Steel Edge Cutlery Co. USA

[whitebuffalo58]

She's old and worn, but a tang stamp I'm not familiar with and not listed in any of my books. What's left of the handles almost look like they might be picture handles. Any help with info would be greatly appreciated.

Sellers pics,

It seems like I remember the line under the "o" of Co. being a tell, but my gray matter ain't what it used to be.

Thanks in advance,


WB

[RobesonsRme.com]

A good many people interested in vintage knives think and say that a line under the “O” in “CO.” Means the knife was definitely made in Germany.

While that may be true for many, many knives, it is not definitively true for all of them.

Your knife may very well be a German product, but that line, by itself, does not make it so. And given the “U.S.A” on the tang, I suspect not.

Some German makers were not averse to marking a knife with something other than its actual country-of-origin, especially around the time of WWI.

I have never seen nor heard of that tang stamp before.

Can you actually discern “ STEEL EDGE” in that stamp, because I cannot?

Charlie Noyes

[whitebuffalo58]

Thanks Charlie, I knew there was something about that line, but couldn't bring it forward. I agree it's not definitive as to it's true origins.

With that said, it seems like the next question would be...if it were somehow tracked to German origins, would the fact that it's stamped USA, help to determine age? (i.e. pre WWI?)

I don't have the knife in hand, it should be here in a couple of days. Sellers description states 'Steel Edge Cutlery Co.', I'm only assuming, in hand, it's readable. It does appear to start with 'Steel' and the words 'Cutlery Co./USA are a certainty. I'm in the process now, of going through the reference sections of the books I have, to see if it was an obscure trademark from a known company. Although, being marked as a "Cutlery Co.", I don't think I'll get very far with that.

WB