Old and Obscure Brands

[trail]

How about a thread for all the old and obscure brands that don't really warrant a thread for themselves? One of my favorite sections of my Price Guide to Collector Knives is the 33 pages titled "Knife Brands of the World." This is a listing or about 1,500 different brands that a knife collector might come across. Maybe somebody has seen them all but I doubt if I have seen more than 5 percent, even in pictures. That's a good thing because it means that any day I might run across another new one.

Here is a Bower 32. This Solingen made knife was imported by F.A. Bower Import Co, which may have been located in Jacksonville, FL. Stewart and Ritchie think enough of the brand to give it a short writeup in the Standard Knife Collector's Guide. "The firm began importing their fine knives from Solingen, Germany very early in the 1900's and they seem to have measured up well against our own fine domestic brands." Other sources suggest that Bower started importing in the 1950s as part of the German post war reconstruction effort.

My knife shows heavy wear, but it is still serviceable. The pen blade is lazy but the clip snaps harder than most modern new production knives. The handles, which I believe are bone, are so pocketworn that the pins and shield stand proud. For this old, well-worn knife to still hold together suggests to me that it was of high quality manufacture.

Any other old and obscure brand knives out there?

[rangerbluedog]

I don't have any, but I like this idea, trail!

[trail]

Thanks, Blue! That's probably my only one, but I'll bet we see some good stuff, especially if some of the old-timers start rooting around in their cigar boxes.

[Miller Bro's]

Trail,

Look here;

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 55&start=0

[trail]

Thanks Miller Bro's, I forgot all about that old thread. There are some real nice "one hit wonders" there. If an admin wants to consolidate this thread into that one, I wouldn't argue against it.

[tjmurphy]

I kinda sorta think that this would be a very interesting "stand alone" thread rather than consolidating it. I think that I have some odd-balls but have to dig to see.

[tjmurphy]

Here's some that I already have pics of. To me they're obscure, but maybe not. Page 1

United Cutlery Germany2.jpg (11.66 KiB) Viewed 47705 times

[tjmurphy]

Page 2.

[robinetn]

THE OSTDIEK COMPANY , MINNEPOLIS , MINN. (Probably made by W.R. CASE & SONS in the teens)

[knifegirl888]

These are all cool! I always like shields that are different & the Bower name qualifies!

TJ,

That's the first Coca Cola Atlanta knife I have seen. My book says that most were made by Camillus in the 30s-40's. Very cool!

Robin,

What a nice hobo! I haven't ever heard of Ostdiek & wouldn't have associated that name with Case.

I learn so much for the forum!

[orvet]

OK here is one for this thread.

I can find no mention of a knife by this company anywhere, in any book.
I looked for info on this for a couple weeks or more.
I emailed Mike Silvey, author and noted military knife expert, and a nice guy.
Mike had no info on them.
Parenthetically; Mike has a great book out that I highly recommend: "Pocket Knives of the United States Military".
It is one of my favorite knife books and has lots of great color pictures from very early Navy knives to modern knives.
My go to source of info on TL-29 knives.
Available from Knife World: http://www.knifeworld.com/pocknivofuns.html

I did a search on yellowpages.com for the company.
I found two listings, one in Texas & one in New York.

I was not able to get a hold of the Texas company but I managed to contact the company in New York,
Here are my notes from that call:

7/19/10-
Called phone number for A E Fuller Co. (found in Yellowpages.com).
The phone was answered by a lady who said A E Fuller Co. was her husband’s company but the company no longer exists.
I explained I was a knife historian, researching a knife with the AE Fuller name on it. She said they must have had the knife made for them.
She said they were manufactures representatives.

So after a week + of research I have a definite ‘maybe’ as to the origin of my mystery knife.
I must admit; it is more information than I have been able to get on some knives of unknown lineage.

[tjmurphy]

These are all cool! I always like shields that are different & the Bower name qualifies!

TJ,

That's the first Coca Cola Atlanta knife I have seen. My book says that most were made by Camillus in the 30s-40's. Very cool!

Robin,

What a nice hobo! I haven't ever heard of Ostdiek & wouldn't have associated that name with Case.

I learn so much for the forum!

Thanks KG. When I received it, it was in pieces and Elvis put it back together for me. Did a great job. Thanks again Bob.

[knifegirl888]

OK here is one for this thread.

AE Fuller TL-29.jpg

AE Fuller.jpg

I can find no mention of a knife by this company anywhere, in any book.
I looked for info on this for a couple weeks or more.
I emailed Mike Silvey, author and noted military knife expert, and a nice guy.
Mike had no info on them.
Parenthetically; Mike has a great book out that I highly recommend: "Pocket Knives of the United States Military".
It is one of my favorite knife books and has lots of great color pictures from very early Navy knives to modern knives.
My go to source of info on TL-29 knives.
Available from Knife World: http://www.knifeworld.com/pocknivofuns.html

I did a search on yellowpages.com for the company.
I found two listings, one in Texas & one in New York.

I was not able to get a hold of the Texas company but I managed to contact the company in New York,
Here are my notes from that call:

7/19/10-
Called phone number for A E Fuller Co. (found in Yellowpages.com).
The phone was answered by a lady who said A E Fuller Co. was her husband’s company but the company no longer exists.
I explained I was a knife historian, researching a knife with the AE Fuller name on it. She said they must have had the knife made for them.
She said they were manufactures representatives.

So after a week + of research I have a definite ‘maybe’ as to the origin of my mystery knife.
I must admit; it is more information than I have been able to get on some knives of unknown lineage.

I like to do research on the unknowns, but it can be frustrating when there is nothing to be found. I am glad you got even a little piece of information on this one!

[ObsidianEdge]

I like that slot knife. It does look like it was made by Case. Bernard Levine has images of a minty one on his website.

Sperry and Alexander was a New York based wholesale company. Charlie (Upnorth) told me thought Schrade made this jack.

[tjmurphy]

Man, that's an interesting blade. Is it a budding knife? I like it pretty good.

[ObsidianEdge]

If you mean the S&A, it's a slightly worn sheepsfoot on a two blade jack.

[FRJ]

Well, here's a name that was in business for over 50 years, but I think is not quit a household name. I'd like to give it some attention here. It's a great knife. Very well made and Nice bone handles.

Hollinger,..........Freemont, Ohio......... Does anyone have this brand?

[knifegirl888]

Bret & I actually have a sheath knife with the name "Hollinger, Fremont OH" on it. I will try to get a scan of it soon. I know that LG4 states c1919, with a high collectible rating. Goins says that some of their cutlery line was made by other manufacturers and lists the dates as 1905-1958. All I have is book info though..

[trail]

Anybody else see this in the A.G. Russell online catalog?

"On a dealer's table at the 2006 Blade Show, we found and purchased an antique Hobo knife that was the most elegant I had ever seen. The mark was Ostdiek Co. Minneapolis, one I had never seen before. I have checked with many dealers and collectors in the pocketknife portion of this industry and have found no one who knows anything about that company. It is my belief that the knife was produced in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The profile was slim and the lines were extremely pleasing to behold..."

http://www.agrussell.com/a-g-russell-bo ... US-UX3ORH/

[knifegirl888]

Here is one I posted on another site, asking if anyone knew anything about the maker? I got no replies at all... I can't find anything that matches in my books & have come up empty even on the web. Looks like it should be an easy one, but

Looks to say F. GG & Sawyer, Sheffield. Its a pretty ivory handled knife that has nice thickness to the scales. It feels heavy for its size.

[robinetn]

Anybody else see this in the A.G. Russell online catalog?

"On a dealer's table at the 2006 Blade Show, we found and purchased an antique Hobo knife that was the most elegant I had ever seen. The mark was Ostdiek Co. Minneapolis, one I had never seen before. I have checked with many dealers and collectors in the pocketknife portion of this industry and have found no one who knows anything about that company. It is my belief that the knife was produced in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The profile was slim and the lines were extremely pleasing to behold..."

http://www.agrussell.com/a-g-russell-bo ... US-UX3ORH/

Do you think that he was refering to one like I posted in this thread ? If so , BRL only has one reference to it in his 4th ed. and lists it as 1908 - 1930's . It does look like 1920's Case bone & jigging .

Bob

[trail]

Yes, Bob, I think he must have found one similar or identical to yours. He has had something made that he calls a "boxcar jack" that is patterned after the Ostdiek, and while it is not nearly as beautiful as yours it does have a family resemblance.

[ObsidianEdge]

Here is the Case slot knife from Levine's Website:

There's also a shot of the inside of both sides.

[robinetn]

Here is the Case slot knife from Levine's Website:

There's also a shot of the inside of both sides.

Looks like the only difference is the type of bone and the sabre grind .

Bob

[FRJ]

Bret & I actually have a sheath knife with the name "Hollinger, Fremont OH" on it. I will try to get a scan of it soon.

Thanks knifegirl, I'd like to see a pic. of the sheath knife. I read about my knife in Goins too. The name was under steam for quite a while. You'd think more of there knives would surface. Maybe they do and I'm just not under the right star. Thats happened before.
Your other knife is beautiful. You reckon that ivory adds weight?