The Winchester Store knives

[OLDE CUTLER]

I was wondering if any one had ever seen knives like this one I picked up at a local flea market about a year ago. There are no tang stamp marks on any of the blades. It is a 4 blade camper/scout knife. The only marking on it anywhere is "The Winchester Store" etched on the main blade. I have shown it around my local area to Winchester gun and memorabilia collectors and none of them has ever seen one like this. My question is "who made it"? If Winchester would have made it I would think it would be tang stamped like all of their other knives I have seen. The collectors tell me that The Winchester Store was in operation from 1918 til 1930. One of the Winchester collectors made me an offer of $60, but I declined until I can find out some more about it. Any one have any ideas?

[espn77]

Could you show a picture of the whole knife please

[OLDE CUTLER]

Sure can. The can opener on this camper is different that what you normally see on camper/scout knives

[peanut740]

Here is a couple photos of Winchester Scouts knives.

[OLDE CUTLER]

peanut740

Thanks for your pictures of the Winchester made camper knife. I think the one I have was made by someone else for Winchester to sell at a cheaper price and will continue to look for pics that has a can opener that matches mine. One of the Winchester collectors I have talked to told me that he had seen a cardboard counter top display (empty of knives) that originally had held the knife like I have and they were sold for 75 cents back in the day.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I think I may have found the "missing link" that can determine who made The Winchester Store camper knife I own. I was in an antique dealers shop the other day looking thru a box of knives, mostly parts knives and a few rebuilders, when I saw an old camper knife in there. I always will pick up camper knives and look them over, and I noticed that this one had a broken blade. I opened the can opener blade and when I got a good look at it, my jaw was badly bruised when it hit the floor. This camper knife has the same can opener as my Winchester Store camper. I thought to myself, "Oh great, the blade is broken, so the etching on the blade to identify it as a Winchester Store knife is gone" Well anyway I gave the man a dollar for it and took it home. After a lot of work with Scothbrite and Kroil, I could see a tang stamp, which you can see in the enclosed pics, is L. F. & C. USA. When you compare the two closely, I think this proves that Landers, Frary, & Clark made the Winchester Store knife that I have. The can opener, the shield, the off center hole for the carry loop, the hollowing on the back of the awl, bottle opener, and the handle material are all the same. In addition, the L. F. & C. is tang stamped on the back of the awl blade and has the pattern number 03662 stamped on the backside of the main blade. The pictures included show both from the front side and from the back. The Winchester Store knife blade being intact and the L. F. & C. main blade being broken. I have presented my evidence, what is your verdict??

[americanedgetech]

Well isn't that cool.
You posted for an answer, and found it in a shop w/ the same knife.
That is actually VERY cool.

[OLDE CUTLER]

americanedgetech
That is why I said I bruised my jaw when it hit the floor. I wonder if there were other patterns like stockman, trapper, muskrat, etc, marked "The Winchester Store". One book I have says Landers, Frary, & Clark went out of business in 1931, another says 1950. Maybe others have info on Landers, Frary, & Clark. They were in New Britain, CT.

[americanedgetech]

You can find a lot of useful info by searching "Google Books".
That engine searches, and highlights your key words from all of the scanned books there.

I use that engine when the regular net comes up empty

[espn77]

Hopefully Tom, bestgear will see your question. He knows a lot about LFC knives

[americanedgetech]

Google books... Landers, Frary & Clark Manufacturers of Fine Table Cutlery, Butchers' Tools and Household Hardware

https://books.google.com/books?id=4YFOH ... AQ6AEIKjAB

Apparently Landers, & Clark published dozens of books, and pamphlets on everything from cutlery to baking. 56 publications listed...
http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n88224002/

There is a bunch of info around for them

[OLDE CUTLER]

Thanks for your help and info, guys.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I found some posts here on AAPK going back to Feb. 2017 by bestgear showing a L. F. & C. Scout knife circa 1920. It is identical to my Winchester store knife except for the etching and lack of tang stamp. I am wondering if L. F. & C. made these Winchester Store knives for Winchester before Winchester started making knives themselves??

[bestgear]

I've never seen an LF&C tang stamped knife with the Winchester Store etch on the main blade nor have I ever heard that LF&C manufactured knives on a contract basis but that doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Model #03662 was an unofficial Scout pattern (i.e. not BSA) that first appeared in LF&C Service Catalog #61 in 1919 and last appeared in Sectional Catalog #1 in 1926 but that doesn't mean they stopped manufacturing them in that year. LF&C made official scout knives from 1930-1939 and it's cutlery business ended in 1950.

I like the detective work that you've done and your $1 find. From what I know of the manufacturing business in the 20's and 30's, it's unlikely that LF&C would have made any blade for a contract knife that it didn't use in it's own model. In other words, the main blade and awl on the LF&C knife both have tang stamps and the Winchester Store knife doesn't, it would seem unlikely that LF&C would have made a batch of blades just for that contract run. But again, that doesn't mean that it didn't happen. LF&C was a huge manufacturing concern in the 20's and 30's and in all likelihood didn't make contract knives because they didn't need to.

Just my $0.02. One question I have is about the liners, could you take a picture looking into the open Winchester Store knife and of the back-plate?

[OLDE CUTLER]

Thanks for your reply. You are exactly the type of collector I was hoping to reach with my questions on "The Winchester Store" knife I have. I have attempted to get some shots of the inside of the knife, it's tough to get good light and focus in there. I have enclosed what I could get. The layout of the brass liners and spacers in the "The Winchester Store" knife is identical to the broken L. F. & C. "evidence" knife I recently found. In fact, both knives are identical except for one being blade etched "The Winchester Store" and the other tang stamped "L. F. & C." The can opener is very distinctive on these knives, different than any other camper/scout knife I have. This is what originally caught my eye in comparing the two. Possibly a bit of history to try to decipher in these two knives? In case the pics don't show it clearly enough, there is an extra brass spacer between the awl and can opener blades on both knives.

"

[americanedgetech]

I wonder if L,F & C would have supplied the knives as "parts" to Winchester, and they (blades) were sold as unstamped blanks...

How did Winchester fair during the depression? Is that the era of this knife?

[OLDE CUTLER]

Winchester evidently did OK thru the depression, as they survived it, while many companies did not. The Winchester Store was in operation from 1918 til 1930, so I would say that is the time frame of this knife.

[bestgear]

I'm going to take a good closeup photo of my 03662. I think the perfected stag (celluloid) on my knife is different than the covers on the Winchester Store knife. Do you know if the Winchester Store knife covers are celluloid?

[OLDE CUTLER]

One collector I showed The Winchester Store knife to thought the covers were dyed stag, so I tested with the hot pin method and they are definitely not stag as the hot pin made a tiny divot. So they must be celluloid?

[just bob]

Apparently after WW1 Winchester did have a "Winchester Store" ad campaign. Don't know why they had LF & C make the knife? Info "borrowed" from the Internet.


QUESTION: I have a Winchester Model 16 handsaw that I acquired at a garage sale. Does it have collector value? – M, Mapleton, ME
ANSWER: When most collectors hear “Winchester,” they associate the name with firearms and ammunition. However, Winchester also made tools and other household items.
After working as a carpenter in several East Coast cities and as a “men’s furnisher” in Baltimore, Oliver F. Winchester, born in Brenton, Massachusetts, on November 20, 1810, returned to New Haven, Connecticut in 1848 to become a manufacturer. In 1855, he organized the Volcanic Arms Company, which produced the Volcanic Repeating rifle. In 1857, the company became the New Haven Arms Company. After a series of reorganizations, the company emerged as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1866.
Following the end of World War I, Winchester began manufacturing tools as well as firearms and ammunition. The company launched “The Winchester Store,” a campaign to market the company’s tools nationally. Winchester expanded its product lines, introducing the slogan – “As Good As The Gun.” Between 1922 and 1929, Winchester merged with Simmons Hardware Company becoming The Winchester Simmons Company. Following its dissolution of the Simmons Hardware partnership, Winchester entered receivership in 1931 and ended its tool manufacturing business.
For more information, see http://www.thckk.org/history/winchester-hist.pdf.
I found two auction records for a Winchester No. 16 saw. According to www.liveauctioners.com, the Burley Auction Group, New Braunfels, Texas, sold an example on November 17, 2007, for $60.00. Garner Auctions of Carrollton, Ohio, sold a Winchester No. 16 saw for $115.00. As always, my advice is to think conservatively when it comes to value. In restored condition, your Winchester No. 16 saw is worth between $50.00 and $65.00.