most part don�t have a lot of money to spend. They aren�t the more valuable in the soaker form but do well enough. Other countries such as South Africa, Canada, Spain, Argentina, used the wood device and had soakers too during the same time period, but not with the quantity or style of the many of the ones available from the U.S. Name the wooden device and what is a soaker?

Re: Monday

#2

Re: Monday

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

Something to do with fire fighting?

Tom

Re: Monday

#3

No.  Agriculture.  Hint

Gary Smyth

The soaker items are an offshoot and interchangable with the wood item. They are NOT related to irrigation. They are derived from soaking something. I'm virtually certain that anyone around age fifty experienced these first hand at an early age. Practically no one had a clue that they might be worth keeping. If you are that old when you saw these in early age it was the wood device rather than the soaker that was important. The "soakers" are a remnant of that time and a time capsule of the way some of the world thought might bring attention..

Re: Monday

#4

Re: Monday

Frederick Nelson

Perhaps laundry related? As in big wash tubs used before the days of automatic washers, remembering both my grandmothers' washing systems.

Fred

Cold and bleak in Eastern Missouri

Re: Monday

#5

Re: No.  Agriculture.  Hint

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

I'm 52 and drawing a blank but possibly a pea (spitball) shooter?

T.

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#6

Re: Monday

Don Orr

The only "soakers" I remember was when a foot slipped off a rock into the stream I was crossing getting my shoe and sock "soaked".

Re: Monday

#7

Re: Monday answer

Gary Smyth

The item was the wood fruit crate. Manufactured by the thousands and branded with some of the finest lithography ever produced. The labels became an art fad in the late 1970s but soon died. Since then the value has gone up and down, but the notice by collectors in the 1970s caused people to look for more of these, and has led to a resurgence because hundreds of companies and thousands of unused labels have been found all over the West, South, and Northwest. Other countries also made and shipped the wood crates and the labels. The old collectors continued their searches and over time found hundreds of pristine labels from a large number of companies and have more than enough to spare. Art dealers are falling all over themselves in offering superb �original� print artwork at low prices for large categories of people interested in agriculture, advertising, lithography, and nostalgia. The �soaker� is the label that was attached then removed on what was once the ubiquitous fruit crate. The soaker was submerged in water taken off the cheaply made crates, dried and framed. Unlike some other artwork, the used �soaker� artwork are about 30% the value of unused labels because hundreds of the pristine labels still available. Samples are attached but not shown is the �famous� Buxom Melon label which I could not get permission to duplicate.

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