Collection of nine original photographs of Bonney Tools sales vans, circa late 1940s

Allentown, PA: Bonney Forge and Tool Works, 1940. Collection of nine vintage photographs of Bonney Tools sales vans, bound with a plastic comb binding, circa late 1940s. Pencil annotation on the front wrapper of "Master Set / Bonney Forge and Tool Photos / M-9 - M-11."

The nine photographs in the collection feature four views of the full exterior, capturing at least two different examples of the modified circa 1948 Chevrolet Dubl-Duti Step-Vans, one rear exterior photograph looking into the modified loading bay, and four views of the precise and elaborate display of Bonney Tools above cabinets in the modified loading bay. Two license plates are visible in the photographs, one from West Virginia and one from Pennsylvania.

The converted vans served as mobile sales trucks for the Bonney Tool and Forge Co., utilizing the bed as a mobile sales floor for the driver/salesman, who sold the tools directly from the van to mechanic shops and garages, a practice still in use today.

Bonney Forge was founded in Philadelphia in 1876 by Charles S. Bonney, originally crafting hardware for horse-drawn wagons and later became a manufacturer of automotive hand tools, largely out of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

8.25 x 10.25 inches with a red comb binding. Near Fine overall, with some faint toning and soiling to the wrappers.