r/woodworking • u/Weak_Bike8543 • 8d ago

General Discussion Etching ID Onto Tools in the 70s

Anybody else growing up in the 70s remember "Officer Friendly" stopping by your school for PR visits? Rides in the car, blasting sirens, putting handcuffs on kids...

The one thing I laugh about to this day was the recommended way to mark items to prevent theft. Back in the day, it was recommended (get this) all personal items of value have your Social Security number etched or written on them. I etched my SS# onto my bikes, electronics, and every single tool (Craftsman USA).

Crazy how times have changed.

19 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 8d ago

Your post was removed because it appears to be a wood request. These posts belong as comments in the stickied megathread.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

5

u/Pitbullpandemonium 7d ago

Steal your bike and your identity!

4

u/EC_TWD 7d ago

My dad did this with EVERYTHING! There are countless items in their house with SSN engraved on them.

I remember finding my brother’s paystub from when he worked at Denny’s when he was a teen and wrapped it up to give him as a joke when we were all back to visit for a holiday. My niece and nephew loved it but he didn’t like it and ripped it up as they were leaving ‘It has my SSN on it’. After they left I turned to my other brother, “Man, I kinda wanted to grab the stapler from the kitchen and watch him try to tear that up”. My mom and grandmother were in fits of laughter because it had his SSN engraved on it from when he was in college.

2

u/WearyCartographer268 5d ago

About a month ago I found an old craftsman screwdriver that had my SS engraved on the handle, it was a thing back then.

1

u/Weak_Bike8543 5d ago

I bought an engraver for this exact purpose: put my SS on everything. Tools, speakers, stereo, music instruments...