August Cutlery Co.... y'all got any ideas?

[Meridian_Mike]

I just got this TINY (only 2" long) little knife in my hands. It says "AUGUST CUTLERY Co." on the tang. The name just sort of sounds German.
What y'all think?

ALSO..... recon what these scales are made of?
Do they look ivory?

Mike

[KleenCut61]

Neat old knife ! Looks Like ( I-Vor-Y) To Me Mike , 1910 -1930 Goins .. There's also a germany Mark For the Same Time Period , So German it is , Fancy little Poker Eh !! K.C. Think its one of those Aristicratic Dress Knives ( as with the Button Hook ..

[Meridian_Mike]

Yep, you know, I like your idea about an aristocratic knife. Gotta be fancy for the aristocrats.....LOL.
I thought that might be a button hook.

[KleenCut61]

Nice Find Mike

[Mumbleypeg]

IMO the button hook dates it to pre-WWI as that's about the time the clothing those hooks were used on went out of style.

Ken

[Meridian_Mike]

IMO the button hook dates it to pre-WWI as that's about the time the clothing those hooks were used on went out of style.

Ken

COOL... thanks for that input Ken!

Mike

[peanut740]

Looks to be ivory.Also there is a line under the o in Co.That is a European thing to do.

[Tony_Wood]

Nice found Mike. Definitely something a man does not see every day.

[Meridian_Mike]

Looks to be ivory.Also there is a line under the o in Co.That is a European thing to do.

Ahhhhhh..... good point.

[Meridian_Mike]

Nice find Mike. Definitely something a man does not see every day.

Yep, that was mainly what drew me to it..... on the unusual side.

[Mumbleypeg]

Being that small, I suspect it might have been a ladies knife made to be carried in a small purse. In those days women wore gloves, shoes and other garments having buttons, which were difficult to close especially with longer fingernails. The buttonhook on a small knife was handy!

Mens attire also had buttons at the time. You'll also see buttonhooks on gentlemen's grooming knives, like this one that includes an ear wax spoon and mustache comb in addition to a buttonhook, a manicure blade, and a tortoiseshell toothpick.

Ken

[Meridian_Mike]

Yep, I'll bet you are right Ken. It's a tiny little joker.
Thanks for your input and nice pics of your knife.

Mike

[Mumbleypeg]

Yep, I'll bet you are right Ken. It's a tiny little joker.
Thanks for your input and nice pics of your knife.

Mike

Thanks Mike. BTW I believe mine is German also but it's not marked as such.

Ken

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks Mike. BTW I believe mine is German also but it's not marked as such.

Ken

Dang those sneaky Germans!

[Cletus Awreetus]

"Mens attire also had buttons at the time. You'll also see buttonhooks on gentlemen's grooming knives, like this one that includes an ear wax spoon and mustache comb in addition to a buttonhook, a manicure blade, and a tortoiseshell toothpick."


an earwax spoon?? earwax spoon??! that ain't very aristocratic a'tall.. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

[wlf]

Yea Mike that is an odd duck pattern too. Cool little knife.

Nice multi-blade ken.

[Meridian_Mike]

an earwax spoon?? earwax spoon??! that ain't very aristocratic a'tall.. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Yep, when I read that I thought...., "Heck, all I ever saw any one use was a bobby pin to DIG in their ear.....LOL"
I mean... an OFFICIAL tool for digging ear wax out of your ear.....
What WILL they think of next......

LOL....

[LongBlade]

I’m a little late to this thread - pattern of the OP knife from Meridian Mike in my opinion looks like a Norfolk pen with that half-swell center on backspring side... definitely ivory and as already noted German. Interestingly as Roger pointed out the underline under the “o” in Co is not only German though as Dimitri once showed that there was a few American companies which did that as well... also unlike many but not all German knives the pins were nickel silver instead of steel which is cool... maybe it didn’t have Germany on the stamp because it wasn’t made for export...

Nice knife though Mike

Ken - That’s a cool knife too you showed with all the implements ... it’s got everything one may need for your pocket - though I agree those ear wax implements are abit bizarre - not sure sticking those things in one’s ear is the smartest thing to do .... reminds me of a corn knife in a way - the fact that knife was used to shave off corns from one’s feet also turned my stomach abit - though I did finally score one for my collection as I like variety (an ivory IXL) - I had mixed feelings but it was not used much if at all and blade was full

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks for your input Lee.... I suspected ivory but I wasn't sure.
I know there is a LOT of people that frown on someone owning real ivory.

Mike