This piece is an authentic industrial employee brass tool check. This was a functional brass tool room and timekeeping check issued directly by an industrial plant
Obverse (Side 1): Stamped STANDARD GENERAL BOILER CO. across three lines in block sans-serif capitals, with employee or tool station number 31 deeply counter-stamped at the bottom
Reverse (Side 2): Blank/unfaced, showing heavy natural oxidation, age patina, and heat/chemical tarnish typical of foundry or shipyard brass
Hole & Mounting: Perforated with a single top suspension hole designed to hang on a tool crib board, brass ring, or employee check board
During the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries, heavy manufacturing plants—especially boiler works, shipyards, foundries, and machinery fabricators—utilized brass checks for two primary operational systems:
The Tool Crib System: When an employee needed to check out specialized tools or heavy machinery from the shop's tool crib, they handed the toolkeeper their assigned numbered tag (31)
Timekeeping / Shift Accounting: Workers checked in at the start of a shift by taking their assigned brass check off the main gate board and dropping it into a brass check box to verify attendance and job site presence.
Issuer: Standard General Boiler Co.
Industry: Heavy industrial steel fabrication, steam boiler manufacturing, ship boiler repair, and pressure vessel construction
Circulation Era: c. 1910s – 1940s
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