My Dad had a Craftsman 1/4" power drill from about 1951. Of course, it had the metal housing, no plastic back in those days. Anyway, the power cord on it had a regular two pronged plug, but their was a 4" pigtail that came out of the side of the plug, which was the ground. Attached to the end of the pigtail was a small "socket". Presumabily, to ground the drill, you were supposed to remove the electrical outlet cover plate screw, replace it with a special screw supplied with the drill, that when screwed back into the receptical, still stuck out about 1/4". When you plugged your shiny new electric drill into the outlet, you were supposed to also attach the pigtail fitting onto the metal screw that was holding the cover plate on. Never mind the fact that most wiring was ungrounded Romex at the time, but how many homeowners actually would limit the use of the drill in that dedicated "special" outlet with the ground attachment.
Needless to say, both Dad and I used that drill for decades without it being grounded. By the way, the drill still works and is in my parent's basement, although it hasn't been used for years. I guess what we didn't know couldn't kill us! (j/k)
