Letter opener knives.............

[knife7knut]

This particular area of collecting has,to me anyway,been very neglected.I started collecting them when I got a bunch of knives from a friend of mine who had purchased a large militaria collection.Among the pieces were a number of civilian knives(his term)that he had no interest in and so offered them to me.I wound up buying a lot of his "civilian" knives at very reasonable prices.

One of the first letter opener/knife combination I got was a Pal Cutlery Co piece with faux pearl(celluloid) scales and a spear blade.It was in a sheath with the initials C.F.M. stamped in(as were several other items in the collection).I had never seen one of these before and thought it a bit unique.

After doing a bit of research I found that many companies had offered this particular pattern;among them PAL,Remington,Robeson,Schrade and many European companies as well.I'm not sure exactly how far back they go but I have a couple that look to be mid 1800's judging from the style of blades and construction.

I started searching e-Bay and found that not only were there many offered there but also many daggers mis-listed as letter openers;some of which I managed to score for very cheap money.I mention this only because I am not actively collecting anymore and would like others to benefit from my knowledge.

Anyway the ones I have acquired seem to fall into one basic category;that of an advertising medium.Letter openers always have been a great source of advertising in and of themselves(I have a whole large separate collection of just letter openers).There is even a offshoot of them in the form of pens or pencils with knife blades in them.Not the newer Chinese made ones but rather ones that have a small folding knife blade in the top(some have scissors as well).I have a couple with sliding blades concealed in the top).But back to the letter openers.

The blades themselves are either small spear point,or spey shaped(to act as ink erasers)and occasionally on the earlier models a coping blade style.Some are spring activated(Schrade and Flylock notably)and some are even of the so-called,"funny folder" style.

Whatever type they are,for me they are an enjoyable and inexpensive(so far)way to start a collection of what most knife collectors do not have.I offer up some examples for your viewing pleasure.

[knife7knut]

Forgot to enclose a couple of pictures.A cabinet of letter opener and pencil knives.The Schrade switchblade is one of my best;an e-Bay snag.

[bonehead]

Knife Knut,

Thats a seroius collection of letter openers. One that anyone would be proud of!! I like it a lot Truly awesome

Alan

[Miller Bro's]

Ray,

Does that WGAL-TV letter opener knife have Sterling Silver handles?

What is the tang stamp on that one? What a beauty!

[gino]

WOW, great collection. I have a few but your collection is really great. Thanks for sharin them.

[knife7knut]

Ray,

Does that WGAL-TV letter opener knife have Sterling Silver handles?

What is the tang stamp on that one? What a beauty!

Dimitri:
I had to check and found that they are in fact silver-plated copper.There is no maker's mark but it looks to be one by Parisian Novelty Co. of Chicago.I have several by that company and they are very similar.

In regard to you PM;it's funny you should mention that the burkinshaw blades aren't stamped.The one I have is stamped only on the pen blade;the master blade has no stamping or any evidence there ever was one.As luck would have it the pen blade is the one that is broken.I measured it and it is .064" at the tang and approximately 1 5/16ths inches long.Thanks for thinking of me.

[knife7knut]

Here are some detail pictures:

First is a Parisian Novelty Co with an ad for the American Corrugated Box Co.A lot of these had individual's signatures on one side and the business name on the other.
Second is an Aerial Cutlery Co letter opener.Supposedly a lot of these had the letter opener blade cut off when there was a lot of demand for Aerial knives in the 1970's.I have 3 unmolested ones.
Third is an inexpensive one by Ambassador;another company that did a lot of advertising items.They may have been made by Colonial as they are very similar to Colonials of that period.
Fourth is a B&B funny folder letter opener or flip knife as it was called in another post.B&B was an old company that made a ton of promotional stuff including the George Washington commemorative knives of the early 1930's.
Fifth and sixth is a salesman's sample from Bonsman showing the differences in handles side to side.
Seventh is an ornate brass handled one that is unmarked but I have several of these;one of which is marked B&B so I am assuming they were all made by them.
Eighth is a Colonial;note the similarity to the Ambassador previously pictured.
Ninth and tenth are two different Daniel Peres items;one is very ornate and the other plain.

I'll try and post some more later on.

[FRJ]

Anyone......... did letter openers come in fashion after U.S. postal service envelopes were in use? Just courious..

[knife7knut]

Anyone......... did letter openers come in fashion after U.S. postal service envelopes were in use? Just courious..

Not sure when that took place but envelopes have been around for a long time.Some of the old ink erasers utilized the handles as so-called,"folding bones".They were used to fold envelopes from pieces of paper before commercial envelopes became available.

One curious letter opener I had was an advertising piece(for Glyco-Heroin of all things)and the handle looked like a large pair of tweezers with one side being smooth and the other having a small piece of ribbed rubber inside.I pondered what this might have been used for and then I remembered:On pieces of advertising mail in the 1950's(maybe earlier)there was a side flap on most envelopes and the words:"Postmaster:This letter may be opened for inspection if necessary".The way this handle worked was the smooth side faced the outside of the letter and the side with the ribbed piece of rubber was inserted into the envelope and gripped the flap so it could be easily opened.

Another one has two toothed wheels inside the spring-loaded handles that were used to perforate over a check amount so it couldn't be altered.

Still another had a small stapler attached to one handle.

I'll have to dig out pictures of these and other strange ones;especially the ones made out of semi-precious stone(malachite and picture jasper).

[caddyman1973]

K7K,
I love them letter opener knives, and have for a long time. The only problem is, I dont have any!!! Not yet anyway. BTW, that Schrade flipper wasn't a "snag", it was a CRIME!! I remember when you got that one. Great collection and thanks for sharing!
Bill

[FRJ]

knife7knut,
thanks for the reply and information. Interesting stuff. I have a couple of those ink erasers. Haven't looked at them in a couple years. One of them is a Joseph Rodgers I think. No bones in the handle though; It's black as I recall.

[knife7knut]

knife7knut, No bones in the handle though; It's black as I recall.

I believe it was just referred to as a,"folding bone" although I'm not sure why;possibly that is what it was made of originally.Some of the handles on my ink erasers are rounded(similar to the shape of a bone)and others are flat and pointed and I believe to be used as envelope openers.

Here are the pictures of the two oddball ones I mentioned earlier:

The first is marked,"Compliments of Martin H.Smith Co.New York USA" and is supposed to date around 1910. I'm not sure that date is correct but I remember doing research on another knife and discovered that heroin was invented by someone who worked for Bayer Pharmaceutical Co. in Germany as a substitute for morphine(it is chemically a highly refined grade of morphine).It was originally introduced as an ingredient in children's cough syrup(which is what the Glyco-Heroin advertised on this letter opener is)and believe it or not was not removed from the cough syrup until 1971!
When doing this research I also discovered that Bayer invented methadone as another morphine alternative during WWII and that it's generic name is Dolophine and was named for Adolph Hitler! Strange stuff we uncover in research!
Anyway in the pictures you can see how the handles work to open a flap on a letter.The smooth side goes on the outer part and the rubber piece grips the flap after it is inserted in the side of the envelope.I don't believe envelopes are made like that anymore.

The other item listed on the handle(Ergoapiol)was used by women starting in the Middle Ages supposedly for menstrual cramps and to induce abortions!Can't believe some of the stuff people would put into their bodies to help cure disease and the like;even today.My wife has to take blood thinner medication to prevent blood clots and it is nothing more than glorified rat poison!

The second pictures are of another letter opener that has rotating wheels that perforate the amount area on a check to prevent altering the amount of it.There is an additional spring-loaded piece on the side that has a small pin on it that I haven't figured out yet.It will punch something but I'm not sure what;maybe something to indicate a check has been cashed.

Sorry for getting off-topic but I find stuff like this interesting and hope others here will do as well.The research on Bayer Pharmaceuticals was fascinating;led to info on a huge conglomerate of I.G.Farben with ties to the USA during WWII.Real conspiracy theory stuff! lol

[trail]

I found this thread looking for a place to post a letter opener I just got, and read it with a great deal of interest. Knife7knut, you have a fine collection that is a real pleasure to peruse, and the historical information is the icing to the cake. The Glyco-Heroin information is amazing. I can remember as a child there was a bottle of paregoric in the medicine cabinet. Attitudes towards the opiates have changed greatly in the last fifty years. As much as it is a household name in America, Bayer is a German company headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, and I.G. Farben was a German chemical conglomerate before and during the war. I.G. Farben had an enormous facility in Auschwitz, Poland that dwarfed the neighboring concentration camp and was one of the biggest users of slave labor during the war. After the war, the Russians carted off all the high pressure retorts and other machinery, and the Poles inherited the fixed plant. To this day the I.G. Farben facility at Auschwitz is the third largest producer of synthetic rubber in Europe. Anyone interested in the economics of Mittle Europa in the years leading up to and through the war would do well to get a copy of Adam Tooze's book "The Wages of Destruction", which details the agricultural and industrial history of Germany during the period, including the many ties to industrial concerns in other nations.

Back to letter openers - mine is a shell-handled one with a folding knife blade made by Liberty Knife Company of New Britain, CT. My book shows them as being in operation from 1919 through 1925. Other than the outer handle material being torn away in one spot, it is in good shape. I wonder if anyone is collecting virtual letter openers used to open email, ha ha.

[knife7knut]

Interesting letter opener knife;I hadn't heard that name before.It looks like either an Imperial or Colonial made one.Not to dispute you but I was under the impression that shell handled knives were first produced around 1934.
Here are a group of four unusual letter openers in that they have watches in the handles.They are good quality wind up watches(17 and 21 jewel).One even is shaped like a watch band.I also have a more modern one with a quartz movement.

[trail]

I'll defer to you Knife7knut on the date for shell handled knives, the dates I gave for L.K. Co. are what I found in Official Price Guide to Collector Knives - listing shows it as a stamp of Liberty Knife Compamy with the dates 1919-1925. Here's a theory - and this is pure speculation - perhaps after Liberty closed shop either Imperial or Colonial, both in nearby Providence, bought the remaining parts and used them some years later. Or just as likely the dates for Liberty are inaccurate, that seems to happen with these small companies as they fade into obscurity.

Those combination watch/letter openers are really pushing the limit out toward freakishness, especially the one that is made to look like a watchband. Thanks for showing them, it is interesting to see the creativity that people have applied over the years.

I showed my letter opener to my 21 year old daughter and her boyfriend, and neither had a clue what it was. These things that were so common when we were young have completely faded away. Imagine what they would think of a mimeograph machine?

[cattaraugus57]

Wow! that's a great collection
I've see a few once in a while..think I only own one.

[chetr1200c]

i own one knife/letter opener.. that is one hell of a collection you have there

[trail]

And of course you are absolutely right, knife7knut - mine is an Imperial. The knife was sold as an L.K. and to my old eyes, that's what it looked like - but when I photographed the stamp it was clearly I.K. Co. Mystery solved.

[knife7knut]

The knife was sold as an L.K. and to my old eyes, that's what it looked like

It is amazing how many are listed on e-Bay as being,"LK) rather than the correct IK.With the periods between the letters it is an easy mistake to make.

[Joe Dirt]

Here's a few letter openers I have accumulated over the years with a couple recently acquired one's after following k7k's lead - searching for letter openers on debay. (Thanks Ray )

The Imperial in the box has a hand written date on the back - Dec 22 1973, and was listed under "advertising"!!

I was happy to find the small Hammer Brand shell, as I had never seen one before. It's displayed next to a "Topsy" mini.

The Miller Bros. bone handle ink eraser was in my Great Aunt "Annie's" desk drawer, amongst a couple bars of wax and a couple of letter seals! I remember it well as a kid.

I debated with myself on the NYKC as to whether it was an Imperial, but the loooong swedge on the back of the spine screamed NYKC

..... Joe

[knife7knut]

Nice little collection of letter openers;that NYKC is a nice one!I'm glad to see that someone else is interested in them;I think they are greatly under-rated as a collectible.

[1967redrider]

Nice letter openers, guys!

Those push button ones really caught my attention.

I have just this one, and Imperial shell as well.

[jerryd6818]

This thread is what inspired me to acquire the one and only opener/knife I have. It's just an Imperial shell, probably 1950s but it's in great condition.