Tuxedos

[OLDE CUTLER]

I dug up a few photos of tuxedos and a couple that may not be considered tuxedos.The reason I am going to post them is I am not sure exactly what they are.They have the general appearance of a tuxedo pattern but are somewhat different. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
#1:top to bottom Cook Bros.-Suffolk Knife Co.-Henry Wilton-Stainless Japan-Adams & Bro.-I*XL-two Miller Bros.
#2:Bingham's Hardware Co.
#3:Colonial Prov.RI
#4:Humason & Beckley with horn handles.
#5:I*XL
#6:J.M.Schmid & Son Boston Mass.
#7:Silver Steel(owl head on reverse)
#8&9:Two Ulsters both with ebony handles.
#10:W inside a diamond-United Cutlery Germany-Griffon Cutlery Germany-Aaron Burkinshaw.

That is the same problem I have. Is there an exact definition of a tuxedo knife? Is it a swell center pen of up to a certain length?

[FRJ]

OLDE CUTLER, my impression is that a tuxedo doesn't stray too far from 3 inches with two blades working off each end of the spring.
Unfortunately that's the best I can offer at this time. I haven't looked in my books for a description.

[LongBlade]

Great thread Joe for an old classic pen knife that deserves some attention - In fact I have been meaning to add these to the "Homage to Pen Knife" thread under Knife Lore - when I do I will cross reference this link as well

Great showing of tuxedos above from all ... very cool ...

This is just my view of tuxedo pens in terms of definition - many call them small swell-center pens with rounded ends - but to differentiate them from other swell-center pen knives tuxedos are small slim swell-center pens (slim is the key word) and all had 2 blades to my knowledge. Swell-center pens though the same length had more girth or a larger diameter (and Ray showed a few above). Most I have seen are 2 & 7/8" or 3" and definitely no longer.

In terms of bolsters I would say most are elongated - some are round but bulbous (called swell-center balloons), some pointed and some have pinched bolsters... For example The Northfield tuxedo was known for its unique pointy tips of the bolsters and when Western States made them they called them "The Northfield" but indeed the Platts were referring to the ones they made at the Northfield shop (years before starting Western States). Note Joe's Union Knife Co Naugatuck and my Union tuxedo below have pinched bolsters. The others are balloon bolsters in my group. In terms of handles many used quite nice handles - MOP, ivory, tortoise shell and my Northfield below has jigged bone but have not seen very many with bone except Joe's Camillus and Jerry's Wabash but believe Case made some tuxedos with jigged bone too... one also sees them on occasion made from celluloid or shell handles as WB showed above... The Miller Bros tuxedo has a center band of nickel silver which I think was a nice touch and never saw one from them without it - you can easily pick them out in a lineup

There were a few nicknames for these tuxedos in addition to the Northfield - supposedly Holley of Lakeville CT and Shipley of Philadelphia called them "Jenny Lind" knives after the famous opera singer of those days (the "Swedish Nightingale")... Nonetheless they were considered Ladies' or Gentlemen's knives - they were indeed eloquent little knives ...

Here's my CT tuxedos - from top down:
Northfield Knife Co (jigged bone)
Southington Cut Co (ivory)
H&B (tortoise shell)
Union Knife Co Naugatuck (MOP)
Miller Bros (MOP - and some lost its lustre)
Empire Knife Co (MOP - and some of the most fiery MOP I own )

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I recall reading somewhere that part of the reason the tuxedo looks the way it does is because they wanted to minimize the amount of MoP required. So, they used long bolsters and sometimes a center stripe of a different material. Does that sound correct?

[LongBlade]

Never heard that TFL - I just think they were made small as nice little EDCs for those folks wearing nice fancy clothes ... and though they may exist I never saw another other than Miller Bros with the center band - I would like to see others if any other companies did the same

[FRJ]

Lee, thank you for that great show of very nice tuxedo knives you have. And thanks for taking the time to give us some history too.
I think it's really interesting. I just can't take the time to dig for it myself these days.
It would be fun to compare our Union Naugatucks at some time.

[LongBlade]

Thanks Joe ... and my pleasure to put some background on here but I think you knew that already ... I know your time to dig for this stuff is limited these days buddy - and I also know you appreciate it...

I think our Union Naugatucks are siblings for sure - just wearing different pairs of pants .. No doubt next time we get together we can compare those and a few others - based on the last time I think we'll need a 2 day session and during a break we can visit another old cutlery building to visit in the area

[Miller Bro's]

Here's a couple...........

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I found it - it was from one of our own members here at AAPK:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=55761&p=627401&hilit=tuxedo#p627401

[FRJ]

Nice knives, Dimitri.

[LongBlade]

Thanks for sharing those Dimitri ... I knew your Miller Bros would be in much better shape than mine ... The NYK is quite nice too!!

TFL - No disrespect to Ray but I still am not sure that was the reason (and no doubt these tuxedos pre-dated 1900 when they came to market as a pattern) - for a tuxedo knife a 1/4" or so more of MOP if there were shorter bolsters would not be that much in cost savings... in fact putting in a center nickel silver band like that on the Miller Bros tuxedos was probably more work and time consuming... remember the pen knives were more expensive in general than the larger jacks in the old days as evidenced by old catalogs - funny though these days the market price of the vintage jacks vs pen knives has no doubt flipped

[Miller Bro's]

Thanks Joe & Lee

[FRJ]

in fact putting in a center nickel silver band like that on the Miller Bros tuxedos was probably more work and time consuming...

Actually I think/guess/assume there was plenty of pearl for the smaller hafting because of the selvage from the larger knives.

[LongBlade]

Makes sense to me Joe ... using pieces left from hafting the larger knives is indeed cost savings... and given the size of these it wouldn't take much to haft a tuxedo...

[knife7knut]

I recall reading somewhere that part of the reason the tuxedo looks the way it does is because they wanted to minimize the amount of MoP required. So, they used long bolsters and sometimes a center stripe of a different material. Does that sound correct?

I think you may be referring to the German knives that were made with very long bolsters(I showed a couple of them in this thread)that had very short handles.I remember reading about it somewhere;perhaps Bernard Levine mentioned it once.
EDIT: See my second post pictures one and two.

[KAW]

Well this Ulster MoP Tuxedo is getting a lot of mileage around this board, but how can I not post it here...

[LongBlade]

Ken - That Ulster deserves lots of mileage .... [BTW - I wouldn't hesitate to ever put a knife where it fits as sometimes they fit under multiple threads - if someone searches Ulster or tuxedo or any related topic the knife is bound to provide a good match & background ... Google searches too - that is how I found this site a few moons ago ...]

[FRJ]

That is a beauty, Ken. Great blades.

[KAW]

Thanks Lee & Joe

That is a beauty, Ken. Great blades.

I tend to believe it has been very lightly used to the point the blades have been dulled, but has not been sharpened.
I am relucatant to attempt to resharpen. I could use some advice....
Is it better to keep the original blades even tho they have been dulled... or... resharpen them?
After all, it not likely I be using it to recut any quill pens in the foreseeable future.

[FRJ]

It's probably best to leave it unsharpened even though it has been used. Especially since you have other knives to use.
It's such a beautiful little knife.

[KAW]

Thanks Joe... that is the way I was thinking of going but was looking for some validation.

[thegreedygulo]

Nice knives guys!
Here's a H.Boker ivory handled tuxedo I'll throw in the mix.

[FRJ]

Very nice, Greeds. Another knife in beautiful condition.

[thegreedygulo]

Thanks FRJ.

[Dinadan]

Lots of nice examples posted in this thread, fellows.

This topic has been educational for me, since I could not have described the tuxedo pattern before reading this thread. I do not have a single tuxedo in my collection. I can see why they would make a nice lightweight knife for light duty, though they do not appeal to me as much as a lot of other patterns.