ANYONE RECOGNIZE THIS?

[Ridgegrass]

Found this Army souvenir today. Really nice factory edges, crocus polished, 3-1/8 closed. Scales printed both sides. Oddly, no tang stamp. Spine printed with patent date: 2-16-15. Thinking 1915 patent. Handles some kind of composition or Bakelite. No exposed pins. Ever seen one like it? Any info appreciated. J.O'.

[btrwtr]

J.O., cool looking little knife. Hard to say what the numbers mean. The knife looks like a product of the 70's to me but if the numbers actually apply to a patent the knife could be much newer than the date patent was granted. Dimitri has done a lot of patent research so maybe he has an idea.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks Wayne. It is confusing. The knife is almost certainly older than 2015 and Fort Ord closed in 1994 to become a public preserve. Maybe they're still selling souvenirs? I'm thinking it's the design that is patented. It's a pretty well made piece to not be tang stamped. Looks American.
I tried to use just the patent date of 2-16-15 to see which patents were issued on that day but it seems that's a "backwards" approach. All the searches ask for the patent number first, which I don't have.
Hopefully Dimitri or someone can shed a little light on it. Thanks again.
John

[Miller Bro's]

The patent was for the handle design, no visible pins to interfere with the celluloid or later plastic handles which was used for advertising.

I have seen many knives with no tang stamp because they were sold to the Parisian Novelty Co. who in turn applied the advertising handles for the knife. Parisian Novelty Co. made advertising novelties like pinback buttons, round knife sharpening stones, pocket mirrors, compacts, knives, etc. all of which they applied the celluloid or later plastic advertising to.

I have several letter openers which were made by knife companies for them. They lasted in business until 2008 and we're bought out but are still making advertising pinback buttons today.

[tvic]

Considering the patent date, it would seem to be WWI era. However, although the military occupied the area starting in 1917, it wasn’t called Ft. Ord until 1940 when it was finally designated as a “Fort.” So it’s obvious the knife can’t date further back than 1940.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks Gentlemen. Good info all around. It's not a knife style I normally collect. It lay in a shop in Millsboro, DE for a couple years and finally spoke to me, saying it wanted to join a collection. I was in Artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma with some boys who did their basic at Ord and it brought them to mind so that's how it wound up here. Thanks again, J.O'.

[danno50]

J.O.', I don't think you are going to get any more information than what Dimitri has already told you. Parisian Novelty specialized in advertising items and used a lot of celluloid in their early days. I think almost impossible to say what companies made the knives for them? I did an internet search on the company and didn't find anything related to knives. They made a lot of other items, as already listed by Dimitri.
Here is a website with some information on the company.

https://www.matchlessparisiannovelty.com

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks Dan, I really appreciated Dimiti's info. They way you pick off my mystery posts I thought you might have some inside scoop. I find it irritating when makers don't identify their product. Maybe Parisian had a deal where they didn't want it. ??? Thanks for the comeback. J.O'.

[danno50]

Thanks Dan, I really appreciated Dimiti's info. They way you pick off my mystery posts I thought you might have some inside scoop. J.O'.

Mostly just some lucky guesses based on the clues given, no inside scoop on anything.