Old and Obscure Brands

[tjmurphy]

Rob - Really like that Lenox and Kamp, they're just so classic. Congrats

[msteele6]

I bought this knife off Ebay. It was listed as a Majestic Cutlery Co. knife. It is actually a Magnetic Cutlery Co. knife. Not really a big difference since both were German import knives from the early 1900's.

[knifegirl888]

This one is a mystery to me.. Only marked Vollmer on the blade itself.

[Miller Bro's]

Probably made for this company, they have been in business for over 100 years.

http://www.vollmer-us.com/

[knife7knut]

This one is a mystery to me.. Only marked Vollmer on the blade itself.

Strange pattern that one!The threaded bolsters almost look French.The lettering on the shield is definitely old school;not recent.
I checked a couple of books I have and the name doesn't appear.Be interesting to find out.

[knifegirl888]

A while ago, I asked about this knife on another forum. I got some info, but nothing real concrete. Here is the link:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... p?t=734257

I also dug it out to scan it. Here are a few updated scans.

[RobesonsRme.com]

It's an interesting pattern. Remington made a similar knife.
Most likely German, Austrian or Bohemian.
Turn of the 19th century or thereabouts.
CNoyes

[msteele6]

Yeah, it does look like a Remington R100.

[orvet]

The R. Bacher name on the shield is interesting.
Perhaps it is the name of the person who purchased the knife and the shield was used as an engraving plate?

With names like Vollmer and Bacher it would seem to indicate Germany, (even though there are probably more people of German descent in the USA than in Germany).

[ky greg]

Got this one today....not listed in any book I have (but that ain't saying a lot)...
any info? It has the number 32401 on the backside of the tang.

[knifegirl888]

Goins says Magnetic Cutlery Company. Magnetic Cutlery Co, Phila, PA were importers (mostly German knives) from 1900-1932. I thought I would post my littlest Magnetic with my biggest one. Both are also marked D. Peres Germany.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Could that not be Meriden Cutlery Co.? I don't think they could have put that "U.S.A." on a German made knife, even if the importers were U.S. based.
I'm at work without reference materials, so I'm shootin' from the hip sort of........
CNoyes

[knifegirl888]

Could that not be Meriden Cutlery Co.? I don't think they could have put that "U.S.A." on a German made knife, even if the importers were U.S. based.
I'm at work without reference materials, so I'm shootin' from the hip sort of........
CNoyes

We have a winner! I just found the first listing I saw and it was Magnetic, but right below that in Goins, it does say M.C. Co. USA c1918-1925 ~ a marking used by Meriden Cutlery Co. Thanks, Charlie. It has been a long day!

[ky greg]

Thanks yall! I need to get that Goins book for myself..

[Miller Bro's]

Greg,

Knife World has plenty of them

[trail]

This brand gets a mention on AAPK now and then, but rarely a picture, so I guess it qualifies as obscure. It certainly doesn't warrant a thread of its own, so here are a couple of pictures and a little history:

Holub Industries of Sycamore IL was an electrical tool and component distributor in the Chicago area. They got swept up in the ITT conglomerate during the 1970s and evidently still are in operation as ITT Holub. They are based in the historic old Chicago and Northwestern Depot in Sycamore, a town in DeKalb County.

As for the knives, I have seen picture of two varieties - the one shown here, and another with a yellow handle and lettering advertising the company. Both are standard electricians knives. I have found comments on various knife boards suggesting that the knives were Schrade SFOs or Camillus contract knives. Maybe both companies supplied them. I don't have a Schrade to compare to, but mine looks different from a Camillus in the tang area of the screwdriver blade.

[knife7knut]

Here's the yellow handled version:

[RobesonsRme.com]

My Dad was an electrician. I have at least one Holub electrician's pattern knife of his that has a hawkbill blade and locking screw-driver/wire-stripper. It has brown to cream colored Delrin type handles that look very Camillusy to me.
Don't have a pic, but it's on the workbench downstairs.

I think I've seen them on Ebay with three blades. Might be confusing brands on that one, though.
Charlie Noyes

[knife7knut]

My Dad was an electrician. I have at least one Holub electrician's pattern knife of his that has a hawkbill blade and locking screw-driver/wire-stripper. It has brown to cream colored Delrin type handles that look very Camillusy to me.
Don't have a pic, but it's on the workbench downstairs.

I think I've seen them on Ebay with three blades. Might be confusing brands on that one, though.
Charlie Noyes

Charlie:The 3 blade versions I believe were stamped M.Klein &Sons although I don't think Klein actually made them;they look to be either Colonial or Camillus and possibly Schrade.

What I thought was unusual about the yellow handled Holub was the built-in wire stripper notches in the blade.

[Owd Wullie]

Great thread, I love to see older more Obscure marks. Here is one I picked up not long ago. It is 5 1/2" closed and what I think are jigged wooden handles. Odd how the top bolsters are nickle silver and the bottom ones are brass. Blade marked GALES & CO. Goins has it listed but with no info. Knife is well made and feels good in your hand and is light for a bigger knife.

Anyone with information on this marker please let me know, Mike

Speaks German to me too.

[Bret888]

Great thread, I love to see older more Obscure marks. Here is one I picked up not long ago. It is 5 1/2" closed and what I think are jigged wooden handles. Odd how the top bolsters are nickle silver and the bottom ones are brass. Blade marked GALES & CO. Goins has it listed but with no info. Knife is well made and feels good in your hand and is light for a bigger knife.

Anyone with information on this marker please let me know, Mike

Mike, I wonder if that was the Gales of Schoverling Daly & Gales? I don't know if maybe Gales got his name on the knives, like Daly got his name on the guns? The early Prussian Daly guns were as good as it gets, especially the H.A. Lindner made ones. The Sauer ones are pretty darn nice too.

[trail]

I took a few minutes to update our list of old and obscure brands. Here is where we stand:

Bower
United Cutlery
Sorge
Coca-Cola
W. Bingham
Kamp Cutlery
Valley Forge
Ostdiek
A.E. Fuller
S.& A.
Hollinger
F.GG & Sawyer
Case
Edward K.Tryon
M.Klaas
Samuel Robinson
E.M.Dickinson
Wm.Congreve
Tonerini Scarperia
Vom Cleff
Jack Knife Ben
K.& B. Cutlery
Nippel
R.Bunting & Sons
Silver Steel
W&G Vogel
A*1 Tyler Celebrated Cutlery
G&J Allen Superior Cutlery
Lockwood Brothers
Quaker Cutlery
Mcknight Cutlery
North American Cutlery
Fidelity Knife Co
HOLMAC
SCHMIDT & ZIGLER
Utica Kutmaster
Sterling L.G.H
Alpha
Roberts Brothers
A.J. Jordan
American Knife Co.
Peters Bros Cut Co.
Adams & Bro
Bergman & Scuddig
Dame Smith & Hall
Duane Cutlery
F.D. Bast
Harvey Bros
J. Dunlap
Prolific H.B & Son
Tyler's Celebrated Cutlery
Adams & Sons
Stevenson
Clark Bros
Gales & Co
Moore - Handley
Lenox Cutlery
Majestic Cutlery Co.
A.W. Flint
Abercrombie & Fitch
Ameike
Argyle Cutlery Co.
Ascend W.T. Stanforth
American Shear & Knife Co.
R. Bunting & Son
Challenge
Constant
Cook Bros.
Corliss
Crucible Knife Co.
Duane Cutlery
Electric Cutlery
E. Renaud
F. Herder & Son
Fletcher Hardware
Richards Bros. & Sons
Barber Bros.
Magnetic Cutlery Co.
Vollmer
M.C.Co. Meriden
Holub

I count 81. If I missed any, my humble apologies. It's been a pleasure looking at every one.

[trail]

I have found nothing about this brand - Fairplay Brothers - not in any of my books or on the internet. All three blades - or what is left of them - have the Fairplay Brothers stamp. Other than that, nothing. The handles seem to be some kind of synthetic and the designs are inlaid into front handle. I got it off ebay, I was the only bidder, got it for $9.95 and free shipping. It's worth every bit of that to me to get an unheard-of tang stamp.

[Miller Bro's]

The handles seem to be some kind of synthetic and the designs are inlaid into front handle.

The handles are Horn, inlaid with nickle silver wire and abalone shell.

I have several this style with the same inlay, they are always marked Germany.

[trail]

Thanks for the information, Miller Bros. The abalone shell on mine seems almost to glow in a dimly lit room, a beautiful old knife, as worn as it is. I can't find any sign of a Germany stamp on mine, perhaps made before 1891? I think your comparison to your German stamped ones seals it for me, it's a German-made knife imported by the little-known Fairplay Brothers in the late 1800s. Anyway, that's my story until someone sets me straight.