Klein Sons tang stamps

[Steamlab]

I recently acquired two barlow-style knives identified as Klein products from Chicago. They have identical style, with a single standard blade and a screwdriver blade that locks in place. They have two different tang stamps, so I'm looking for information, especially concerning the age, of these two.

[orvet]

I believe the M Klein stamp is the oldest.
I will check, I may have an example of a third tang stamp but I'm not positive.

Addendum:
The knife is an electrician's knife, patterned after the TL - 29 military knife, originally used by the US Army signal Corps.

[Tsar Bomba]

A lot of the Klein electrician's knives were made by Camillus, and I believe some were made by Boker, too. I'm sure other cutlers were also involved at various points. I do not know who made the most recent ones.

When they switched to the "Klein & Sons" stamp, at some point shortly afterwards they started using letter codes to date the knives. Prior to that, it becomes a little trickier to date them. The "J" and "N" on your knives should represent the years they were produced.

There is a thread from 2012 on AAPK with copies of email responses from Klein's customer service department that gets into detail about the Klein dating system and other ancillary questions.

viewtopic.php?t=29232

[Steamlab]

Thank you. I'll look into it.

[Steamlab]

OK, I read through the thread and it appears that the older one with the "J" stamp is from 1973 and the one with the "N" stamp is from 1977. Also the J stamp was the first date stamp used by them.

[orvet]

There was at least one earlier tang stamp than the examples you show.
Camillus made M Klein knives for many, many years. I have an S card from the Camillus factory from April 18, 1952 for the electricians knives. The S card were used by the workers in the factory to show all the parts, the types of materials, how to finish the blades, anything that was to be etched, the tang stamp to be used, etc. This little card basically told the workers everything they needed to know to complete the order.
In the lower right-hand corner of this card it says: STAMPED and right beneath that it shows the brand that it is to be stamped with: M. Klein & Sons.
I think I have some examples of that particular tang stamp I will find them up and post pictures.


Here is a copy of the S card:

[Mrnikk0420]

I have a single blade pocket knife marked with a capital G and underneath reads MKLEIN&SONS
CHICAGO MADE IN USA

could anyone shed some light on how old it is? I tried looking it up but was having some issues finding it.

[garddogg56]

I heard they were made by Chicago Cutlery