Holley Mfg. Co., Lakeville, Conn.

[BWT]

Here is a little one I just picked up,2 1/4 inches. The pouch is worse for wear but the knife is in pretty good shape.

[LongBlade]

Wow - What a cool pattern and lovely knife Bill ... I think they call these little oval shaped handles knives “butter bean”.. and the 2 wharncliffe blades are very cool on this knife!!

[danno50]

Lovely pair of Holleys, Joe!
Holy Smokes, Bill, that is a beautiful little knife! Love that kind of pearl.

[BWT]

Thanks Dan and Lee

[FRJ]

Bill, that's a beautiful little knife. Glad you got such a little charmer.

Thank you, Dan.

[BWT]

Thanks Joe I appreciate that.

[peanut740]

Holley Lakeside Conn.4 1/4" cigar jack.

[stockman]

Roger another nice one.

Harold

[LongBlade]

Sweet knife Roger ...

Holley Lakeside Conn.4 1/4" cigar jack.

I think you meant Lakeville rather than Lakeside ...

[TPK]

Nice find Roger! Interesting jigging.

[peanut740]

Sweet knife Roger ...

Holley Lakeside Conn.4 1/4" cigar jack.

I think you meant Lakeville rather than Lakeside ...

That I did Lee.

[stumpstalker]

A friend sent me these photos of this Holley Balloon Pen he just acquired.

It was rusty and was at the bottom of a pile in box; he cleaned it up and says the snap is good.

Says it has bone handle covers.

According to Levine's GUIDE, Holley called them "Jenny Lind" knives.

[Jacknifeben]

All four blades tang stamped HOLLEY MFG. CO. LAKE VILLE. Hard to get all of that on these blades. Too bad one side cracked.

[edge213]

Holley Lakeside Conn.4 1/4" cigar jack.

Cool knife. Most of the Holleys that I've seen have been small ones.

[stumpstalker]

I like the way that Holley characterizes its knives, at least as per its 1915 catalogue, e.g., "Michigan Pen"; "Handy Boy; "Shiner"; "Big President". It is quaint, vintage -- the antithesis of "Tactical".

The practice does not appear often with other knife manufacturers of the period, does it?

Exceptions to the rule of course do exist, e.g., Cattaraugus ("King of the Woods"); Robeson ("Our Leader"); Maher & Grosh ("Trapper's Buddy").

Doesn't it signal from the outset that a good knife is a friend?

You get the sizzle and the steak.

[stumpstalker]

trying to delete a double post

[FRJ]

Here's two Holleys I got at the NCCA knife show.

[Duffer]

Joe beautiful Holley folders—nice going

[JohnR]

Thanks to Roger Cunningham picked up a beautiful old Holley single blade sheepsfoot jack. Large knife at 4 1/4", great curved frame with dense deep black ebony covers, nice bar shield. Still has great snap and a lot of blade left, really well done swedge on the blade.

[Dan In MI]

That is an exceptionally beautiful old knife, John. Congratulations!

[FRJ]

Big beautiful Holley, John.

Love that curved Ebony handle and of course the sheepsfoot.

[doglegg]

Exceptional knife JohnR.

[Quick Steel]

John, from beauty to history your knife has it all.

[JohnR]

Thank you all for the comments Joe, I love that curve to the handle also, really adds to the knife.

[Ridgegrass]

I wonder if the simple beauty of the lines in that ebony even occurred to the cutlers who designed and made it? It was a utilitarian item back then and it's function dictated it's form. Can we imagine they ever thought such items would wind up in showcases, commanding prices hundreds of times their original costs?
In today's collector world it seems form is the first consideration, something to catch the "eye" of a buyer, a buyer who likely will rarely or never employ the knife for it's intended function. Sure we use our knives, but its a good guess most knives we use are "EDC's" that don't measure up to showcase standards.
Back to whether the old makers knew they were creating little works of art. By comparison, as a movie fan, I don't think "Gone With The Wind" or "Casablanca" or "The Wizard OF Oz" were filmed with posterity as their main intent. They were just the latest entertainment, to last only until the next sensation came along. Maybe the thousands of knife patterns like the "1123" or the "King of the Woods" or the "72" that we all crave were just accidental and incidental art treasures for later generations.
Just some rambling thoughts brought on by a beautiful, ebony, curved-handled, sheep's-foot "tool" from a bygone era. (Wish it were mine!) J.O'.