All About Pocket Knives

Thank you, Lyle.
Pocket knives were pretty common years ago.
I'm glad people are collecting what ever is left of the millions that were made by the early cutlerys.

Great find, Joe! Lovely knife.

Thank you, Dan.

Since Joe got the thread rolling again ...

Thomas Fenton - Originally when I got this boys knife the only connection I found was a Thomas Fenton who was part of Joseph Fenton & Sons Sheffield - It was written in Tweedale that Thomas rejuvenated the company after Joseph, the father, passed away in 1886. I believe it is Sheffield (or possibly a suburb of Sheffield) now based on a discussion that lead to the opportunity to pick up a cutlery box from that company... Thomas Fenton is still abit of a mystery to me as he is not noted in Goins, Tweedale or the London knife book and note Sheffield was not on the tang stamp - possibly he was from outside Sheffield, perhaps a suburb - I had read many cutlers also existed outside Sheffield and perhaps not related to Joseph Fenton & Sons at all... In truth this is the only Thomas Fenton knife I have seen... interestingly Dimitri posted a box from Thomas Fenton long ago with a slightly different label - so I've seen 2 boxes but only 1 knife .. I would date the company late 1800s and perhaps early 1900s... The knife has cocobolo handles, single blade - classic size at 2 3/4"... The box is the perfect size for this knife at 3" and I can imagine a dozen fitting nicely in it ... I showed this knife along with an IXL in the Boys Knife article but never showed it here after I checked - and no better time to share it now with the box .... Cheers!

Now that is way cool!! Love the knife with a box

That is sweet!
What a great find, a knife and box. Good for you, Lee.
That knife is really nice with that clear stamp.

Thanks Mike and Joe ... maybe we should start a thread of knives with matching boxes ... I have a few other pairs to share...

I like it

Me too!

Didn't see a Southington in this thread yet, here is a well used one. 3" closed

Very nice knife, Ike.
They quit making those in 1905.

Appreciate that comment Joe! I like it, blemishes and all, they are so difficult to find and I am always pleased to snag one of the "survivors".

Great knife/box combo, Lee! I would think both of those are pretty rare finds.
Very nice Southington, Ike!

Here is a shell handled I.K.Co. I picked up at an antique mall in Madison, WI., just to say I bought a knife while I was there. No celluloid wrap, just painted green. 3" in length.

danno50 wrote:Here is a shell handled I.K.Co. I picked up at an antique mall in Madison, WI., just to say I bought a knife while I was there. No celluloid wrap, just painted green. 3" in length.

Nice score Dan ... The I K Co is a classic - and in green .. I’ve seen them in 3-4 different colors ..

Thanks Lee.

This little beauty arrived today. Made by Walter & Co (Germany) with multiplication table scales: 1-6 on the mark side; 7-12 on the pile side.

Cool boys knife with a ruler ... German cutleries made a fair amount of boys knives with alot of embossed slogans and etches but never seen one with a ruler .

Neat little knife, Dan.

Nice little equal end, Frailer. That would be fun to have when we could take knives to school.

my namesake (Lee) wasn't wrong

even a couple of pages in and this is the thread for me

most of mine are stretching the rules but this one should be a worthy addition having jumped ship from the barehead thread

Nice Rodgers addition Lee .. looks to be in great shape and rat tail bolsters are really cool .. are the handles French ivory celluloid or natural?

Wow. That's nice.

LongBlade wrote:Nice Rodgers addition Lee .. looks to be in great shape and rat tail bolsters are really cool .. are the handles French ivory celluloid or natural?

I believe it is ivorine possibly casein

I have a second in the same scale but its not a barehead I'll show it if allowed

Interesting knife, Frailer, very nice!
Beautiful Joseph Rodgers, Corso! I really like the ones with the stamped blade.

I've another but its not as nice and a little larger