J. Pritzlaff HDW Co. Milwaukee

[313 Mike]

I just picked up this great old equal end jack stamped J Pritzlaff HDW Co Milwaukee. It's a bit more polished up than what I would like, but I only paid $12 for it so I am happy with it! Plus, I was born and raised about 20 miles from Milwaukee so it is kinda cool to have a nice old vintage knife from my neck of the woods. It is a really solidly built knife, great ebony handles which I love, and cleary visible stamps on both blades.
Here's what I've been able to find out so far about the company...
J. Pritzlaff Hardware Co was started by John Pritzlaff, a Prussian immigrant who arrived in Milwaukee in 1841, and started the J. Pritzlaff Hardware Co in 1850, and it was in buisness until 1951. They were located just across the Milwaukee River in the 3rd Ward, and the buildings eventually became home to Hack Furniture which closed it's doors in 1984. Apparently it was one of the largest hardware companies in the midwest during it's heyday. We used to park in the parking lot and walk to Summerfest on the shores of Lake Michigan every year when we would go to the Fest, never had any idea of it's history until now though!
I'm not sure if they actually made the knives there on site, or if they were contracted out to a different company and they put their stamp on them. Anyone have any other J. Pritzlaff Co Milwaukee knives to share? Any additional info on the company? Any idea of how I could narrow down the year of manufacture a bit?
Mike

J Pritzlaff HDW Co. Milwaukee.jpg (49.33 KiB) Viewed 6753 times

J Pritzlaff HDW Co. Milwaukee #2.jpg (44.86 KiB) Viewed 6753 times

[TripleF]

Too Cool bro!!

[313 Mike]

Yeah Scott, you know I am a sucker for those old wood handles....they just speak to me for some reason...

Mike

[ozzie marie]

Nice one Mike

Keith

[robinetn]

This one has a lot of wear , but still "walks & talks" ! (Split backspring whittler)

[313 Mike]

Hey Bob, that is a great looking knife! It looks like it has the same frame as mine, same shield and same blade steel and stamp also. What is the handle material on yours? It appears to have some horizontal texture to the scales. Can you make any sort of an educated guess as to the age...?
Mike

[robinetn]

Hey Bob, that is a great looking knife! It looks like it has the same frame as mine, same shield and same blade steel and stamp also. What is the handle material on yours? It appears to have some horizontal texture to the scales. Can you make any sort of an educated guess as to the age...?
Mike

The handle material is imitation ivory , but I don't know any to nail down the age (1850 - 1957) . Just going by appearance , I think that it was made in the 1920's - 1940's .

Bob

[313 Mike]

Found this old billhead from J. Pritzlaff Hardware Co on line....
...anyone else have any examples of J. Pritzlaff knives in their accumulation?

J. Pritzlaff billlhead.jpg (38.07 KiB) Viewed 6578 times

[ozzie marie]

Mike,

I haven't been able to find a Pritzlaff knife for my collection, but I did find this knife box

Keith

[313 Mike]

Nice score on the box Keith, excellent piece of history!

Mike

[junebug]

here we go ,MIKE.......i found yer thread!
cool brand........wonder who made these for the hardware co.?????

tang stamp( both blades stamped) :
JOHN
PRITZLAFF
H. CO.

[TexasJack]

Nice knife. I've never seen one from them before.

[junebug]

thanks,JACK!

same for me,new one on me ......lucked out on a ebay LOT of 10 knives......this was just one GEM hidden in the pile.

[313 Mike]

Ah yes Mr. Bug...here we are! I do like the looks of these Pritzlaff knives...they have quite the classic look to them....I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for others!

And I need to shoot some new pics of mine too, the shots from I posted in this thread don't do it justice.

[Cutty]

[quote=

same for me,new one on me ......lucked out on a ebay LOT of 10 knives......this was just one GEM hidden in the pile. [/quote]


Dangit bugger I take a week or two off and you get out of hand. This has to stop

[GSPTOPDOG]

I was going through a shoe box of old poor condition/broken pocket knives I had put away a few years ago and I found this one stamped "John Pritzlaff HARDWARE Co.". This site is a great place for information! Now I know a Little more about this knife. Thanks to all those out there with such a deep knowledge on a great part of American History. I am just bummed out this knife is in such bad shape. Anyone have any idea as to when this might have been made? I know the dates would be 1850 to 1951, but it would be great to narrow it down bit.

[FRJ]

Here is my new (to me) J, Pritzlaff HDW Co., knife. Just got it today
Glad to see a post in Knife Lore about this stamp.
Mine is a very solid knife. 3 5/16".
My guess is that Challenge made it but I really don't know.

Thanks for looking.

[edge213]

Here is my new (to me) J, Pritzlaff HDW Co., knife. Just got it today
Glad to see a post in Knife Lore about this stamp.
Mine is a very solid knife. 3 5/16".
My guess is that Challenge made it but I really don't know.

Thanks for looking.

Really cool shield.

[FRJ]

Thank you, David. The shield made me think of Challenge.

[ObsidianEdge]

That is a cool shield and nice knife. I have one that I got from Roger a while back.

[peanut740]

Mike

[Ripster]

FRJ and Obsidian, nice pieces of Cutlery there . Thanks for keeping this Pritzlaff gig going . As with the OP and story ,my friend and I went to many Summer Fests down at the lakeshore as well . But wasn’t aware of this Company till years later. So did some digging and found the only relevant one I have . Nothing as nice as been shown,but here’s what I have. Anyone have any of this stamp they want to sell ,maybe interested.
Take care ,stay warm .

[FRJ]

Thank you, Mike and JP.

[JohnR]

Only Pritzlaff I have and it's an unusual coke bottle harness jack.

[JAMESC41001]

John I really like that. Hope you had a great holiday. Looking forward to seeing your posts in 2021.