C2159 ?

[Ridgegrass]

I have a good pal and very serious collector who showed me a 3 blade, Rodgers bone-handled, Cattaraugus pen with two full bolsters and coined liners, with a "Cattaraugus" shield. The pattern number was C2159. I can't decipher the number using the standard Catt system where the first digit is # of blades, second digit is # of bolsters, third and fourth are pattern, and fifth is handle material. Houston Price lists a 2159(BW) number with no description or explanation. can anyone shed some light on this? A "C" code denotes a clip blade but I've not seen it ahead of the number. Letter codes normally appear at the end?? I hope someone has some info here. I'd like to get the knife but I'm confused at this point. Thanks. J.O'.

[Mumbleypeg]

Maybe this will help. Researching in an old (published 1978) book by Mrs. Dewey P. (Lavona) Ferguson, I found that there is such an animal as the Cattaraugus C2159. The book contains reproduced old Catt catalog cuts along with a price guide. The C2159 is listed in the price guide, but not in the pictured knives. As best I can decipher from the information provided the “C” prefix may denote a clip blade. I say “may” because in the prose section it says C is the abbreviation for clip, but there is no C listed in the section on suffixes, and there is no section listing prefixes.

Note - the price guide indicates the knife is pictured on page 37, but it’s not there. (The picture below is from page 40). BTW, Ferguson says the second figure in the pattern number is the “type of bolster”, not necessarily the number of bolsters. For example the number 3 is tip bolsters, 5 is slant bolsters. 1 is “front bolsters only”.

Although highly regarded for the quality of their products, I have read that after the company disbanded old factory parts inventory was sold by the pound and assembled elsewhere into knives of dubious quality, without regard to pattern number adherence. Your friend may have one of them.

Ken

[Ridgegrass]

Ken, Thanks a bunch for the research. Your idea of a "parts" situation sounds plausible. I wish I'd taken pics of the knife. It sure isn't a Barlow size and with 3 blades the number makes no sense. My buddy is a deep-pockets kind of guy, loaded with Randalls, Bullet knives, etc. and he's used to show prices. I think I'll let it pass, I'd hate to wonder about it. Thanks again J.O'.