A collection of all the main Workbench manufactures catalog front/ad pages. Recently, I found this Lincoln Engineering pamphlet from 1947, of all places for sale on Etsy.
Almost all of the companies referred to their work station cabinet units as Service Merchandisers, outside of Alemite and Balcrank.
Here are all of the different unit model numbers and style changes for these Shure Merchandisers from 1946 thru the late 50’s… Or is it possible that these cabinets were available to buy from the company up into the 1970’s?
If the model number ended in 50, that unit had sliding lower front doors instead of swinging.
Manufacturing changes are very small on these cabinets over the years. The hinges changed from a screwed in chrome hinge to a welded on two-piece pin style. The front of the bench had a thin inlayed stainless vertical trim on some of the chrome hinge units. And the handles went from sweeped to an arch style.
This later model has full length piano hinges on the cabinet doors and plastic handles.
A friend of the website found this interesting Shure catalog, that shows these styles of Workstation available for purchase in 1971. Is it possible they were still using the original tooling, or did they have overstock available? We are waiting to hear from the Company about this new development.
We all know that finding the original desk for a Workbench can be quite a task at times. Here are some cabinets with creative solutions for replacement workbenches.
This might be my favorite repurposing of a bench. A Youngstown kitchen sink cabinet, with a top added to it, makes a nice fitting workbench for this Lincoln.
In the mid 40’s, “Natkin & Company” had a deal to produce workbenches for GM. Shure jumped in and helped out with there metal fabrication experience. Here are a few of these rare “N” branded Natkin cabinets in use.
Not that many of the Natkin’s were built, but their legacy lives on in the Shure’s out there. Also with their oil resistant “Nat-flex” work top surface.
The Bench below was built by Natkin and badged by them, then purchased by Bear and decals were added to the doors.
Here are a few Shure Workbench variations that we don’t see very often.
This cabinet has the rare four piece pull-down center door. Very few work stations had this add-on! It would have been a custom request from the factory.
Next up are these black square handles. They seem to be on later model Shure’s and to date we have only seen a few merchandisers with these present.
That being said, we have seen many of the different brands Work Stations in different makers Dealerships over the years. Alemite’s and Lincoln’s are often mixed in with other brands.
Here is a Shure one sided cabinet bench. The end cap is something new to us.
A Graco wall surround with just cabinets.
These Visualiner cabinets have been reworked into stand-alone smaller cabinets.
Finally, here is a Work Station that never actually existed. The Artist for this ARO ad was probably worried about showing a Alemite Bench in the final print, so they modified its trim and window placement.
For years we have entertained the idea of painting up a Merchandiser in the Gulf Racing theme. The colors play so nice off of each other and we had never seen one.
Well a regular to our site has found a Shure bench in Gulf colors, and we are still loving it.
From at least 1938 through the 50’s the Automotive Service Industry Show at Navy Pier in Chicago was the main place for suppliers to show off their new products. The shows / conventions were highly attended; around 21,000+ people in their peak years of 1947 and 48 and 500-600 manufacturers . There was no show in 1949 and by 1950 the numbers began to drop off. (16,000)
The Alemite display booth was well attended, with a merchandiser displayed right in the center. Some displays cost north of $10,000 at the time, and companies used everything from key rings to smoking pipes to attract visitors.
The show floor; 1938
The Shure Sales Promotion Manager, Stan Lenehan, at the International A.S.I. show with one of the first Shure Mfg. Merchandisers
The Show floor in 1946; I can see a Graco booth on left along with many other companies