Article of the Week - number fifty-seven - a handy workman's tool cloth

"Tool Kit, Turret Mechanics" is a coarse cotton cloth that appears to have an interesting history. 

There is little information to be found on the Internet about this piece (although this link shows a similar one) but it seems like this comes from the United States Army and was perhaps issued as a standard item along with tool kits in the latter half of the 20th Century, perhaps the 1970s or '80s. The cloth is printed neatly with the outlines of different tools, each numbered and each made to size. 

A best guess is that this would be placed on the floor when a mechanic was working, and each tool would be placed onto its outline. It would then be easy to find the right tool for the job in hand. When the work was finished it would be also be simple to see what tools were missing. Instant and practical. 

If any of our readers can shed any light on this item please get in touch.We would be interested to learn more.