Photo Index - Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl. - 16" Scroll Saw

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl.
Milwaukee, WI; Jackson, TN; Tupelo, MS

True Manufacturer:
Delta Specialty/Delta Mfg. Co./Delta-Rockwell/Rockwell Intl., Milwaukee, WI; Jackson, TN; Tupelo, MS

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Jig or Scroll Saw
Machine Size:	16"
Submitted By:	Monsieur Angleterre

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	16" Scroll Saw
Date of Manufacturer:
Serial Number:
Last Updated	2/26/2003 12:00:00 AM

Comments:

There was a moment of vision in corporate America, and then the vision died. Backroom deals and underhanded politics had prevailed again. American know-how would take a backseat in international markets to the bruised egos of a few men-of-power.

It was in the late '40s and Europe was rebuilding; the opportunities were enormous - Home Depot, where were you then? Delta had a quiet man of genius working in the marketing department: Hurler Toots. (Don't wonder at his name; his mother was a woman of means from Melbourne and had named him after the legendary Aussie cricketeer.)

Knowing that the Delta Gray, much revered by American enthusiasts as a sign of irrevocable quality, would never sell in a bleak and worn-out Europe, Hurler came up with a brilliant marketing plan. The low-cost, but sturdy, newly-acquired Homecraft line would be renamed the "Sunshine Series" and sold in Europe only. From London to Berlin to Moscow it would be Delta's market to lose.

And lose it they did. Hurler's idea was scoffed at by those who hadn't thought of it first; impoverished minds prevailed. He was sent to the mail room, and would later die in poverty, a broken man.

Very few of these Sunshine Series tools still exist. In fact, only a few prototypes were produced in the Tarzana, California plant, and those that remain are all in the hands of private collectors, and thus, largely unknown.

You will note that the serial number, K 5030, is not covered in K. Bohn's fine article on Delta-dating. Above, you have the reasons why. Little is known and much is to be learned. May God speed the historians among us!

Photo 1:

Comments:
Source: Monsieur Angleterre's able assistant: donnie

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Photo 2:

Comments:
Source: Monsieur Angleterre's able assistant: donee

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Photo 3:

Comments:
Source: Monsieur Angleterre's able assistant: donny

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