Northfield

[danno50]

Very nice, Greg!

[gsmith7158]

Very nice, Greg!

Thanks Dan!

[BWT]

My only Northfield, 3in. ivory I believe, snaps open and closing.

[LongBlade]

Beauty Bill .... No doubt ivory and excellent condition!! Great score - Northfield knives have not been easy to find at all for me - still would like to score a Northfield Boys knife among others to fill a gap in that subcollection - just no luck in all my searching

[FRJ]

That is a beautiful little knife, Bill. I'm glad you got one.
Thanks for showing it here.

[BWT]

Thanks Lee and Joe. I was really happy to find it.

[wlf]

Old ivory knives are very nice Bill.

[BWT]

Thanks Lyle

[KAW]

Cool lookin' knife Bill.
Talking about hard to get... I've been lookin' to score a nice Northfield for nearly a year now, but no luck yet...
did pick up another Excelsior this past Saturday at the Lehigh Valley Knife Show.
This one has the straight line tang stamp verses the curved one I picked up back in July from eBay.
I've read that Northfield bought Excelsior & continued making that brand.
Was one style tang stamp used by Northfield vs another when it was a stand alone company?

[BWT]

Very nice knives Ken, especially the bone I'm in the same boat as you, I can't find an Excelsior, and you can't find a Northfield.

[FRJ]

Ken, I can't answer your question. I'm not near my books.
Not sure that would give you an answer anyway but don't throw them out.

Very nice knives.

[KAW]

Thanks Joe... Since they are pieces of history... I would never think of throwing them out...

[LongBlade]

I can’t access Goins because it is not within reach but will say this about Excelsior Knife Co - many assume because the company is listed as 1880-1884 provides no evidence it was made in that time period - straight or arched stamp - Northfield after buying and incorporating Excelsior into the Northfield shop continued using the stamp on knives until approximately 1904... thus a knife marked Excelsior could have been made anytime in that time frame... and Northfield stamps if I remember correctly are also impossible to date in terms of production... David Anthony’s book on Great Eastern Cutlery has a good informative chapter on Northfield but do not believe the answer for stamps is definitive from my recollection.... Northfield supposedly also used UNXLD on knives but when in terms of a date I have no clue.... I’ve seen very few Northfields with that stamp... I have 2 Northfields and 2 Excelsior knives - again while I can say they are rare it may be they reside mostly in collections and not for sale .. ie there may have been alot made but are hidden away...

Note in edit - after Northfield closed Henry Gill got a lot of the blades and still made Northfield knives - how is one to know which were original to the Northfield shop or came from Gill’s cutlery shop afterwards ... There was a Northfield fixed blade Henry Gill made for WWII soldiers - those for sure are known as his work and the price tag on them is high...

[djknife13]

Here are 3 of my Northfields. The two big ones show considerable wear and the pearl has near full blades. The English Jack still has "Hunter's Pride" etched out on the blade. I have one more, a celluloid jack that I'm not sure where is hiding at the moment. ___Dave

[LongBlade]

Nice knives Dave ... thanks for sharing those!!

[BWT]

Very nice Dave, thanks for sharing!!

[wlf]

I love that old pickbone handles Dave. That Xing remains evident on even the most pocket worn.

[FRJ]

Those are some great old knives, Dave. Thanks for showing them here.
It's nice to see the old Northfields in good hands.

[FRJ]

Here's a sweet little Northfield with long tooth covers. 3 inches closed.
Used with respect and still tight and snappy with a long pull through the tang.
It is similar to BWT (Bill) knife on previous page. I think his is a little more robust than mine.

Thanks for looking.

[BWT]

Nice Joe I still had to take a look, mine is still here. Thought maybe my wife was putting my knives on eBay behind my back Nice find Joe!!

[wlf]

I like your knife Joe and Bill's reaction.

[LongBlade]

Nice old Northfield Joe ... Looks like a match striker long pull with very small “teeth” when I enlarge it or maybe it’s a photo illusion ... I think your safe Bill - your bolsters look abit longer ...

[FRJ]

Thanks guys.
No matchstrike on this one Lee. That elegant longpull through the tang makes me think this is an earlier knife.
Plus that stamp. Pre 1876.

I have been there, Bill. A time of two I have seen knives that look so much like my own.

[LongBlade]

Thanks Joe - guess it was a photo illusion as the edge of pull looked like it had ridges ... what makes you say pre-1876 for the stamp?? Curious as I know for a fact now UNXLD started in 1876 and I think the Northfield Kn Co was still used afterwards - if UNXLD was the only stamp post 1876 I think we would see alot more of them ... just my opinion but there are way more knives I see with the same stamp as yours - I don’t know but I would think we would see more of the later knives just based on longevity than the older ...

[FRJ]

You are right, Lee. Northfield probably did use that stamp after 1876. Goins' kind of implies it was used in Thomaston as well.
Referring to the "Northfield Knife Co." being in Thomaston.

I was just correlating the long pull that went through the tang, which seems like an earlier tendency, with the earlier stamp.