The "Fortune knife": 1946 Schrade Walden 14K gold lobster.

[bladecollectorr]

In late 1946 one of the earliest "Schrade Walden" stamped knives was advertised in the December 1946 issue of Fortune magazine. The price was not for the faint of heart. This would have been just after Albert Baer bought Schrade Cutlery Company and did the name change. I think he was perhaps trying to create some luxury-goods hype to launch his new Schrade Walden brand.

The knife has 14K gold "engine-turned" covers. I landed #1402 last December and polished it up for pics today. It is 2-3/4" long and weighs 24.29 grams.

I also bought a copy of the magazine to go with the knife. I haven't cut out the ad yet because the mag is in such good condition. I may just leave it in there.

[bladecollectorr]

Today I landed a "8479GSil Shac" Schrade Cut Co predecessor knife. I plan on cleaning it. I already had a Schrade Walden 849 descendant. Together they will make a fine trio.

8479GSil Shac

849

[jxr1197]

Congrats on the 8479. The three of them together will make an awesome diplay.

I think he was perhaps trying to create some luxury-goods hype to launch his new Schrade Walden brand.

I think you're right about the motivation. They were also trying to generate some fast cash to recoup their investment and it worked because this gold knife nearly paid for the purchase of Schrade all by itself.

From Albert Baer:
"Domenic asked me to join the Imperial Family. He told me the story of his “sale” of IKCo. stock which FAM never executed. In 1947, we merged. He had the idea of buying Schrade, which I did and paid for it with 3 knives -our $125. gold knife, $10. retail pocket knife and a $5. knife."

[tnorton]

I also bought a copy of the magazine to go with the knife. I haven't cut out the ad yet because the mag is in such good condition. I may just leave it in there.

Great knife with great story - maybe have professional copy of ad with knife but keep magazine intact -

[bladecollectorr]

Congrats on the 8479. The three of them together will make an awesome diplay.

I think you're right about the motivation. They were also trying to generate some fast cash to recoup their investment and it worked because this gold knife nearly paid for the purchase of Schrade all by itself.

From Albert Baer:
"Domenic asked me to join the Imperial Family. He told me the story of his “sale” of IKCo. stock which FAM never executed. In 1947, we merged. He had the idea of buying Schrade, which I did and paid for it with 3 knives -our $125. gold knife, $10. retail pocket knife and a $5. knife."

Thanks for the quote. Where is that from? I though it might be from here https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the ... er.522788/ but it's not.

Great knife with great story - maybe have professional copy of ad with knife but keep magazine intact -

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it. To open the mag wide enough to copy the whole pic the spine would snap. It is brittle. I don't really see how a pro could do it differently. Google searches suggested I need to remove the page to copy it. I tried to do it myself. Adobe Photoshop has a good panorama maker. The front and rear cover pics I posted are both 2-picture panoramas stitched with Photoshop because the mag is way too big for my scanner bed.

[orvet]

From Albert Baer:
"Domenic asked me to join the Imperial Family. He told me the story of his “sale” of IKCo. stock which FAM never executed. In 1947, we merged. He had the idea of buying Schrade, which I did and paid for it with 3 knives -our $125. gold knife, $10. retail pocket knife and a $5. knife."

Yes Jason, please do share your source for this quote!
As I have studied the history of Albert Baer, Schrade Walden, Imperial, Kingston, they are all very interwoven. Most of the accounts that I have read previously are told as though Albert Baer was the one who purchased Schrade Cut Co., but I knew there was also a connection with Imperial, but Dominic Fazzano was not mentioned in any of the accounts I read.
I have long suspected that Imperial played a bigger part in the acquisition of Schrade Cut Co. then I have previously seen documented.
If you can share with us where that information came from, I would be most grateful! Thank you!

[jxr1197]

Yes Jason, please do share your source for this quote!
As I have studied the history of Albert Baer, Schrade Walden, Imperial, Kingston, they are all very interwoven. Most of the accounts that I have read previously are told as though Albert Baer was the one who purchased Schrade Cut Co., but I knew there was also a connection with Imperial, but Dominic Fazzano was not mentioned in any of the accounts I read.
I have long suspected that Imperial played a bigger part in the acquisition of Schrade Cut Co. then I have previously seen documented.
If you can share with us where that information came from, I would be most grateful! Thank you!

That's a small snippet from Albert Baer's unpublished biography. It's not something that gets shared or published en masse, but it does provide for some unique quotes and clarity when looking for answers. It was invaluable when I was trying to piece together the Mexican Imperial story. It's amazing how connected these companies were and that nearly all of these agreements were based on a handshake. Different times..