The Gale finger nipper

I guess the "Gale finger nipper" is known to many of us. At one time I had two of them but the duplicate was sold long ago.

When going through my attic recently, I found a box that came with them. It's marked "Yale" and not "Gale". The box is marked
"12 ONLY S-1 064 Finger cuffs". I don't remember when and how I bought this but now I have started to wonder if the name "Gale" is correct,
it's very close to "Yale" as on the box. On the other side, the finger cuff is marked "GFC" and the patent number 2026966.

Anybody with more information on these?

Lars

www.holstcollection.com

A quick search in the US patent database gave this information. Patented granted in 1936 (appl. for in 1934) by Abraham. D. Cushing.
However, this information adds nothing to the question about the name "Gale" or "Yale" or the manufacturer.

Lars
I’m almost certain that the “GFC” stands for Gale finger cuff and I don’t think there is any connection between the box that you show and the Gale cuff itself but I may be mistaken.
Spencer

Spencer,
You very well might be right but then what was in the "Finger cuffs" labeled Yale box? It once had twelve finger cuffs in it according to the label.
Lars

Its very possible that Gale made the nipper and that Yale was the U.S. distributor for the device? Their names being similar would just have been a coincidence.
-Richard Knip-

I too highly doubt that Yale had any involvement with this item.
Yale has no history of making or selling any restraints as far as I know.
A finger cuff is something that I  can't figure out as it pertains to Yale.
A very strange question.
The box seems too large for 12 Gales and I do not recognize the DZ10 finish either.

Posted for Spencer

Glenn was kind enough to post this picture from a 1921 article in Popular Mechanics....has anyone seen one of these before? I know I haven’t but has someone ever seen one of these before?
Thanks Spencer

I have not seen that particular shaped design for a finger cuff, before. Closest i have seen would be the Gale Finger Cuff in question. Very interesting.
-Richard Knip-

Richard I wanted the collecting community to see this very interesting item, it almost appears to be a prototype of the Gale but it precedes it by quite a few years and I can’t find any patent info on it, I’m only assuming that it was manufactured.

Spencer

This is what I know about Yale's "DZ10" finish:

"D" means chrome plated
"Z" means brightly polished
"10" means the true actual color of whatever metal is in question (not laquered, unrelieved, un-ozidized)

"DZ10" was an old finish coding system used by Yale and is of nearest equivalent to "US26" which both were toted as popular finish choices for the inside trim of bathroom locks and as a side note, that style carton was used by Yale in the 1940's and 50's.

Happy new year,
 --Vince

Yale may have been the assignee to manufacture Gale's cuff, someone had to do it.

In addition to the Popular Mechanics article, Cushing's finger-cuffs were described in Volume 99 (1921) of the Popular Science Monthly. . This article points out that Abraham Cushing was a member of the police department of Concord, New Hampshire. In part the article states, "Mr. Cushing believes that the finger-cuff is more effective than the handcuff, and we are inclined to believe him. With one attached, a prisoner could endure very little pulling on one of his fingers, while a handcuffed prisoner can pill with all his strength and not injure his arm to any great extent"

Cushing was hired into the Concord PD in 1919. The January 1st. 1921 and January 1st. 1925 Concord Police Department annual reports list him under chauffeurs. In 1928 he was listed as a patrolman and the last year of his listing is 1933 for the PD.  After he left the PD he worked as an electrician for Concord Electric until 1950.The 1921 articles were printed 13 years before he applied for his patent.

Another interesting thumb cuff is the Tower & Lyon cuff, also referred to as the Wood cuff because Henry E. Wood received a patent for it on August 3, 1909. He assigned the patent to Tower & Lyon. What I find interesting is that Frank McDonald received a patent (375,945) for a "Shackle" on January 3, 1888. The illustration of his shackle is almost identical to the illustration in Wood's patent application. It makes me think McDonald's patent may have expired and Wood was free to use his design. Just a guess.

Matt

The design is radical and I couldn't imagine it being a product of two different independent inventors.