I still love these great "working" knives. They get the job done every time. Over the years though I find my "safe-queen" collecting habits have changed somewhat. The old Cut Co gents knives have become a real focus and these days I usually buy unused Schrade knives with stag, pearl, bone or metal handles.
This next group-in-progress took a number of years to put together. I hope it will continue to grow. They are all Schrade Cut. Co. 2-1/4" lobsters. No two are the same. Model numbers are along the lines of 7606, 7606sha, 8606 etc where pearl is concerned. The corrugated sterling silver one is a C7609SS. Two are SFOs stamped E. Weck. Only one came in it's original leather purse. It houses the sterling silver knife.
Obviously, I'm really liking this pattern. I need to add some pearl 4-blade examples but they are quite difficult to find. I'd say the 2-blade with shackle 7606sha is/was the most common variation. Doubling the blades would really raise the manufacturing cost of an already expensive little knife.
If you take the time to really dig through all the available Schrade catalogs you find a repeated pattern of inaccuracy. Often when a pattern had slight changes over the years the picture in the catalogs wasn't updated. An example is the 4-pin to 3-pin configuration change in the LB7 Bear Paw. The catalog picture wasn't immediately updated. It showed four pins until the 1991 catalog. The actual change had already happened about 10 years earlier around 1981.
I mention this tendency because it helps to establish what I think is the oldest knife in the group. It is the pearl knife at the top right with five pins showing. The earliest Schrade catalog we have to reference is the 1926 Catalog E. It lists the different variations of these tiny lobsters on pages 40 and 41.
Here's the listing for the 7606sha:
This 5-pin knife is also very different in that it has no liners whatsoever. The descriptions speak of these pearl knives having milled liners and the other five examples match. My working theory at this point is that my 5-pin knife is an earlier discontinued variation that morphed into the 7606sha when liners were added. I think Schrade just kept showing the old picture when the newer 7606 with 4-pins and liners was added to their lineup. Even the much later 1940 catalog illustrates the 7606 as being a 5-pin knife. I think the 7606 had 4-pins for many years during which the catalog displayed this inaccuracy.
That's my theory anyway. For sure they are all 1946 or earlier. I have a 1915 dated Cut Co senator with the straight-line stamping. I think the MOP 5-pin lobster with no liners is likely just as old. The stamps look just about the same.
Whew! All that build up for three pics. I hope they don't disappoint.
