Gardner 1876

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FRJ
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by FRJ »

Important patent information, Lee, thank you. ::tu::

Two great Gardner examples, John. Thank you. ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by LongBlade »

Those are some sweet classic Gardeners John ::tu:: ::tu:: .... the unfinished one is cool - wonder what the story is behind that one...
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by danno50 »

Thanks for the reply and posting that patent, Lee. John, very nice Gardners, interesting to see the unfinished one. ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by JohnR »

Thank you Joe, Lee,Dan. Lee, I do find it interesting that it survived over 100 years unfinished, it would have taken nothing to put an edge on it and use it. It did come from a town very close to the original Gardner factory, maybe a factory worker took it home when they closed down as a memento.
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by DARRELL MAINES »

Thought this should be on the Gardner thread.
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by FRJ »

Thanks for posting that very nice Gardner box here, DARRELL MAINES. ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Saw that on Ebay, I think.

Congratulations. Got to be a rare box.

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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by Old Folder »

The below pictured, short 2 page article pertaining to Joseph W. Gardner, is on page #179 within the "New England Cutlery" book by Philip R. Pankiewicz, published in 1986.
Bernard Levine rates J.W. Gardner knives as "Very High" value.
Mr. Gardner had a very short run as a knife manufacturer, (1876-1883) I have seen a few (very few) J.W. Gardner knives posted by some of the members here on aapk and you are very fortunate to have one, or some of his knives in your collection.
I, unfortunately do not possess any of his wonderful knives, however, I do have one of his beautiful old knife boxes.
I purchased this in the mid-eighties from a antique advertising show here in So. Ca. I do not recall how much I paid, but I'm sure it was only a few dollars and the seller had no other knife items.
You will notice that there is written text within the square folds on the inside portion of the sleeved box, I imagine this was applied prior to the initial folding and was applied for reinforcement. The applied text has nothing to do with the Gardner Co.

You will also notice that there is a George Washington 3 cent U.S. Postage Stamp, perfectly centered and affixed to the inside bottom of the box. I researched the 3 cent stamp and discovered that this stamp was first printed in 1870 and was discontinued in 1871. The earliest known use was March 1, 1870. So...the stamp would have been made prior to Gardner's knife business. It is not a high value stamp, unfortunately, not a "Inverted Jenny".
I have no idea why a U.S. Postage stamp was inserted within the knife box, I have never seen another situation pertaining to U.S. Postage Stamps inserted within boxes of any sort. It appears that it has been affixed since day one of the box manufacturer due to it's natural patina around the stamp perforations.
It is not a "U.S. Internal Revenue Tax Stamp" (Which was used to help pay for the costs of the Civil War).
Any ideas or suggestions about this stamp? Have you ever seen a stamp inside a knife or cutlery box before?

I have often wondered how a simply made, low quality paper box can survive after all these years? However, many of the old knife boxes I have and have seen, have been reinforced with colored masking tape for reinforcement and done at the box manufacturer, as you can see, the J.W. Gardner's printed label is placed on the box "after" the yellow reinforcement tape was applied.

You will notice the picture on the box is of the original 3 story, frame building knife factory that Mr. Gardner built in 1878. That's 140 years ago as of this writing, 13 years after the American Civil War ended.
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by Miller Bro's »

Neat box, now that's the fourth different label I have seen! ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by LongBlade »

Really nice box Old Folder ::tu:: ::tu:: ... Very interesting info about the stamp in the box and associated research... thanks for sharing!! Quite a variation of Gardner box labels posted in this thread 8) ...
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

I can remember, not the 1870’s however, when people would include postage stamps in a package or return mail as change for over-payment in leu of cash or coins.

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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by JohnR »

Been awhile but added another Gardner to the collection, pretty nice boys knife with close to full blade.
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by Waukonda »

Very nice addition, John, I like it!
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by FRJ »

It's nice to see some of these old threads come to the surface again especially when they are showing such fine old knives.
That is a beautiful knife, John. The blades look like they were scarcely used.
Thanks for showing it. ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by FRJ »

Here's a nice old Barlow I bought at the Marlboro, Ma. knife show today.
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by Waukonda »

FRJ wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:44 pm Here's a nice old Barlow I bought at the Marlboro, Ma. knife show today.
That is a classy old knife, Joe! I have never run across a Gardner.
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by FRJ »

I hope you do at sometime, Ike.
They don't come to the surface all that often.

Thanks for your nice comment. ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by Reverand »

An awesome find! This is the first time that I have heard of Gardener, as well
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Re: Gardner 1876

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Thank you, Reverand, so glad you like it. ::tu::
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by edge213 »

FRJ wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:44 pm Here's a nice old Barlow I bought at the Marlboro, Ma. knife show today.
I dig it!!
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by JohnR »

Great find Joe!!!
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Re: Gardner 1876

Post by FRJ »

edge213 wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:07 am I dig it!!
Thank you, David. ::tu:: Sorry I didn't see your post earlier.

Thank you, John. ::tu::
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