If I'm right about the "beginning of Case", this pattern is indeed older. As FRJ showed, there are plenty of old European toes out there, lots of them suffering from the batonning damage I mentioned before. His is an absolute gem, though, and I always appreciate when he shares it.kootenay joe wrote:Is there no history of this pattern in vintage Sheffield knives ? i.e. older than Case.
I imagine another possible explanation is that European cutlers began producing a pattern that may have originated in America, or had been shared across the pond by migrating cutlers, and the use many of those knives found were distinctly more marine than the American counterparts.
As an aside, regarding Pennsylvania oil fields, I always thought it was appropriate that GEC released a run of knives in the oil sucker rod wood handles. They have a fascinating history (but are waaay smaller than the behemoths featured in this thread ).