OK, dug the knife out of the truck and shot some pics on the back steps. (Yes, I do need to clean the knife up again.) If you click on the pics, you can see how the spoon tang was cut to be contained within the pile-side cover.
Spoons were cut off both in both France during the war, and in the post-war period. I was told by a number of WWI vets that they just went to the farrier--there was usually one near the front lines--and had the spoon cut off. As it was demonstrated to me my a man who spent WWI as a farrier in France, it took about 5 seconds. (I found it interesting that 60 years after the war, he was still doing this occasionally.) Several of the WWI vets I knew as a child carried these.
Artifactual documentation of the practice during the war has been found in the form of a spoonless knife found in the pocket of a body buried in one of the mass graves recently uncovered.
(Over the years, I've sometimes wondered if they cut off the spoons to make the knives more pocketable, or if it was done so you could hold onto the knife in order to use it. That spoon just gets in the way when doing the kind of jobs a knife this size is suited to. Unless, of course, you have hands like a spider monkey, in which case it might be OK.)
The story goes that in 1917, at a fund raiser, the head of the American Red Cross asked a general what kind of pocketknife to include in the gift packs being prepared for the soldiers in France. The general replied to the effect that it wasn't necessary, as all soldiers were being issued a knife and spoon. The gentleman from the Red Cross (variously described as "hard of hearing" or "half-deaf") understood the general to say "a knife with a spoon." The source of the story is usually cited as
American Cutler magazine.
The design was developed in 1917, for distribution in the 1917 Christmas packages for soldiers (and sailors, according to some accounts). There seems to be no evidence that they were produced for anyone other than the Red Cross, or after the Red Cross orders were filled. Production
may have continued into 1918 to finish contracts, but no evidence of this has been found. This is one of those rare knives that can be dated quite tightly, and (aside from government contracts) for whom the original contractor is known.
Total production seems to have ranged between 500,000-1,000,000 but may have reached 2,000,000. At least 500,000 were produced: contemporary documents mention this number as having been produced but more orders may have been outstanding. One million is the commonly-mentioned production figure, but the original plan was to make
two million. One million were intended for US troops (and possibly sailors), and the second million for our loyal allies, the Russian army.
(Anyone who knows their history will see the problem here. The Red Cross began planning in mid-1917; the Bolshevik takeover in November 1917 lead to a separate armistice with the Central Powers in December 1917. Our "loyal allies" were proven to be neither. I've not been able to find out if contracts were cancelled, if a million of these knives were dumped on the market sometime after the war, or if maybe the Red Cross has a million of these knives tucked away somewhere . . . . )
Makers included Camillus, Ulster, Holley, Union Cutlery, and probably others. Per a post from Tom Williams in another forum, Camillus produced around 100,000 of these. The Camillus model # was 9511. I've not been able find information from the other makers.
Jim
I don't think this thing has ever been sharpened other than at the factory. I had a 4 line Camillus just like it about 6 months ago but sold it for $25. The spoon on the Camillus was like chrome plated or something and it looked like they had been eating some caustic soup with it. Do any of you fellas have one of these? Show some pics 
You confused me again. I read 5 times and well. Was your spoon taken out by the army before handing them out or the knife Co's or the red cross or did you take off the spoon on yours??? What was the misunderstading? It sounds like a million of these were probably made. This knife here was in even better condition a few days ago but the fella who had it on a display out in his garage cut the wire it was hanging by with some dull scissors and when they wouldn't cut he started twisting it 
trust me, I tried to stop him about 5 times but he was on a mission. Every bit of the damage other than rust specks was done during the unmounting 
But, DATS NOT A HOLLEY HOBO 
I guess any ole pocketknife will do then... 
