ITW Announces Conference Call and Webcast of Its Annual Meeting for Investors In New York on December 5, 2003

GLENVIEW, Ill., Dec. 2, 2003 -- Illinois Tool Works Inc. today announced that it will host a conference call and webcast of its Annual Meeting for Investors to be held December 5, 2003 at the Westin New York at Times Square. The conference call and webcast of its meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. eastern time and conclude at approximately 12:15 p.m. eastern time.

The conference call can be accessed by dialing 800-901-5231. The pass code is 12671070. The conference call replay number is 888-286-8010 and the pass code is 65542040. The replay will be available through midnight on December 19, 2003.

The Company's webcast, featuring a synchronized slide show of management presentations, can be accessed via its website at www.itw.com . Interested participants should then access the investor information tab. The webcast replay will be available through midnight on December 19, 2003.

ITW is a $9.5 billion diversified manufacturer of highly engineered components and industrial systems. The company consists of approximately 600 decentralized operations in 44 countries and employs 48,700 people.