Michael asked:

[snip]
>  The neatest one has a
> very interesting marking around a round steel shaft.  It's in a spiral
> pattern (sort of like the stripe on a barbers pole) and says "PERFECT
> HANDLE, ?????sville, Conn" and maybe some other info.
[snip]

>What are they designed for?  They seem to be way too sturdy
> for simply turning screws, especially the Irwin one.  Also, is "Perfect
> Handle" a brand name or simply a style of handle.

    Perfect Handle was the trademark of HD Smith & Co. who hung out
their shingle in Plantsville, Connecticut:
http://www.mjdtools.com/books/22563.htm

    As for the Irwin, whaddya mean TOO sturdy?  Comemon, dagnabit, ain't
no such thing.  Those boys were made to sit in the head of the biggest,
rustiest, nastiest screws and have a wrench put on the shank for extra
torque.  Ain't no too sturdy about it.  Especially if you're one to
abuse a screwdrive and use it to lever up a Model T Ford to retrieve the
coffee money you dropped underneath.  Big ol' shank will survive that
while your chiwanese one will twist like a pretzel.

Regards,
Steve