Dating Division of Highways Tools

[cahwyguy]

I got the following email request. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

I'm trying to date a tool, a brass plumb bob, that I've recently found. It
is "inscribed"

CALIF DIV HWYS  (as well as the maker of the plumb bob, DIETZGEN, and
various bits about the tool itself).

I'm trying to determine whether Caltrans still uses the Division of
Highways title or not, as an aid in dating this tool. I really can't tell,
from what I've found online, whether that title is still officially used.
I did find that the Department of Highways was replaced by the Department
of Engineering,  within which was a Division of Highways. I don't know if
they still use that designation under "Caltrans".

I doubt that Caltrans still has the tools they order "personalized" with
something like CALIF DIV HWYS. By the perfect placement/positioning of
that stamping and the fact that it matches the maker's mark stamping, I'm
guessing that it was all done at the time of manufacture.

If you have any knowledge (or even just a guess) about the era in which
the Division of Highways was used as a title, or when the state might have
ordered tools marked this way, I hope you will drop me a quick email. Or,
perhaps you know someone who collects highway memorabilia or tools that
might have an idea.

[vdeane]

Maybe you should try going on a few more dates before you start asking your tool so many personal questions.

[Mapmikey]

Division of Highways used in California Highways Journals (http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/Californiahighways/) from at least 1928-67 and on state highway maps from 1928 through at least 1970

[ClassicHasClass]

I thought the old Div of Hwys went away in 1972 when Caltrans came into being. Either way it would be roughly Mikey's date anyway.

[J N Winkler]

I think the most promising approach would be to find out which years Dietzgen made tools for Caltrans (or its predecessor agencies) that have agency markings.

AIUI, Division of Highways was under Department of Public Works, while modern Caltrans has been (maybe still is) a department in its own right, under the Business, Transportation, & Housing Agency, whose head has the seat in the governor's cabinet.  A very long-standing complaint about transportation in California is that Caltrans has no cabinet visibility in its own right and Caltrans director is one of the last appointments an incoming governor makes.