This forum is dedicated to the discussion and display of old knives. The rich history of all the many companies that made them through the early years will be found here as well as many fine examples of the cutlers art. Share pictures of your old knives and your knowledge here!
That's just incredible. Especially when you consider, as Charlie pointed out, just how fragile these old boxes are. One bad tear or damage to the printing and the value plummets. Whomever the winning bidder was should place it on acid-free paper in a climate-controlled museum glass display case and only take it out so the Louvre's art conservationists can monitor deterioration and make necessary restorations.
Dave
Always looking for vintage knives with Virginia, Maryland, or Washington D.C. tang stamps. Any condition.
Thanks Charlie for posting it. I watched the auction all the way also and man never thought it would go that high but they are rare for sure. The knives are easier to find then the boxes sometimes and this is one of them.
I went to 356.89 and had it at 5 seconds. I then came in third when it jumped 200 dollars. The forth place bidder was one dollar behind me. It would have looked nice in the display case with all of the PB knives. Now I guess I will use the money on something less important ( MY gas and electric bill ). LT
wiseguy wrote:Hi Mason , can you post a picture of the 3rd variation please ? My computer broke down a while back and lost all my pictures...Thanks, JJ
Mason wrote:The Press Button knife boxes are rare, and there were (at least) three different variations of the "Double Button" box.
Sorry, I don't have access to it presently, but will at a later time.
To me what is interesting is that the company was supposedly in Middlebury CT yet the box is labeled Thomaston CT - the dates depend upon which book you look at as a resource but lets say 1877-1881 at least in terms of the Naugatuck area but had not read anywhere that Thomaston was the location (those 2 towns are 14 miles apart).. Henry Sears & Son was noted in Levines as a Chicago based store from 1865-1959... so it is abit of a mystery to me which knives were no doubt made in CT and if other companies made their knives or were there other locations in which Henry Sears & Sons made their own knives post-1881 (or for that matter pre-1877) . ... As an aside I did also read somewhere that the Waterbury Knife Co bought the rights to the water ways and mills in 1881 to start their own production when Henry Sears & Son left... and while I have seen tang stamps of "Henry Sears & Son 1865" or "Henry Sears Prussia" (now where is Prussia - near Chicago?? though i only have found a Prussia WV - but I have never seen one stamped with Thomaston, Middlebury, Conn, and so the question is: How does one identify a knife from Henry Sears & Son as made in CT even during the time period of 1877-1881???
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Lee
Thanks, Lee.
This box is one more clear indication that we know so very little about the cutlery industry of old.
Sears was apparently in Thomaston, Ct. Probably not for very long and for unknown reasons vanished.
I should note that this box has a fabric hinge. That may help date the box.
Joe - No doubt the box is old ... back a few pages in this thread btrwtr (Wayne) also showed the same box among many others he had.... if someone took the time to check any old records from the Naugatuck area I am sure something could be found... but only some of us may have the time or motivation to search and find the answers... many of the resource books are very cursory in their historical perspectives... even Phil P's book on New England Cutleries has not alot of info and is quite brief.. so my opinion and 2 cents is nobody ever took the time to commit themselves to find the real answers based on old archives which may exist (and that would mean going to old town halls to peruse old archives etc etc).. and I doubt anybody can answer my question as to which knives with their stamp were made in CT but would love to know if anybody reads this and has an answer
Yes Roger - I knew Prussia was actually part of what we know as Germany up until 1918... while I thought about that I am not sure Henry Sears had knives made in Prussia as you point out... possible and I can no doubt be wrong but I was focused on other American based possibilities and the only other Prussia I came up with after a short search was in WV... Henry Sears & Son has some interest of mine if indeed they made knives in CT (absolutely no interest in knives they may have had made in Europe except Sheffield which is not the case) but I never delved into the company deep enough to figure it out... sort of like BB Knife of Beaverbrook MA - nobody really knows where they were etc but lots of speculation...
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Lee
Well after some more searching this morning on Henry Sears I am coming to the conclusion that there is much speculation regarding this companies history just based on seeing examples of their cutlery and not much in fact regarding where and by whom (other than the box marked Thomaston & the connection to Middlebury based on records of the Naugatuck area - and the fact they were based in Chicago Ill).. one other thing is the company changed hands a few times over the span of 1865-1959) - however I did notice that some of their knives and razors were stamped Germany - so indeed it is possible that Prussia referred to that kingdom of Germany prior to 1918... I think I am throwing in the towel on trying to figure it out for now ... I am at the moment just chalking it up to another mystery in the history of cutlery companies....
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Lee
Spent most of last night reading this thread front to back. Just want to thank the contributors for showing their boxes and sharing their knowledge. These boxes just add to the appreciation of the knives they held and are beautiful in their own right.
LongBlade wrote: sort of like BB Knife of Beaverbrook MA - nobody really knows where they were etc but lots of speculation...
I remember reading in BRL's book about the Beaver Brook knife. Being from Massachusetts originally I was fascinated with the story. Upon reading this I remembered something I had read about the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts.It was built in the 1930's and to accomplish this there were four towns in the Swift Valley that were flooded to form this reservoir. Beaver Brook was not one of the names of the town.....BUT;there was a stream(river possibly)called Beaver Brook that fed into the reservoir. As this area was near the center of New England knifemaking(the Connecticut Valley) it is possible that there may have been a knife company operating on Beaver Brook for it's water power.
One of the reasons that a lot of the knife companies moved around was that their source of power(water flow)was either bought up or diverted or even dried up.That and fires that seem to hit a lot of the companies.
Just realize that this is pure speculation on my part but I think it would have been possible. For anyone interested,reading about the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir Wikipedia has a good take on it.
Thanks Ray ... indeed I have a BB Knife (not posted as of yet but indeed it is a pretty unique pattern and got it months ago but just never took photos) so have done alot of background looking... I came up with something similar to you about a Beaver Brook (after considering Quabbin Reservoir of which I came up empty but was a possible lead)... however not sure according to historical records there ever was a cutlery located in that area of Beaver Brook from my reading. Phil P's book on New England Cutleries had little to add - though he thought the Danvers area was a possibility but again no records of a cutlery ever being there... He took a wild guess about the connection between Joseph Kennedy and a Lord Beaverbrook - but like he admitted that is just wild speculation. Thanks nonetheless... will get pics of my knife and probably post it under obscure and rare stamps as another BB Knife Co example - and not many exist
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Lee
Hey guys I love these old cutlery boxes. Anybody got any for sale. If so please contact me. Also looking for old rare barlow. Paying top prices. Darrell Maines
Really nice Darell ... Not sure of the box with the knives - best I can see from what is showing in photo are the knives were Russell "The Boy of America" cast iron mini-barlows but not sure of connection to box unless I am missing something which is possible
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Lee
This is the original box for the dozen boy of America knives. Those were made for Russell by J Ward. If you look at the old Russell catalog you can see that J Ward made carving sets for Russell The number on the end of the box is 16. It is all original. A rare find
That's just incredible. Especially when you consider, as Charlie pointed out, just how fragile these old boxes are. One bad tear or damage to the printing and the value plummets. Whomever the winning bidder was should place it on acid-free paper in a climate-controlled museum glass display case and only take it out so the Louvre's art conservationists can monitor deterioration and make necessary restorations. 
... As an aside I did also read somewhere that the Waterbury Knife Co bought the rights to the water ways and mills in 1881 to start their own production when Henry Sears & Son left... and while I have seen tang stamps of "Henry Sears & Son 1865" or "Henry Sears Prussia" (now where is Prussia - near Chicago?? though i only have found a Prussia WV - but I have never seen one stamped with Thomaston, Middlebury, Conn, and so the question is: How does one identify a knife from Henry Sears & Son as made in CT even during the time period of 1877-1881??? 
... back a few pages in this thread btrwtr (Wayne) also showed the same box among many others he had.... if someone took the time to check any old records from the Naugatuck area I am sure something could be found... but only some of us may have the time or motivation to search and find the answers... many of the resource books are very cursory in their historical perspectives... even Phil P's book on New England Cutleries has not alot of info and is quite brief.. so my opinion and 2 cents is nobody ever took the time to commit themselves to find the real answers based on old archives which may exist (and that would mean going to old town halls to peruse old archives etc etc).. and I doubt anybody can answer my question as to which knives with their stamp were made in CT but would love to know if anybody reads this and has an answer 
