camillus take-apart hobo knife

[carrmillus]

i have a 4 line camillus hobo knife,near mint-comes apart into 3 sections-knife, fork, and spoon,3 7/8" closed-beautiful rogers jigged brown bone,brass liners, brass pins,nickel silver bolster on pivot end, no shield. i've had it several years, and have never seen another like it. i think it is at least ww2 vintage. the 4 line marking is only on the knife, so i'm thinking it could be as early as 1914. can anyone give me more info on this knife

[vikingdog]

Welcome carrmilius! It would be nice to see a photo of that knife if you could post one.

[orvet]

Welcome to AAPK.
The earliest 4 line tang stamp I have seen that I know for sure when it was made is 1933, for the Chicago World's Fair.
Just prior to WWI they were using a tang stamp with a curved top line.

It would help if you could post a picture of your knife.

Welcome aboard,
Dale

[vikingdog]

Dale I'm posting these photos for Carrmillus. He's a Camillus collector from way back.
Beautiful knife John!

[knfcollector]

Very nice knife Carrmillus. I've always had a soft spot for Hobo's. I have exactly the same knife, as well one with horn handles. I've also had one of these in the past with an immitation celluloid horn. Does anyone have any other handle variations or know of any?

[orvet]

Thanks for posting the pics Mike.
That old beauty appears to be in magnificent condition!

From what I can tell (at this point in time in my research on Camillus tang stamps) it appears to have been made between 1933 and 1946, based on the tang stamp.
I suspect it was probably made between 1933 and the start of war time production at Camillus, abut 1940.
I do not think this pattern was made for the military, so I imagine this one was made before WWII>

An excellent and well preserved example!

Dale

[Miller Bro's]

Hard to find a slot knife by Camillus


Very nice old knife