All About Pocket Knives

I would like to start a thread that will show all the various acid etches and stampings used on antique knife blades back in the old days of cutlery making.

Some of the acid etches are really elaborate and the process was an art in itself. The stamped blades are just as nice and both of these were probably eliminated as cost saving measures as time went on in the cutlery industry. The new knives of today have etches, but they are just not the same as the old acid etches of days gone by.

Here are some to start things off, please show some old ones if you have them

Here's my offering. Still a mystery to me as far as maker. Very hefty, well made knife.

Here are a few etches from some Robeson knives.

They are in no particular order, except maybe alphabetical.

Left click to enlarge.

Charlie Noyes

Some more from Robeson.

Charlie Noyes

My absolute favorite knives. Vintage advertising with etched blades. The only ones I won't trade or sell unless someone makes me an offer that qualifies as insane.

Some of the markings above are likely stamps, all nice ones!
This Schrade Holyoke HJ below is probably stamped, not etched.
And I wish the "Real Harness Knife" below that were an acid etch. I think we will see more interesting etches on production knives - maybe even acid etches, or stamps!

Robeson had some nice looking etches Charlie, thanks for showing them in this thread

Here are some various old blade etches and stamps used by H. Boker.

A few more used by H. Boker.

Good idea for a thread. This scout knife is from the 1930s.

Iron Hoarder, I can see why you'd be reluctant to let go of one of those. Those are great old English (I suppose) knives. They remind me of the old 1830's to 1850's folding hunting knives with all the little critters and cartouches on the blade, with a legend like "Alabama Hunting Knife".

Greedy, those are all beautiful etches. Did anyone, other than Boker, use that reverse etch much prior to Bulldog starting to do it in the 70's?

SK, that's almost a work of art.

I agree. Great idea for a new thread, MB.

Charlie Noyes

I showed this in the stockman thread recently, but it seemed appropriate again.

I found a few with both type etching. The Catt razor has the same etch as some of the early CATTARAUGUS letter heads. I wish the Press Button THE VICTOR had a full etch but for 110 years old, not bad.

This was a beauty in its day.
It is still pretty after decades of abuse.

A rearly seen Schatt & Morgan blade stamping.

Need to take some more pics.

Here's one of my oldest.




Here's my Dryer Felt


Boker USA "ATOMIC AGE"


A Buck 110 I gave to a buddy a while back

Here's a pearl handled Robeson Wharnecliff with a nice etch.

This is not my knife. I copied the photo from an internet auction.

Charlie Noyes

That Easy Opener is way cool Dale!
And the rare S & Ms are a delight to see, David!
Charlie, your Robeson's always amaze me!

Landers, Frary & Clark often used a deep etched "Universal" trademark.

Great knives everyone! It just doesn't get any better than running across an old knife brand or style that one collects which also happens to have a good blade etch or stamp.


Charlie: The short answer is I'm not sure. I don't recall seeing a lot of reverse etches by other makers, but I'm sure there are some out there. Boker has used that style of etch for years and Bulldog did bring it back in a big way.

Thanks, Greedy.

The reason I asked about the reverse etch is a noted knife evaluator has stated previously that the reverse etch was not used by the old manufacturers and when he sees a "vintage" knife with one, he generally declares it counterfeit.

Surely, he knows that Boker, in Germany at least, used the reverse etch extensively.

Charlie Noyes

Charlie: You are right and he is wrong. If he is a noted knife evaluator, how could he not know that Boker used reverse etching extensively over the years? I have quite a few old, original knife ads., including an original 1928 Boker Cutlery catalog that could quickly prove him wrong because the etches are plainly shown in the listings. I have also found several reverse etched knives in a copy of Boker's 1906 catalog, so I know that style of etch goes back at least that far. Blade etches themselves go back to around 1800 (according to Levine's Guide 4th edition). I don't know when the reverse etch was actually first used, but it is an old process. I also have several H. Boker & Co's Improved Cutlery knives (circa. 1869-1914) with their original blade etch. The Radium etched knives I listed are another example of an old etch used by Boker that can be dated way back; they trademarked Radium in 1904. Good question Charlie & take care.

Here's an interesting etch on an old Robeson hefty jack.

This knife is referred to by collectors and dealers as a "Beaver Tail".

As it plainly says "Trade Mark" on the file upon which the beaver is resting, I've always wondered if it weren't an advertising knife for a company called Beaver Files or something like that.

I've done a Google search for Beaver Files, but found nothing relative.

This is not my knife, but I am trying to buy it.

Charlie Noyes

Another Boker circa. 1950's - 1960's.