All About Pocket Knives

Thanks fellas. The combination of interesting blades was one reason I bought it. It’s sort of a “history of the times” piece with the mustache comb, earwax spoon, etc. A glimpse into what life was like at the time. It must have taken a very skilled cutler to have made it, given the tools of the day.

Ken

I haven’t seen French knives of this complexity before.

There was a coffee table style book a few years ago called "PocketKnives" or something similar. Bernard Levine might have had a hand in its publication, I'm not sure.

I have it here somewhere, but cannot put hands on it for some reason.

It featured contemporary knives from the time of publication and many were of French manufacture. There were some very nice and complex French knives shown in the book.

Charlie Noyes

Here is three pickups this past weekend. Ebony whittler 4in. Dobie Glasgow on one side of the tang, other side Klascut. Wood handle 4 in with nothing but what looks like Arabic writing? The ivory is 2 1/2 in. with T Smith and Co on the tang. Thanks for looking.

This one's old and rare. Swayback sheepfoot (says Real Lambsfoot on blade) folder taken by George Mallory up Everest in 1924. Recovered by searchers in 1999 who found his body. RIP G. M.

Bill,
Your wood handled knife is a Coir knife, used in the making of Oriental Rugs. Some of the older ivory knives will bring a large dollar. I have one that could be a twin to yours, I will search it out and post a photo.
Jim

Thanks for the info Jim Looking forward to seeing yours.

Here is a photo of my Coir knife, it is 3 1/2 inches closed not counting the finial.

Thanks Jim,now I can tell mine where his twin brother is that he has been looking for all these years!!! They look identical.

There has been some interesting knives shown of late. Thanks, here is a Crusader brand. All my Goins says is c1940. When I google Crusader I come up with it being a Belknap Hardware brand. Worthpoint had one with previous owner thinking it was made by Winchester. That was probably more wishful thinking and a selling point than anything else. Any thoughts are welcome.

luckydog64 wrote:There has been some interesting knives shown of late. Thanks, here is a Crusader brand. All my Goins says is c1940. When I google Crusader I come up with it being a Belknap Hardware brand. Worthpoint had one with previous owner thinking it was made by Winchester. That was probably more wishful thinking and a selling point than anything else. Any thoughts are welcome.

I could be way off base, but the small Fed. shield and jigging pattern, to me suggest Winchester. That's where I'd put my money for a maker of your knife. ___Dave

Luckydog, yes you are. That looks like you are the first person to see it since it was made. What a pristine knife. And if it was made by Winchester all the better.

Thanks I couldn't be happier if it was made by Winchester. Been trying to find a decent one for a while that I could afford.

Gorgeous covers Luckydog. Congrats on a successful hunt.

luckydog64 wrote:There has been some interesting knives shown of late. Thanks, here is a Crusader brand. All my Goins says is c1940. When I google Crusader I come up with it being a Belknap Hardware brand. Worthpoint had one with previous owner thinking it was made by Winchester. That was probably more wishful thinking and a selling point than anything else. Any thoughts are welcome.

Very nice LD, beautiful knife.

I've got a little Winchester with a shield like that.

luckydog64 wrote:There has been some interesting knives shown of late. Thanks, here is a Crusader brand. All my Goins says is c1940. When I google Crusader I come up with it being a Belknap Hardware brand. Worthpoint had one with previous owner thinking it was made by Winchester. That was probably more wishful thinking and a selling point than anything else. Any thoughts are welcome.

Here are three Winchesters and one 4 blade Wards made by Winchester with the small shield and jigging like your knife. The harness jack is almost a copy of yours. ____Dave

Nice, Dave and Joe.

Yes very nice joe. Thanks for showing Dave that is a pretty convincing match.

Great showing of knives Bill, Jim, LD64 , Joe and Dave ... All nice knives !! - and those Coir Knives are unique and not posted often ...

Here's one for the old and rare ones...

This small 2 blade swayback ivory jack with rat tail bolsters is 2 1/8". All steel construction including liners and bolsters though the pins appear to be brass on the handles (not pivot pin) - no doubt much heavier in hand than one would expect for a knife at this size. On the mark side photo I included a penny sized 1863 Civil War token for relative size though I think this no doubt pre-dated the Civil War... I'm thinking based on a few things 150-200 years old. The knife no doubt has stove pipe or square kicks on both blades - and the most unusual part is this knife is a "true split spring" (see photo) - that was no doubt an exciting find in this knife for me as I had been wanting to add a split spring to the old collection. True split spring knives are rather elusive & no doubt rare, and I have really only seen photos of 2 knives with split springs posted by Dave (djknife13). Despite all we hear about true split spring whittlers I have yet to see an example. There was another knife posted by dcgm4 (Dave) that was a Jackson whittler and though there were 2 separate springs off of one solid spring they were not split as in this knife (or djknife13's knives)... I should start another thread on just true split spring knives and see if any float to the surface ....

The knife is stamped "Gascoigne Superior" on both master sheep foot blade and pen blade. Gascoigne is a known British surname since the 12th century with French roots. Sheffield was not on the tang stamp and there is not a Gascoigne listed in Tweedale's directory. It is possible the knife was pre-1830 when Sheffield was not stamped on knives as of yet. However I did find an online directory from 1821 and again 1841 that had a Joseph Gascoigne listed as a cutler and spring knife maker in Attercliffe - Attercliffe is a northeast suburb of Sheffield. This is a strong possibility for the maker.

I am thinking the knife was possibly a desk knife given the size - possibly carried but not for larger utility at this size.

Great find Lee and a really interesting old knife. I sure would love to know the full history of that one. It's shape looks quit a bit like my little jack. ___Dave

Thanks Dave ... I’m sure this knife did have some stories over a long life ... given the rarity of the split spring I was happy to find it...

Cool knife Lee

A superior find indeed Lee! You don't suppose that knife may have come from the Gascoigne in the duo of Thompson and Gascoigne that started the company that was to become The Empire Knife Company do you? I believe they started up in 1852.