All About Pocket Knives

jlw257 wrote:

Lansky1 wrote:Every male in my family is colorblind and I'm no exception. We have trouble differentiating olive greens and browns. To my eye, practically every vintage green bone in this thread looks brownish. I can't find any that are actually what looks like a true green color ... is it me or are the green bones really not very green at all ??

Update ... I had my wife go over the pictures on this thread (who is not color blind) - she agrees in that the "greenbone" knives are actually brown.

Can somebody pls explain the history of it as to why they are called greenbone, when they're actually brownbone ?

I'm not a vintage Case guy, so I'm very much uninformed, but it almost seems to me that anything that is not obviously redbone is called greenbone by default ??

John, What I told QS was that these Greenbone knives are 70 plus years old and had a beautiful green color when they were made but over the years they have faded to their present color.

Thanks Larry - that makes perfect sense ... now I get it.

John (PS - stellar collection of tested knives you have !!)

It was always my understanding that "greenbone" was more of an olive green brownish tint. I don't want to start a fight, but it seems some of the ones being called "greenbone" now days is not really "greenbone".
It's just plain old brown.
Greenbone sells for more, so there you have it.
Just my opinion.

Lansky1 wrote:Every male in my family is colorblind and I'm no exception. We have trouble differentiating olive greens and browns. To my eye, practically every vintage green bone in this thread looks brownish. I can't find any that are actually what looks like a true green color ... is it me or are the green bones really not very green at all ??

Update ... I had my wife go over the pictures on this thread (who is not color blind) - she agrees in that the "greenbone" knives are actually brown.

Can somebody pls explain the history of it as to why they are called greenbone, when they're actually brownbone ?

I'm not a vintage Case guy, so I'm very much uninformed, but it almost seems to me that anything that is not obviously redbone is called greenbone by default ??

John if a person has a condition such as yours it could be very difficult or down right impossible to se the difference in what is called green bone and regular bone. The greenish tint is very subtle and in my opinion was only caused by variations in the compounds used to make the dyes as these chemicals changed over the years you can see that green bone started to disappear and the true red bone became more prevalent. Case never actually used these terms to describe the knife colors to them it was just original bone.

I sure have enjoyed going through this thread and looking at every ones knives.

Larry, your knives are stunning and remarkable and every other wonderful thing you could say about them.
Such a pleasure to see them all.
Thank you for showing them.

FRJ wrote:I sure have enjoyed going through this thread and looking at every ones knives.

Larry, your knives are stunning and remarkable and every other wonderful thing you could say about them.
Such a pleasure to see them all.
Thank you for showing them.

Thanks Joe

I’ve try to explain to the ones who aren’t familiar with the older Case knives that have Greenbone handles. These knives were made to use and collecting was unheard in Tested and XX period, very few were saved in unused condition. This is why they have become valuable. I know the colors have faded over time but to a Case collector they are beautiful to behold.

Here is a Case Tested XX Greenbone 6592

Wow Larry That is a awesome Knife

Lansky1 wrote:
Can somebody pls explain the history of it as to why they are called greenbone, when they're actually brownbone ?

I'm not a vintage Case guy, so I'm very much uninformed, but it almost seems to me that anything that is not obviously redbone is called greenbone by default ??

John, your question about "greenbone" is not uncommon and in fact it comes up here on AAPK often. The best advice I can give regarding it is, try not to let the term "green" confuse you - despite that word being used, the color is not really green.

The term was originated by Case collectors to describe the color of Tested era Case jigged bone, a generally tan or brownish color with a sort of olive greenish hue to it (if you use your imagination, maybe some of it has some slightly green tint to it. ). A lot of Case Tested era jigged bone was this color, but it was never a true green color even when the knife was new. There are some excellent examples of what's called "greenbone" in this thread. Here's a good older thread about it: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=58122&hilit=Greenbone. Steve Pfeiffer's Collecting Case Knives has probably the best explanation of greenbone that I know of, accompanied by some color pictures.

In summary, it's a collector term, and most "vintage" Case purists will say no other brand is really "greenbone". Like most things the term has been butchered by eBay sellers trying to inflate the value of their wares, and sucker a buyer into paying a premium. The buyer then is convinced, and compelled in their own mind to justify, that they bought a 'greenbone" knife (even though it's a Schrade or some other brand). And that's how our language evolves. Now every old jigged bone knife on eBay that's not "redbone" is "greenbone" and new collectors are mislead, misinformed, and confused.

Ken

Thanks Ken for the explanation & the link (at least I'm not the only guy confused by the "greenbone" terminology ...)

Do any Cattaraugus knives fit in the “green bone” family?

Mumbleypeg wrote:

Lansky1 wrote:
Can somebody pls explain the history of it as to why they are called greenbone, when they're actually brownbone ?

I'm not a vintage Case guy, so I'm very much uninformed, but it almost seems to me that anything that is not obviously redbone is called greenbone by default ??

John, your question about "greenbone" is not uncommon and in fact it comes up here on AAPK often. The best advice I can give regarding it is, try not to let the term "green" confuse you - despite that word being used, the color is not really green.

The term was originated by Case collectors to describe the color of Tested era Case jigged bone, a generally tan or brownish color with a sort of olive greenish hue to it (if you use your imagination, maybe some of it has some slightly green tint to it. ). A lot of Case Tested era jigged bone was this color, but it was never a true green color even when the knife was new. There are some excellent examples of what's called "greenbone" in this thread. Here's a good older thread about it: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=58122&hilit=Greenbone. Steve Pfeiffer's Collecting Case Knives has probably the best explanation of greenbone that I know of, accompanied by some color pictures.

In summary, it's a collector term, and most "vintage" Case purists will say no other brand is really "greenbone". Like most things the term has been butchered by eBay sellers trying to inflate the value of their wares, and sucker a buyer into paying a premium. The buyer then is convinced, and compelled in their own mind to justify, that they bought a 'greenbone" knife (even though it's a Schrade or some other brand). And that's how our language evolves. Now every old jigged bone knife on eBay that's not "redbone" is "greenbone" and new collectors are mislead, misinformed, and confused.

Ken

Jacknifeben wrote:Do any Cattaraugus knives fit in the “green bone” family?

To the Case purists.....no.

This is a 6205 XX Green Bone.

Lots of great knives posted by a lot of members over the last 11 years. Fantastic showing by jlw257!
I have these four, not bought because of green bone, but, because when I first started out I was collecting 2 blade jacks of all makes and handle shapes. Thanks for all the explanations of Case green bone, I am also slightly colorblind and was confused when I got my first one.

I was so naive about this topic that I actually posted a German made knife that had bone handles with green edges. I imagine the Case collectors here had either a good laugh or rolled their eyes. An embarrassing bit of ignorance.

Danno50, you have some very nice knives

QS, I’m not one of those so-called Purist, I believe several Knife Companies (not only Case) had knives with a greenish scales

Sargent and Schleger book from 1985 has a picture of different Case Greenbone Scales.

Here is a Case Bradford Greenbone 06230LP

That Bradford is a beauty jtw 257 I love those equal end knives.

sunknife wrote:That Bradford is a beauty jtw 257 I love those equal end knives.

Thanks Sunknife

Here’s a Case Tested Greenbone 6151

Larry, that’s a beauty! I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting a 6151 in person. Looks like a pattern that would be easy to carry.
Treefarmer

Thank you Mr. Phillip, at 5 1/4 inches it would be a great EDC

Here is it cousin Tested Greenbone 6251 Hobo

Larry!

Ken

Ken, thanks

All are excellent Larry.

I’m with TF! That 51 pattern is awesome.