Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Colonial Knife was incorporated in 1926 by three brothers; Antonio, Domenic, & Fredrick Paolantonio. It grew to become one of the largest pocket knife manufacturers in the US during the 1960s. The company shut down in 1998, but was back into production under the Colonial Cutlery International Corporation in 2001. Colonial Cutlery International, Inc. brand is the imported line of knives and tools while the U.S.A.- made products fall under the Colonial Knife brand.
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gsmith7158
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Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by gsmith7158 »

When I first started collecting knives I would sometimes buy lots of knives hoping to strike it rich and find an old Case hidden in the lot. If it didn't say Case on it, I would throw it into a gallon sized ziploc bag and forget about it. Well I ran across that bag yesterday and thought I would go through it since I have acquired a fair amount of knowledge since joining AAPK.I thought it would be fun to try to identify the knives I had initially deemed worthless. Well I saw this bone handled Barlow and cleaned it up a bit and and found a picture of The Old Cutler engraved at the end of the bolster. Still not very valuable and in rough shape but it is now identified. Just a testament to what you can learn here at AAPK! :D
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Greg

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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by FRJ »

Nice old knife, Greg. ::tu::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by #goldpan »

Nice old Barlow Greg! You got me thinking (a very dangerous thing!) I have seen that knife before... Got to digging around in a box of loose knives and found it! :D
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Got me to looking for that Old Cutler mark! Could not find it on my knife :( My example does not have a Colonial tang stamp. This one has Cleveland Cutlery Co. Warranted stamp on the tang. Goin's dates this to 1925. Not bad! I wonder if Colonial made knives for Cleveland Cutlery? Gregg can you get a better picture of the Old Cutler mark? Perhaps I can move mine to my Colonial pile. Just for reference here are a couple of pics of a much newer Colonial "Old Cutler" Barlow in my collection.
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by gsmith7158 »

Randy that is very cool! I had some misgivings about identifying that knife as an old cutler mainly because there is no discernable company tang stamp on the mark side only a pattern number on the pile side master. The engraving of what appears to be the old cutler and the C.C.C. lead me to that. I Have Also A Shell Jack Knife That Is Only Marked With A Colonial patent number on the master so I thought that might not be out of the ordinary. There is another item that doesn't match up with Old Cutler'a dates and that is the iron bolsters and liners. I noticed also the C.C.C. on mine is slightly different than yours with the second and third c being smaller than the first. The mystery deepens!
I am out on a trip so it will be a couple of weeks before I can post any more pics.
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by #goldpan »

Greg what are the numbers on the pile side. Cattaraugus also had Barlows with C.C.C. on the bolsters.You may have a Catt!! first two numbers should be 22 and the fith number should be a 9. I love a mystery!
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by gsmith7158 »

Randy I don't have the knife with me but it seems like there were only 4 numbers. I'll have to check it when I get home.
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by TripleF »

RARE tang stamps fellas!! Knice knives! ::tu::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by #goldpan »

I will be waiting Greg. I took a second look at the bolster stamp. Now I see the difference. Thanks Scott.
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by #goldpan »

I'm like a dawg on the scent Greg! I have another Barlow with your bolster stamp. This is the one I thought I was looking for. See what happens when I don't pay attention to detail? Same as yours and the four numbers on the master blade are 2139. When you get home I'll bet the numbers on yours are 2159 as yours has a clip blade. Seems as if Cattaraugus changed their numbering system at some point.Here are some more pics.
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The pics show the knife that matches your with a different era Catt with the same numbers for reference. Cant wait until you get home and check you Barlow Greg. I am fairly sure its a Catt! Congrats! ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by gsmith7158 »

Hey Randy, I do believe you are right. I am pretty sure mine says 2159. Here is one I found in one of the AAPK stores. Just call us Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Watson. ::handshake::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by #goldpan »

Gotta love it when a plan comes together ::tu:: ::nod::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by Tsar Bomba »

The C.C.C. is definitely a Catt Barlow stamp. I thought I read something in the description about "Old Cutler" stampings on the blades but I didn't really pursue that line of thought once everyone started posting their Catts...

If it's helpful to any, I have two of the Old Cutler Barlows for comparison: A standard Delrin-handled O.C. Barlow and one I believe to be a rehandle in stag. They are nearly identical to the more "premium" Colonial solid-bolstered Barlows and short-lived imprints like the Durango brand, but the "stock" Delrin dye job looks remarkably like the "classic" Schrade scheme.
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Sadly, I still have no Catt Barlows. ::tear::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by B.Mauser »

Hi Tony, nice to see you my friend.


Your Stag Barlow might not be a re handle.

Looks to me like a RAP #72S. Part of the Old Cutler 5 Star Series. Here are a few advertisements.
CCF08292013_00000.jpg
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RAP cutler 5 star series.jpg
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by Tsar Bomba »

Good to see you too, Brian! Sorry for the delay in the response, I somehow didn't notify this thread and you can't really set up notifications from forums, so I don't always have time to run through the whole site. Problem fixed, however. :mrgreen:

I can always count on you for some great Colonial info, thanks for sharing those scans, I'm glad to see that this is Mr. P's handiwork. The generic unstamped and polished bolster made it more likely to be a mechanic's work but it appears this line made use of high-polish nondescript bolsters, a departure for Colonial (and a well-chosen one for this knife). Imagine we could get 'em now for the list price on the brochure? :shock: :lol:

I'm going to try to find time over the weekend to update my Colonial group shots and post them in this forum because there are so many regulars who always come up with fresh acquisitions or just EDC knives but they may not read here due to the slower pace. I hope to help that along a bit. Let's see if life plays ball... ::smirk::
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by B.Mauser »

Happy to help. ::tu:: Ive said before that you have a great eye for Colonials. Those 2 you posted are a couple very collectable and sought after Old Cutler Barlows.

The other one in your picture is the Old Cutler Model #720 Buckskin. I have been asked many times which Old Cutler is the one that looks like an Old Timer. I have bid on one of these several times in the last year including one just this week. I had to quit bidding because it went higher than I want to pay. It is always a fight for these on eBay.

Here it is in Colonials catalog.
Old Cutler 1995.jpg
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Re: Colonial bone handle Old Cutler barlow

Post by deltaboy »

Great old knifes. ::tu::
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