MAKER:   Ulster

PATTERN:   #183Y Dogleg Jackknife

LENGTH (Closed):   2-7/8”

BOLSTERS:   Nickel silver

HANDLES:   Yellow composite

BLADES:   Half saber ground clip blade with swedge and long pull, and pin blade.

LINERS:   Brass

TANG STAMPS:   ULSTER/KNIFE/USA            Rear Stamp: 183Y

ADVERTISING ON HANDLE: PHOENIX PIPE & SUPPLY CO.

CONDITION:   Very Good +

DAMAGE:   Normal use and wear and shrinkage of handles

BLADE WEAR:   Nearly full but has been sharpened

SNAP:   Good

MADE IN:   USA

ADDITIONAL INFO:      There is not much wrong with this knife aside from the shrinkage of the handles. I am not positive if this material is celluloid or some other early form of plastic, though I tend to think it is not celluloid because of the lack of rust and discoloration.

I found some interesting historical information when researching this pattern. The information is about the pattern in general not the condition of this specific knife, though I thought some folks might be interested in the information. Feel free to skip the history lesson if you like and go straight to buying the knife. Several years ago the 180 or 183 Ulster pattern was pretty common, that doesn’t seem to be true anymore.

 History of the Ulster dogleg Jack pattern 183 a.k.a. 180

It is a bit difficult to trace the history of a lot of Ulster patterns that have evolved over the years as the company changed hands from Dwight Divine, to Dwight Divine’s sons and then to Albert Baer in 1941. We don’t have a clear trail of catalogs but we have a few pages that give us a little glimpse into this pattern as well as some others.

The Ulster dogleg Jack, a shape we would probably call a peanut today, was originally known as the 180 dogleg Jack. In a 1954 catalog page we have the 180 pattern was listed as 180S for the stag bone handles, 180Y for the yellow composite handles and 180P for pearl handles. A 1954 pricelist shows the Dogleg Jack as 183Y (180Y) priced at $8.10 per dozen with a footnote saying, “numbers in parentheses above indicate old numbers replaced. And it lists three variations of the 183; 183S, 183P, 183Y and 183G. I have not been able to find what the G stands for. The latest catalog information I’ve been able to find on the Ulster dogleg jack pattern is a 1970 pricelist and it is listed as 183 without any letter. This probably indicates that it was only available in the staged handle, or what we know now is jigged Delrin. In 1958 the Schrade Walden factory moved into the Ulster factory on Canal Street in Ellenville New York. Eventually the Ulster brand was phased out in favor of Schrade. If memory serves the last use of the Ulster name on a knife was a Scout knife made in the mid-80s at the Camillus factory.

Sad to see such great old knives be swallowed up in the modernization of the cutlery industry but I guess that’s the price we pay for progress.

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Item # 25211