Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[David Dunlop]

The Illustrators that worked on the 52-Set Parts Lists did an amazing job, both in the accuracy/detail of their work but also in getting the background scale for each drawing correct. A good example of this is in the attached drawing of the ¼-pound tin of Kesters Radio Solder that was part of the kit in the Spare Tools Box.

Based on that drawing a few weeks ago, I started monitoring eBay for possible matches to that drawing. Some very similar ones popped up almost immediately, but the wording in the little ribbon was wrong. I started to doubt the accuracy of that particular feature of the drawing until 10 days ago when these items turned up. Spot on to the drawing, and it was even more interesting to find Kesters had a plant in Brantford, Ontario, which was noted on the back of the tin. Seems Kesters colour coded the tins of their solder line to make it easier to recognize the correct solder for a particular job, and that policy continued well into the 1970’s, long after they had switched to small cardboard boxes for their solder products.

David