Old senator pen

The first Robeson knives were imported by Millard Robeson from England and Germany exclusively. This continued from 1979 until 1896 when Robeson began manufacturing knives in the United States. Since inception, the company has gone through several reorganizations & eventually ended up as a Queen Cutlery brand.
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truck
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Old senator pen

Post by truck »

One of my only two Robesons. I believe the covers are horn, or maybe smooth bone.
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#goldpan
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by #goldpan »

Nice Robeson Truck ::tu:: I believe that those scales are horn. I have an old Robeson cattle knife with similar scales. Thanks for posting her ::tu::
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by truck »

#goldpan wrote:Nice Robeson Truck ::tu:: I believe that those scales are horn. I have an old Robeson cattle knife with similar scales. Thanks for posting her ::tu::
Thanks Randy. Based on the tang stamp it appears to be from the 1922 - 1939 era. I have one other Robeson, a tiny watchfob with tortoiseshell covers.
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#goldpan
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Re: Old senator pen

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I forgot to post a picture of her for comparison!
20170215_215357.jpg
Here she is!
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by truck »

#goldpan wrote:I forgot to post a picture of her for comparison!
20170215_215357.jpg Here she is!
That is a beauty. I love 3-blade stockmans, its my favorite pattern.
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Interesting. I have seen only one horn handled Robeson and it was pictured in Tom Kalcevic's book, Knives Can Talk! and it was a large sailor type knife with a big sheepfoot and folding Marlin spike on the back side and a copper bail. It was most likely made on contract, possibly in England.

Do either of your knives have a pattern number on them? I'd be interested in knowing what the first digit might be.

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#goldpan
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by #goldpan »

Charlie thanks for jogging my memory. I have a book with Robeson codes. Mine (Stock pattern) starts with the number 8. Mottled composition according to my book. The Standard Knife Collectors Guide 6th edition by Ron Stewart. The tang stamp on this dates to 1920-1945. Is this correct Charlie?
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

My resource material states the 8 designated "Patterned Celluloid" which covers a lot of different types of celluloid.

Not saying ya'll's handle material is cell instead of horn, as you stated, but it's a distinct possibility.

Charlie
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by royal0014 »

Give it the 'ol rub test ....

Rub it briskly to warm it up then sniff it.
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by truck »

Charlie, I believe mine (the senator pen) is 2205. Does that help?
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

No, that confuses me even more. ::hmm::

Robeson used a six digit system, sometimes shortened to five if they omitted an unnecessary zero, but the only four digit numbers of which I'm aware were on a small series of German imports during the 1950's.

Charlie
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by truck »

RobesonsRme.com wrote:Robeson used a six digit system, sometimes shortened to five if they omitted an unnecessary zero, but the only four digit numbers of which I'm aware were on a small series of German imports during the 1950's.

Charlie
Hi Charlie. I just took another look at the tang stamps with my lighted hand lens and it does appear to be five digits. The first digit appears to be 8, but it could be a 6 or a 9. It's followed by 2 and 2. The fourth digit may be a 3, a 5 or a 6. The last digit is a 5. My best guess is the model is an 82235, 82255, or 82265. The knife was not stored properly for many many years and the stamps are barely legible. The Shur-Edge stamp appears to date from 1922 to 1939. If you'd like more photos I can try, but I doubt you'd be able to discern much detail.
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by truck »

If this is celluloid, it's unlike any celluloid I've seen. The porous appearance closely resembles bone, and that, plus its variably translucency, caused me to think it was horn.
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Re: Old senator pen

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Looks like celluloid to me.
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Re: Old senator pen

Post by gsmith7158 »

truck wrote:If this is celluloid, it's unlike any celluloid I've seen. The porous appearance closely resembles bone, and that, plus its variably translucency, caused me to think it was horn.
Truck you need to get one of those 45x magnifiers off of ebay. It makes it so easy to identify bone from horn and composition. Less than 2 bucks!
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