Washington Cutlery

[kootenay joe]

This is a well made 3 3/8" Swell Center whittler with pearl handles and engraved aluminum bolsters. Condition is excellent showing only signs of light use. Master blade is stamped Washington/Cutlery and both secondaries are marked: Lehrkind/&/Daevel Co/Milwaukee.
These markings are new to me. Can someone interpret them for me ?
The aluminum bolsters suggest age of 1910-1920 i think. I am interested to hear whatever you have have to say about this knife.
kj

[americanedgetech]

There is a similar knife at the bottom of this page... viewtopic.php?t=26851&start=225

This page shows a Boker straight razor with the L&D Co stamp on it... https://picclick.ca/AWESOME-Shave-Ready ... 87439.html

Apparently L&D Co was a hardware store.

Washington Cutlery... 1906 - 1960's http://www.watertownhistory.org/Article ... ksmith.htm

[Mumbleypeg]

Interesting knife Roland. Here's a thread with a little information about Washington Cutlery, some of it a bit ambiguous.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=50939&hilit=Washington+Milwaukee

Lehrkind & Daevel was a Milwaukee Hardware firm. Goins' says c 1890-1910. Your knife may add even more mystery.

Ken

[americanedgetech]

I reading thru some of this, it makes sense that when Washington cutlery was in Milwaukee (pre 1906), and L&D hardware was in Milwaukee... that your aluminum handle knife was built for L&D between 1898, and 1906. Right at the birth of aluminum as a knife handle material.

[kootenay joe]

Ken what you will come to learn with knives is that which "makes sense" is often not what actually occurred. This is why assuming what is most likely can be misleading, particularly if based on reading the markings rather than reading the knife itself. Nearly all knife companies had some of their knives made in part or even in whole by other knife manufacturers.
Now with the internet, speculative posts get read widely read and often repeated as fact ("i read that ----") and the true facts get buried and all but lost.
For this first 10 years of knife collecting it is best to ask as a question rather than post as probable fact. The knife world is far more complex and esoteric (limited to a few) than it seems. This is why knife collecting never gets boring. There is always more to learn.
kj
kj

[LongBlade]

Nice old knife KJ ... I can't help you with the history/background of Washington Cutlery but I believe aluminum originated in the mid-1880s... Was considered more valuable than gold or silver and fancy early knives used them for handles and bolsters...

Of special interest I recently posted this MOP swell-center Torrey which has the same engraved aluminum bolsters (3 & 5/8" closed)... although the blade configuration was a 4 blade pattern and not a whittler... I understand Torrey probably had the knife made by Burkinshaw.... here's a few pics for comparison but the bolsters are a good match... The question is whether the source of the bolsters was the same and probably done by a jeweler... the similarities between the 2 knives is striking to me...

[kootenay joe]

Great post LongBlade ! Certainly looks like the same type of pearl & bolsters. If bolsters were made by a specialty business then as you say numerous knife manufacturers could have used them. However although different patterns the resemblance i agree is "striking".
We need a collector who really knows these old lesser known smaller knife companies to sort this out for us. There are lots of members who know more than i do so i hope some will chime in to help out.
kj

[americanedgetech]

I was looking for Lee's post to add the comparison. Couldn't find it.
I also found another similar bolster on a similar knife but it was only a google image, and the link went somewhere wacky.

Kj, I get your point. I would like to be at least close to correct with 20 minutes of research tho.
10 years from now I'l be pushing up Dasie's.

[kootenay joe]

"10 years from now I'l be pushing up Dasie's. "
Maybe, but one never knows actual expiry date. However in 10 years time you will at least have a lot of knives so can depart satisfied.
kj

[Leo H]

Came across the couple of Washington Cutlery threads, looking for information on a knife in a box my grandfather had. I am tickled that one of the knives I was looking at and didn’t find too interesting, according to here, it’s likely a knife from the early 1900s!
2 unequal blades, a nail file, brass center scale, shield insert, and I guess, bone bolsters? All three blades have Washington Cutlery on them. No other markings or etchings seen.
Am I wrong in assuming this is a pre-1902 knife? Is there any way of determining age?
I assume it’s a bone bolster, a small knife like this isn’t likely to have ivory bolsters, would it?
Thank you for any inputs. It’s a keeper, just wanting to understand any history or qualities about it I can.

[FRJ]

Welcome here, Leo.

That is a beautiful whittler in a very sophisticated pattern with Ivory covers.
It is a little dandy. How long is it? Oil the joints.

[Mumbleypeg]

That is a dandy old whittler. Appreciate you showing it here. Hope you don’t mind I worked on your picture a little - result is below. I think if you take a number 2 lead pencil and rub the tang stamp with the graphite (lead) it should clean up some of the tarnish and make the stamp more legible. The graphite won’t hurt the knife.

Welcome to AAPK

Ken

[kootenay joe]

Be careful to not drop it onto a hard surface. The ivory might crack. The majority of knives of this age ( ~ 100+ years old) with ivory handles have a crack in the ivory or a piece missing. The handles on your knife are in good condition.
kj

[Ridgegrass]

Levine lists Washington Cutlery as being in business in Watertown, Milw., Wisconsin, 1898-1940. with a "High" value rating. They also made Village Blacksmith butcher-type knives. That's a Beauty! J.O.

[Mumbleypeg]

Levine lists Washington Cutlery as being in business in Watertown, Milw., Wisconsin, 1898-1940. with a "High" value rating. They also made Village Blacksmith butcher-type knives. That's a Beauty! J.O.

Thanks J.O. Here’s a link to another thread containing a lot of good info. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=50939. For knife history buffs (like me) there’s also more in some posts up there ^^ at the top of this thread.

Ken

[Leo H]

Welcome here, Leo.

That is a beautiful whittler in a very sophisticated pattern with Ivory covers.
It is a little dandy. How long is it? Oil the joints.

Nice! It’s 3” long closed. I’ll oil the insides after doing a little cleaning.

[Leo H]

That is a dandy old whittler. Appreciate you showing it here. Hope you don’t mind I worked on your picture a little - result is below. I think if you take a number 2 lead pencil and rub the tang stamp with the graphite (lead) it should clean up some of the tarnish and make the stamp more legible. The graphite won’t hurt the knife.

Welcome to AAPK

Ken

Not at all, I tried to get the best image I could mange.
I appreciate the tip with the graphite.

[Leo H]

Be careful to not drop it onto a hard surface. The ivory might crack. The majority of knives of this age ( ~ 100+ years old) with ivory handles have a crack in the ivory or a piece missing. The handles on your knife are in good condition.
kj

It’s a shame I have no further background on it, why he kept it, how he got it. It was just in a box with a few other similar size and style pocket knives.
I have been finding myself using one, for one reason or another lately, so I remembered these and I’ll post pics later: Imperial, Robeson, a Cie Luetters jackknife, with the Lowen Messen engraving on the blade. It’s funny, that one I was more interested in, and it’s in good shape, but of course, that one I assumed was more “valuable”.
Not that I’d sell them, one day I intend to pass them to the grandkids with what I know, and they can do what they want with them after that.
I bought a basic Camp King recently, and I use it and the Luetters knife as a rule, the size is easier to keep track of.
I also have an AG Russell with bone handle (probably) that was missing the large blade so I sent that off to someone to add a replacement blade and that one is a size I’d likely use regularly too. I was told not to expect it back until July though.

[Leo H]

Levine lists Washington Cutlery as being in business in Watertown, Milw., Wisconsin, 1898-1940. with a "High" value rating. They also made Village Blacksmith butcher-type knives. That's a Beauty! J.O.

Thanks J.O. Here’s a link to another thread containing a lot of good info. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=50939. For knife history buffs (like me) there’s also more in some posts up there ^^ at the top of this thread.

Ken

I saw this and the couple other threads, and honestly, that’s why I posted here. I am excited I have a little piece of an uncommon knife history and wanted to share that.

[kootenay joe]

I would like to see pictures of the Lutters knife. Although it is a 'higher end' brand the value is less than most USA made knives because there are far fewer collectors of German cutlery. Value of a collectible is based strictly on supply vs. demand.
kj

[Leo H]

Happy to share. I like it, and the AG Russell Barlow the most of the collection. I’m eager to get the Russell back from the knife repair guy.

[Leo H]

I would like to see pictures of the Lutters knife. Although it is a 'higher end' brand the value is less than most USA made knives because there are far fewer collectors of German cutlery. Value of a collectible is based strictly on supply vs. demand.
kj

If you don’t mind, is there a thread on this site you would point me to as to cleaning and sharpening knives?

[Mumbleypeg]

Leo, here’s a link to several threads about cleaning. viewtopic.php?f=37&t=54157 There is an entire sub-forum about sharpening. Just click on “Forum” in the header at the top of this page, then scroll down the topics until you get to “Sharpening Forum”.

Ken

[Leo H]

Thank you!

[kootenay joe]

Thank you for posting the Lutters. I have a few Lutters of the same pattern. Just sent one to a fellow as a gift.
kj