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L F & C ?

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:07 pm
by Jody744
tell me everything- I found one at an antique store for $15, but the main blade is badly broken. Other than that, cool knife-DaveO has one similar in the a-z knife thread. Forgot to write down the pattern # on back of blade.... I would just like to know about them, never heard of before.
THANKS!

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:28 pm
by Sauconian
Jody,

Landers, Frary,& Clark was a merger of companys in Connecticut known primarily for housewares. They date to the 1800's, and manufactured pocket knives around the first third of the twentieth century, and used a blade etch of "Universal."

The collector value is pretty good, and their steel must have been as well, because I've found a couple that still had a very sharp edge on them.

If you don't have any collector books, try a search. You should come up with more and better info.

Fran

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:53 pm
by Ringmaster
What Fran said, I agree...

I consider them to be somewhat of a "sleeper", on the collector market. They can still be had, for reasonable prices, and the quality is darn good, for a carrying knife.

It's all my brother (who's not a collector) will carry. I just bought him a nice scout pattern, with rough-black handles, for $25. Still in very useable condition. It was sittin' beside a 4-line Camillus, in the same condition, marked $50, and a Rem (but with bone handles), for $85.

The broken blade on your find will significantly reduce the value, of course. A replacement blade would be 'almost' unobtainium, tho'. Keep looking, they're out there.

Smiling JR

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:13 pm
by muskrat man
I have a few and I really like them. Well made knives, take a very good edge. Here is a rough black barehead jack I have. Still searching for an LF&C Hawkbill.

Image

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:16 pm
by msteele6
I agree with what has already been said and would add that L.F.&C. specialized in the rough black handles as shown byMM's example.

I just went back over my small collection of L.F.&C.'s and noted that I have 6 handled in rough black, 2 in pearl and one wooden handled. I wouldn't say that they didn't make knives handled in bone, stag, or celluloid, I'm sure they did, however, they seemed to speciaize in rough black. I seem to remember reading somewhere that L.F.&C. bought a company that owned a patent for a rough black material.

Their rough black material was also unique in that it was made of rubber or a synthetic similar to rubber. When I squeeze the handles of knives handled in this material it seems to be a little softer than normal rough black, not that I spend much time squeezng knife handles, mind you.

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:21 pm
by El Lobo
...not that I spend much time squeezng knife handles, mind you.

:shock: :shock: ::paranoid::







:lol: :lol:

Bill

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:43 pm
by Sauconian
...not that I spend much time squeezng knife handles, mind you.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Anything like love handles ?

Kaleb.........Like this ?

Fran

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:22 pm
by knife7knut
L,F,&C made knives in many handle materials and patterns.Some of the ones I own are engraved stainless steel and sterling silver.I also have a pair of poultry shears with MOP scales(!)and a beautiful 3 piece stag cutlery set.

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:24 pm
by knife7knut
L,F,&C made knives in many handle materials and patterns.Some of the ones I own are engraved stainless steel and sterling silver.I also have a pair of poultry shears with MOP scales(!)and a beautiful 3 piece stag cutlery set.

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:59 pm
by muskrat man
Sauconian wrote:...not that I spend much time squeezng knife handles, mind you.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Anything like love handles ?

Kaleb.........Like this ?

Fran
Yes! :mrgreen:

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:28 pm
by upnorth
Here is a big hunka Jack from LF&C. Well made, and though used, still operates like new. Great half stops and snap.
I like the deep etch they use (or maybe a fine stamp?). It doesn't rub off when you use the knife. This has a different version of their synthetic stag. It feels quite hard, almost as brittle as bone. It's black with a brown underlayer.

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:35 pm
by Jody744
Thanks! I still think $15 was too high, may go and offer $5 this weekend...just really liked the look and feel of it, now I can look for more.
Every search I ran brought up pages of kitchen cutlery or accessories....

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:52 am
by junebug
I KNOW THIS IS AN OLD TREAD!!!!!!! but i personally love L.F.&C. or (LF&C , LF &C ,LFC) AND COLLECT THEM(any for sale/trade???)!!!! :mrgreen: i think there great vintage EDC knives!!!! this tread started almost 1 yr. ago on my b-day!!!!! ::tu:: jan. 28th woot woot!!!!
here is what i know of company........
organized in 1865 in new britain, conn. when two companies joined (LANDERS and SMITH...WITH...FRARY and CAREY) with james d. frary as pres. and clark as the firms attorney..........and w/ major prod. in kitchen/table wear.... james frary the co. pres. patented a hollow handle knife in 1869......in 1871 his patent for making bolsters from sheet metal as well as other innovations for pocket knife making led him to resign & open his own co. (frary cutlery co. in bridgeport conn, .......his co. lasted from 1876-1884...... landers , frary and clark grew into a major cutlery producer and co. name was shortened to L.F.&C. in 1898(another book says 1897???)....using the trade name UNIVERSAL (purchased from universal knife co.)leading them to be the largest producer of cutlery in the world!!!! LF&C entered into entered into pocket knife production in 1912......... that same year they purchased the HUMASON & BECKLEY MANUFACTURING CO.using that production plant and used that co.s' knife patterns also adding there own and new ones to line up........another major purchase in 1918(another book says 1866???) was the MERIDEN CUTLERY CO. ......... in 1950 L.F.&C. OF NEW BRITAIN ,CONNECTICUT discontinued its cutlery division :cry: they also used the " H & B " trademark along w/ the "lf&c" trademark.......
in 1950 cutlery div. was discontinued ......
in 1965 all additional assets were sold to GENERAL ELECTRIC CORP.

THIS INFO ARE IN TWO BOOKS I HAVE:
11TH ADD. COLLECTOR KNIVES C. HOUSTON PRICE PAGE 324-325

6TH ED. KNIFE COLL. GUIDE RON STEWART PAGE 295
HOPE THIS HELPS IN FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!!! :mrgreen:

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:04 am
by junebug
::ds:: update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thanx to "knife7knut" we now know they also had a marking of "aetna works" thanx k7k......... ::tu::

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:54 pm
by jerseyjimlive
Hope I got the photo attachments of the Universal Cutlery pocket knife dealer display case loaded okay. Yeh it looks good.


Jerseyjim

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:46 am
by bestgear
Nice countertop display. These are getting harder and harder to find. If your intentions are to load it up, checkout my LF&C knives in my AAPK store, I can hook you up!

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 2:41 pm
by bestgear

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:38 pm
by jerseyjimlive
to bestgear;

Yes the ebay listing of the 'High Grade Universal Cutlery' 24 knife dealer display case is my listing. Just thought I would get a feel for the response for this almost forgotten manufacturer on this site.

Jim

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:09 am
by bestgear
All good Jim / and I think your price is in the ballpark. I'll keep watching it to see how it ends. Tom

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 8:53 pm
by Robert1652
I have 1 for sale if anyone would like to purchase it you can message me back at Robert165222@gmail.com I can send pics I'm new to this site I will try to upload pics if I can

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 9:21 pm
by doglegg
Robert1652 wrote:I have 1 for sale if anyone would like to purchase it you can message me back at Robert165222@gmail.com I can send pics I'm new to this site I will try to upload pics if I can
Hey Robert, welcome to AAPK. Look around the forums and see what might pic your interest. As far as selling things here I think you need to be a supporting member to be able to sell. Look up to the top tool bar on the right and it list the ways to support. Thanks, hope to see you around. ::handshake::

Re: L F & C ?

Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 10:08 pm
by RobesonsRme.com
Welcome.

Just FYI, selling in the discussion forums is frowned upon, too.

There are forums for that purpose.

Not fussing, just informing.

I got ripped pretty badly when I first joined for doing similar.

Charlie Noyes