It’s a hum “Dinger”

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I don’t usually buy old vintage knives, I will state that right up front. I am relying on the information that a very trusted seller told me about this knife.
Here is the information from the seller: “Vintage Dinger folder made by Hen & Rooster but marked only with the Dinger logo of an elf with a pocket knife across the shoulders. Dinger was not a knife company. They were some type of retailer in Kaiserslautern, Germany and I only know that they were in business in the 1930s. At one time I had a similar quality knife with the Dinger and Hen & Rooster logos. I have that some model now with just the Dinger logo so I know they contracted with Hen & Rooster. No other company was making knives like this but H&R. Unused in excellent condition with just very light storage marks. The blades are tight with solid snapping. Bolsters are pinched nickel silver, liners are nickel silver milled on the top. Premium MOP scales with no chips or cracks. Rare knife to find.”
Anyone else have a “Dinger” knife to share? Or does anyone have information on “Dinger”?
This is a very well kept knife for the age of 80 to 90 years. Sharp enough to shave hair. Mirror polished blades and back springs. I am not convinced that the bolsters, pins and liners are nickel silver, I think they may all be stainless. When I applied Simichrome to the bolsters I didn’t get much oxidation to come off as I usually see on bolsters, back springs and the liners. Does anyone know if they made these with all stainless components?
Take a look at that unusual tang stamp with an elf carrying a knife. Bizarre.

[Madmarco]

I know nothing about your knife Mark, but it sure is a beauty! Gorgeous MOP! You know I'm not a multi-blade guy, but this one is beautiful, and, older than most of us! Very cool stamp of that elf as well! Enjoy it bud!

[carrmillus]

....new one to me, but I really like it!!!!........... ............................

[Quick Steel]

And it was made in an era when Hen&Rooster was top of the mark, the Rolls Royce of pocket knives. Beautiful.

[kootenay joe]

The elf with the folding knife across shoulders is a logo of "Carl Jordan Sohn", founded in 1888, a specialist pocket knife maker. Was still in business in 1930's but i think it has since closed down.
Why is this knife called a "Dinger" ? Is it a pattern name ? Or was he calling the elf a "Dinger" ?
I doubt it was made by C. Bertram Hen & Rooster. The knives made by C. Jordan are first rate.
You have a fine example of likely pre WW II German cutlery. Very attractive knife.
I got into collecting vintage German folding knives because the prices are much lower than vintage USA folding knives. There are far more collectors of USA knives than German knives, hence less demand, lower prices. Best quality vintage German is not up to best quality vintage Sheffield, but they still are very well made & attractive knives.
kj

Re: stainless steel, this was first used in pocket knives in 1920's but sparingly until late 1930's and even then stainless steel for blades at least did not 'catch on' until about 1950's - '60's.
I do not know at what point German manufacturers began to use stainless steel. If your knife does have any stainless steel in it then it would be no older than 1930's. Would be helpful to know if C. Jordan was still in business after WW II.
Likely you did not get much oxidation off the bolsters because the seller polished the bolsters before listing it.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

The elf with the folding knife across shoulders is a logo of "Carl Jordan Sohn", founded in 1888, a specialist pocket knife maker. Was still in business in 1930's but i think it has since closed down.
Why is this knife called a "Dinger" ? Is it a pattern name ? Or was he calling the elf a "Dinger" ?
I doubt it was made by C. Bertram Hen & Rooster. The knives made by C. Jordan are first rate.
You have a fine example of likely pre WW II German cutlery. Very attractive knife.
I got into collecting vintage German folding knives because the prices are much lower than vintage USA folding knives. There are far more collectors of USA knives than German knives, hence less demand, lower prices. Best quality vintage German is not up to best quality vintage Sheffield, but they still are very well made & attractive knives.
kj

Re: stainless steel, this was first used in pocket knives in 1920's but sparingly until late 1930's and even then stainless steel for blades at least did not 'catch on' until about 1950's - '60's.
I do not know at what point German manufacturers began to use stainless steel. If your knife does have any stainless steel in it then it would be no older than 1930's. Would be helpful to know if C. Jordan was still in business after WW II.
Likely you did not get much oxidation off the bolsters because the seller polished the bolsters before listing it.

The seller says that he had one exactly like it with both the Dinger and Hen and Rooster logo on it, which is why he thinks it was made by Hen and Rooster. Could it be the other way around? Could C. Jordan have made some just like it for H&R? That’s why I am asking. I trust this seller and have bought from him and communicated with him several times. He has a vast collection and is very knowledgeable about the knives he collected, very much like you kj.
The Dinger name and logo are from this company he mentions that was in Kaiserslautern Germany in the 1930’s. I am not finding information on this company when I search online, so I have no idea where that information comes from. I was hoping that someone would recognize this logo and or name and know all about it.
I think you are right about the bolsters, pins and liners. Upon looking at it today in better light I see that the metal is different and looks to be nickel silver and not stainless.
Thanks for the help.

[kootenay joe]

Mark i have never heard of this logo referred to as "Dinger". The info he gave you is likely not correct. This logo belongs to Carl Jordan & Sohn, not the company he told you.
I doubt very much that C. Bertram, the original Hen & Rooster had knives made by anyone else. They had their own cutlers each who specialized in one step of making a knife. It was hand work not factory production.
I think you have a C. Jordan knife and they made very good knives. There is no need to bring H & R into the picture.
The knife world is full of incorrect information that gets passed on for generations.
Most of what i know comes from Bernard Levine's posts in BladeForums many years ago. He stopped posting there around 2012 or so. Even some of BRL's carefully researched 'knowledge' is not correct. The knife makers have always been somewhat secretive and there are very few written old documents about what was being made. An exception is Schrade USA. The auction included minutes of meetings and shop floor notes. Documents like these definitely establish facts, not assumptions. Assumptions underlie much knife 'knowledge'.
kj

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I asked the seller about this and he said that Levine’s has Dinger in there as a retailer. He also sent me pictures of another knife with this logo on it and H Dinger and the city Kaiserslautern on the tang stamp. He had another one with both the Dinger stamp and Hen and Rooster stamps on them.
I haven’t had a chance yet to check my Levine’s for information on the Dinger company, but will and see if it’s in there.

[kootenay joe]

So "H. Dinger" is likely a merchant name and he ordered knives from various manufacturers. The knives would have both his name "Dinger" and the name of the manufacturer. Same idea as your knives. They have your name on them "Sharpnshinyknives" as well as the manufacturer "Moki".
There many vintage USA knives marked with the name of a Hardware store and they were made by more than one manufacturer over the years.
kj

[danno50]

Mark, here is a link to a previous discussion of the stamp on your knife.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67915&hilit=carl+jordan+sohn

Goins has two listings for H.Dinger in Kaiserslautern Germany, giving dates of 1888 to 1900 for both, with no mention of Hen and Rooster. Carter's book on German Knife and Sword Makers lists Carl Hermann Dinger, Cuno Dinger, Ernst Dinger, Max Dinger and Paul Dinger & Sohne. There is no mention in Carter's of any of them being affiliated with Hen & Rooster or using a mark of an elf with an open pocket knife on his shoulder.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Thank you Dan and Roland. Looks like you both researched this in detail in that thread you linked. I guess the seller made some assumptions that were not correct and perhaps a faulty memory of an earlier knife. This all shows why it’s so difficult to collect older knives and become expert at it. All in all I am still very impressed with this knife and the tang stamp is very unusual. It’s odd to me that a company wouldn’t put their name on their product and rely strictly on people recognizing a logo. A hundred years from now I suppose there will be logo’s we recognize on site that will only be found in a file on the internet for people to ponder over.