WINTERBOTTOM BONE PRESTO

[wiseguy]

For years I thought Winterbottom described the type of jigging found on various knife handle so I looked into it a bit . I hope you enjoy the read , this PRESTO with "Winterbottom " bones has eluded me for years .
To the person that is not a collector or enthusiast of antique cutlery, the words “Winterbottom bone” must seem a strange pairing of these words. However, to those who love the old cutlery, those two words are very familiar and bring an instant picture to mind of distinctive and unique liner grooved and stained bone handled knives. The very distinctive visual character of Winterbottom bone was used for knife handles of some by America’s oldest cutleries; it was a bone handle material for pocket, hunting and table cutlery during the first half of the last century. Queen Cutlery of Titusville, Pennsylvania was the principal user of Winterbottom bone handle material, but it is also known that Case, Imperial, Camillus, Cattaraugus, Ka-Bar and others also produced some knives with Winterbottom Bone handles.
Who developed it?
The Winterbottom bone’s distinctive jigging and coloring was developed by Samuel Winterbottom of Egg Harbor, NJ. In the 1924 book, “South Jersey, a History 1864 – 1924,” Samuel is described as “Possessing artistic taste, as well as the skill of a fine artisan.” Samuel was a bone cutter by training and profession. He immigrated to America in 1885. This same book offers more of his personal history:
John Winterbottom, Mr. Winterbottom’s father, was born and died in Sheffield, England, and was a bone-cutter by occupation, his trade linking his name with the world famous cutlery manufacturers of that city. The family has followed similar lines of activities in England one hundred and thirty years. …
Samuel Winterbottom was born in 1857 in Sheffield, England, and in early life became employed as a bone cutter and manufacturer of handles of all kinds for knives, in association with his father.

[Joe Dirt]

Great old auto, wiseguy!
Thanks for the story about the Winterbottom's family and their business.

Didn't the Winterbottom Company sell bone dust too?

Joe

[btrwtr]

Nice post and nice knife. Thanks!

Wayne

[1967redrider]

Awesome history lesson, wiseguy. Was that knife rehandled or originally handled in Winterbottom bone? When someone mentions it I always think of Queen. Sweet looking Presto!

[wiseguy]

The History was found on Google and evidently they did make bone dust . Yes the knife came with the Winterbottom handles and therefor is a faily scarce model , it dates from the 1930s by the stamp see... thanks for looking guys , as said this particular example has eluded me for years.

[1967redrider]

Good to know! The one I just put a new spring in is stamped a little differently.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &start=270

[roostershooter]

That is a dandy example wiseguy! congrats on a great find.

[wlf]

Here's some information on the Winterbottoms and the Sheffield bone . Sheffield made a LOT of knives.
From this interesting article by Jim Taylor:

http://www.oregonknifeclub.org/horn.html

"Bone, whilst not being "horn" is its nearest possible relative, and I sincerely hope that the reader is not looking to me to suggest a date for its earliest use, such a task is obviously not possible, but an educated guess would lead me to man's earliest days on this planet.

London and Birmingham have had long years of traditional use for bones, as well as Sheffield, due mainly to their turning expertise; but it must be said that Sheffield once again was recognized as the world's biggest user. Since the 1820s one of Sheffields leading families in the bone trade was the Winterbottoms (a name that is very familiar to American knife enthusiasts.) Records show that in busy times a weekly quantity of some fifty tons would be required to keep the saws going. Such a quantity would provide some three hundred and fifty gross of hafts and scales for use by the cutlery industry in one week. Such was the massive and seemingly unquenchable demand for Sheffield made cutlery.

One of the by-products of cutting up bones, ivory, horn and stag with a saw is dust! The usefulness of this dust was very apparent to the Sheffield traders; and, being the shrewd men that they were, they found ready markets for this wonderful fertilizer. One company, Meggitts, records that in 1910 they bought a total of almost one thousand tons. Records show that one firm alone supplied them with two hundred and eighty two tons of hard horn waste. The enormous volume being used annually becomes readily apparent when it is fully realized that these enormous weights are related only to the saw-dust.

It may interest the reader to know that carefully protected, clean ivory dust was often made into a very nutritious jelly that could be taken internally by humans and often was.(*) This was said to be even better for invalids than calves'-foot jelly. "

[1967redrider]

Great post and link, Lyle.


Better than calves' foot jelly? Not possible!

[wiseguy]

Thanks for adding that to the thread Lotta history in them bones .