Wards Cattle Knife

[stockman]

I have a Wards Made In USA Cattle knife, blade etched Master Quality Stainless and marked with a pattern number 411. 4 blade bone knife looks to have been made by Winchester.
Would like to know a little more about the knife but don't know where to go. Have checked my books but not much information.

Thanks
Stockman

[RobesonsRme.com]

I had a Ward's four blade equal end cattle knife at one time. That was before I stopped buying any knife that interested me, and started buying Robesons exclusively. It had the same etch. I do not remember the pattern number, but 411 seems awfully familiar. I was told when I bought it, that except for the tang mark it would be a very valuable Winchester pocketknife. The bone looked like Winchester bone, and the quality of the knife was certainly consistent with that theory.
Charlie Noyes

[jonet143]

as you probably know, montgomery wards master quality(that etch used 1935-1950)contracted utica and possibly winchester for knives. can you post a pic or two. might help with it's maker's id.

[stockman]

Thanks guys I'am sure it is Winchester. I was thinking someone would have a old catalog from back when. I will post a pic tomorrow.

ThankStockman

[jonet143]

i have catalogs but i don't know for sure which one is yours to compare. 411 is not a winchester pattern and there are three or four big 4 blade cattle knives listed.

[stockman]

Jonnie I made a scan it is poor as always with me.This knife 3 3/4" closed. The punch is not out. On my computer a couple clicks helps. Thanks for your help to all you guys it is much appreciated.

Stockman

[jonet143]

wow, that is a purty knife. could not find a like match in several old cats and books. only found one(#1952) 4 blade cattle but the punch blade was not beside the master. no 411 connection. specific design by monkey wards? very cool old knife.

[stockman]

Thanks Johnnie you always try to help. The knife looks better in hand. I have some old Sears catalogs but no Wards. Sears and Wards had good stuff back in the day. It is fun to find these.

Stockman

[remington collector]

I just happened to have a 1927 Wards catalog . They had a whole page of knives, about 30 or so. I took a picture of the knife that most resembles yours, this knife has a punch blade, but you could order it with a different blade configuration. The price on the knife back in '27 was 85 cents. I'd say thats about average for a high quality knife, most Remington patterns were selling in the 75 cents to a dollar range at that time. Wards also sold a nice looking 3 blade stockman handled in pearl for a whopping sum of $1.25, along with some 2 blade knives in the .39 - .59 range.

[jonet143]

can you show the punch blade?

[stockman]

Johnnie here is the punch, this pic is very bad. I did edit it but would not save??

Stockman

[msteele6]

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My two cents worth is on the spey blade. The spey blade on that knife is unusual in that it doesn't have the end snipped off like most of them do, it has a sort of broken backed look to it. I have found that that is a characteristic I often see on Keen Kutters and Winchesters. I'm not saying that it is exclusively a characteristic of those two makers, but I do find it common on them. Of course Winchesters and Keen Kutters were made in the same factory for a considerable amount of time.

The reason I bring this up is that it would tend to support the idea that this knife was made by Winchester.

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