All About Pocket Knives

A while back I purchased a great book called
“The Knife Makers Who Went West” , by Harvey Platts.
The book is primarily about Western Knives, but Platts gives the reader some interesting early history of his family.
For me the most interesting person was his great grandfather, Charles W. Platts .It’s his, and my proximity of living that are so interesting to me, among many other things.
C. W. Platts worked at American Knife Co. in Reynolds Bridge, which is now Thomaston Ct. Later he moved to Northfield, Ct. where he was superintendent of the knife shop.
Platts describes, with pictures, some of the goings on at Northfield Knife Co. He briefly describes it’s decline and the fact that, in 1926 the buildings and the land was sold to the state and that the buildings were torn down. He mentioned that there were eight large stone blocks, with a mortise chiseled into them to accommodate the base of an anvil that were used to “hot hand forge” blades. He said, in 1978, that the stone blocks “still remain” in two rows at the original site!
I have since learned that I live 6.8 miles from that original site and the blocks of stone are indeed still there. Just seven actually. And so much more. Laid up foundation after laid up foundation are still evident. I can’t imagine the work, man work and mule or horse work it took to accomplish this beautiful foundation. And then built a very smart three story wood frame building (and many others) on all this work that verily arises from the stream bed. Also, there is still parts of the two foot steel riveted pipe that was used to get water to the water wheel to turn the guts of machinery that in six decades produced several million hand made, award winning, pocket knives. I love going up there!!!

Great story Joe!

I bet being there in person can really bring one back to the day there was so much going on. Thats really cool, I got a couple old Northfields and find them very well made. David Anthony speaks a good bit about the Nothfield knife company in his new book, sounds like its a must read for you

Very interesting Joe. Nice photos too. My avatar is a picture of Charles W. Platts (1838 - 1900).

I bet you got chills while standing there. Very interesting.

J.W.

Nice piece of knife history! Thanks for posting and I think it would be cool to walk around at the site and imagine the buildings in place and work going on! Thanks.. TD

Very cool, Joe. You can alsmost hear the clash ...

Thanks.

~ Edge

That is cool... I would have pictured pavement and a strip mall on the site these days. I read somewhere, that they used a layer of horse manure under the anvil, so the shock didn't transfer to the stone and crack it over time. I am guessing they had to keep it damp too, or they would have a smoldering manure bed.

wow!

Great history there Joe and to think, it's only 7 miles from where you reside, AWESOME!

Great pics and a lot of MOJO going on there. I'd keep a close watch and if you find that they are going to develop that site, I'd surly help myself to a couple or all of those stones.

Hi,
Thanks to all of you who have so kindly responded to this thread.
At the risk of being pummeled by the copyright gods and actual publishers I took the liberty of copying these pages of the very fine book THE KNIFE MAKERS WHO WENT WEST. I tried to find LONGS PEAK PRESS to ask for permission to copy the pages but was not successful. It is not my intent to disrespect Harvey Platts work in any way. Indeed I appreciate the book very much and highly recommend it to all.
I have wanted to share this with you all. It is such a charge to have come across this setting and a great relief from a somewhat taxing home life of health care.

I cannot ignore a certain sadness about the place though. While it must have been an incredible amount of work to put this place in order, and the working conditions must have left a lot to be desired in the knife making process it just seems sad that it is left to grow over and perhaps be forgotten. I don’t know how the fine folks of the charming little berg of Northfield feel about the “ruins”. I hope to ask in the coming months.
Thanks for looking at this thread. I love this place.

Here is an old Northfield scissor box.

Nice work Joe

This thread belongs in Knife Lore

Good job Joe, thanks for taking the time to take pictures and compare to the old ones. Do you know who owns it? I don't suppose the place could be designated a historical site and be preserved? I am amazed it is not developed by now....

O.K. by me. I wish I would thought that out a little better. Sorry.

Is there a doctor in the house who can change this thread to knife lore?

Dale or Phil can do the trick

Hi brett,
the state of Connecticut owns it now.
It can't really be developed to any good use as it is located on a steep stream bank. ........... Well, mabey a Ford Pinto dealership would be in order.

That's good. Is it already a park or something?

Hi knifegirl,
no, nothing resembling a park at all. The place is overgrown with trees, brambles, deadfalls, and years and years and years of compost. It will sink away, but not any time soon. The put up stone walls were apparently very well done, so they aint goin nowhere soon. I wish every one could see the chiseled mortises in the stones that held the anvils. Such fine work. Most of the stones themselves were squared so rightly. I think this whole operation was a model of integrity.

Outstanding find and story Joe, thanks for sharing

Very interesting
Mark

Thanks Mike and Mark, I'm glad you like the thread. It's good stuff.

If you want to fill in the blanks on Platt's and the Northfield. I suggest "shameless plug here" that you read my latest book GEC the Northfield and Tidioute brands. Info never before seen or heard and great stuff if you like knife history.

Thanks Gang.

NICE thread btw.

David

Thought he said it was bought by the State

Thread relocated to "Knife Lore" per request.

Phil

Joe,

I hope you don't mind me posting my FAVORITE Northfield here in your thread. We got this at the Lewisburg show. Bret had already looked at the man's table once & bought two knives from him. I had stopped back to buy raffle tickets there & Bret ran across this knife that he had missed the first time around. I was chatting away to the wife of the seller & Bret was actually getting impatient waiting for me to get done talking so I could look at the knife. LOL Bret knows me... and he knows I wasn't letting this one get away.

I was able to find this pattern pictured in the 1869 catalog reprint in the Great Eastern Cutlery book. It is illustrated as a five blade, but the description lists it as a three blade. No. 536 in Ivory cost $15 bucks a dozen. I need to find a time machine!