Oldest Known Folder Patterns

[whitebuffalo58]

I think the oldest folding knife patterns i'm aware of are probably the English or Tear Drop Jack. The Barlow dates back fairly early as well. But what about other patterns? Stockmans, congress, muskrats, etc... What's the earliest example of a given pattern in your collection?

[Owd Wullie]

Stacy, from London. Pre-dates the 1891 Tariff Act.

[Paladin]

Nice one, Willie!!

[Absintheur]

Not sure if it can be considered a pattern but the earliest folding knives were likely friction folders. I would be interested to find out what the first "named" or branded pattern actually was.

[whitebuffalo58]

That's kind of what I was aiming for. It's easy enough and to some degree, common knowledge when the first Mustang was introduced or the Thunderbird or Camaro, even the Model T. There was always a lot of hoopla. But was there ever any fanfare when a new knife pattern was introduced? Surely when the first stockman or congress pattern was marketed, someone went Wow! that pocket knife's got 3 blades or Holy Crap! a 4 blade pocket knife! Every pattern started somewhere, but there doesn't seem to be any real record of when each was first introduced. I hoped maybe we could start to track it down through collectors showing there earliest examples of the different patterns. It wouldn't be an exact science, but might start narrowing it down a bit.