Sidecutters

My dad called them sidecutter pliers. As opposed to diagonals or slip joint pliers. I own other pliers, but this is the set I grabbed this morning when I wanted to loosen an oil cap on a lawnmower. 

After the chores were, I was pondering how long these pliers have been in my life.  I own other pliers, of many stripes, for several different jobs, but this is the set I grab when I just need a simple tool for a simple job.

That journey took me down memory lane, when I was a young student, recently married to my departed wife.  We lived in a crappy little apartment in the student ghetto just outside of the college and she wanted me to change an electrical outlet. I went down to the old DeBlieux Hardware in Natchitoches, LA and purchased an outlet, a screwdriver, and that set of pliers.  All this in the spring of 1974.  It's now 2024, so I've had these pliers for 50 years.  The outlet may still be in that wall, both the screwdriver and wife are long gone, but I still have those pliers.