J.A. Henckles Corn Knife

[treefarmer]

I've come up empty on information of these knives. Would love to know what time period it is from and what the handles are made of?
Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Corn Knife in red script

tang stamp: twins figure over J.A. Henckles over GERMANY

Treefarmer

[doglegg]

I have a couple, not henkles though. I think they are neat and speak of a time when shoes weren't very comfortable.

[btrwtr]

Handles are ivory celluloid. Not sure of the time frame but likely pre WWII. I don't think many of this type of knife were made past the 30's.

[deo-pa]

Yes, celluloid as Wayne stated. The striations mark it as the type of celluloid commonly called French Ivory. While used on knives it is most associated with dresser sets (matched sets of combs, brushes, mirrors, nail files, button hooks, etc.) and jewelry from the last half of the 19th to first quarter of the 20th Century.

The Wikipedia entry for “Celluloid” has more info and this article is one of the best on celluloid use in knives: https://www.oregonknifeclub.org/celluloid_02.html.

Dennis

[kootenay joe]

I have owned many old corn knives with ivory celluloid handles. I have never seen one off gas. Old ivory celluloid seems to be quite stable.
kj