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O. Barnett Tool Co.
Only one in the case
Before there was a Leatherman, there was the Barnett. This O. Barnett Tool Co. plier-knife out of Newark, New Jersey is one of the first multitools ever mass produced, built in the early 1900s for farmers, ranchers, linemen and horsemen who needed a whole toolbox in one pocket. Patented in 1900 and made by Barnett for roughly fifteen years before the company closed, these tools were sold through hardware wholesalers and big mail-order houses of the day. Folded up it looks like a stout jack knife. Open it and you get working pliers with a wire cutter for barbed wire and baling wire, small wrenches cut into the bolsters, a knife blade, an awl, a screwdriver in the base, and a plier handle that doubles as a hoof pick. This one wears honey-brown jigged bone handles with brass liners and pins, a sign of quality in the days before stainless steel. More than a century old and still showing all of its tools, it's a true piece of American tool history and a centerpiece for any multitool or antique knife collection. - Maker: O. Barnett Tool Co., Newark, NJ - Era: circa 1900–1915 - Type: plier-knife multitool - Tools: pliers, wire cutter, bolster wrenches, knife blade, awl, screwdriver, hoof pick - Handles: jigged bone - Liners and pins: brass - Made in USA
