All About Pocket Knives

Nice Joe and cool pattern ... It's a Northfield - whats not to like ...

Thanks, Lee.
You can't have too many of these things.

Very nice Joe,thanks for sharing! Nice ole knife and great find on the maker!

Nice knife, Joe!

Thank you, Bill and Dan.

Lloyd and Joe excellent additions to this hard to find btand.

Thank you, Greg.

Nice treasure hunting Lloyd and Joe.

Found this quill knife at a flea market in Massachusetts a few years ago. Kind of cool.

Thanks, Lyle.

Very nice Quill, Pile Driver. It looks like it has horn covers. Kind of cool indeed.

Thinking back to what it would have taken to manufacture pocket knives back in the mid to late 1800's ... one thing always comes to mind and it's hard for me to relate to ... all this was done without overhead electric lighting that we take for granted today. Interesting the pictures of the old mills always show an abundance of great big windows - imagine the operations that took the most care would have been positioned near windows. Imagine even a cloudy / rainy day would have affected some of the finer operations in the shop due to lack of ambient light. Guys like me with glasses or requiring bifocals probably would not have fared well working in a knife shop back in those days ... I bet lanterns of various types were used indoors at times, introducing a perilous fire hazard to these wood constructed mills, often with oil soaked floors (but thats a discussion for another day).

Nobody gyrating to the top ten in those days. For the most part they were all business. One reason why they made such fine knives.
Surely they had heat in those buildings in winter but those single pane windows were cold in January and February.

That is a great observation. The buildings were also oriented to maximize the amount of daylight that came in. This is a pic of the old Napanoch factory. And it takes into account the track of the sun in the northern hemisphere. To add to the equation they had to consider the rainy and dry seasons to figure in the water power the machines ran on.

Perhaps this also says something about the people of the times. Details were much more important to the production of a fine product. The right time the right conditions were paramount to success in those days. After all people were just moving into the industrial revolution and were not far removed from a society where survival was the most important rule of the day . One tends to be most meticulous when that is the primary focus. Without a doubt a bygone era.

Nice quill knife PD ..

John - Interesting to think about and no doubt a different time - and I think you have seen the pinned thread above on Real American Knife Lore where some spoke to the old working conditions ... To me the quality of the pocket knives or even fixed blades is even more intriguing given they were made under those conditions ..

Joe - I bet the forge room kept the building warm in the winter but in the summer I couldn't imagine the heat in the forge area..

Jay - Thanks for sharing that photo ... It's cool seeing those old photos of the exteriors of the old buildings - always enjoy staring at them for little details of interest - I guess it may have been more difficult to get good interior photos as you rarely see them (though interior photos of the Remington factory are available but that was 1920s- - I'm sure there are a few interior shots of other old cutleries too)...

Greg - just saw your post as I was submitting - Agreed

Lee the best and most extensive interior picks I’ve seen so far are from ulster and Napanoch. You can learn so much if you pay close attention. I agree 100% that understanding the circumstances surrounding these pocket knives allows you to see them in a whole different way. I found the research provided in the beginning of this thread to be very inspirational when I first read it. Good stuff. Right up my alley.

Here is one from inside the Nap factory that illustrates the natural light.

Great posts, guys. Good comments and thoughts.

JAMESC41001 wrote:Here is one from inside the Nap factory that illustrates the natural light.

7F710403-9C3C-416B-A447-AC0367458C96.jpeg

Thanks for sharing the interior photo Jay This photo no doubt shows the importance of sunlight and windows inside the cutlery!! Very cool ..

Just curious but looks like a flood light on the column or beam behind first employee ?? It could be something else

I downloaded the below picture a long time ago from the web. I could find no reference as to its location or date but I assume it was taken from an Eastern American knife factory?
These gentlemen appear to be very content with their occupation and well fed. Man's best friend also seem happy.
Would they be called "Grinders?"
The natural lighting is excellent.

That is a cool photo Dan ... I have that saved image but never posted it - it actually is a cutlery in Thierry France .. in order to keep their legs warm their dogs would lay on them... also I believe laying down to do the grinding alleviated back pain etc...

Thanks for that information Lee
WOW...Thierry France! (Farther East than I assumed)

Old Folder wrote:I downloaded the below picture a long time ago from the web. I could find no reference as to its location or date but I assume it was taken from an Eastern American knife factory?
These gentlemen appear to be very content with their occupation and well fed. Man's best friend also seem happy.
Would they be called "Grinders?"
The natural lighting is excellent.

23737863_155050831913225_8960729153911340259_o.jpg

Old Folder, I saw an etch on a knife blade of a man grinding knives like that. I can't remember the brand, maybe a Boker. It made me tired looking at them.

I agree doglegg.
These ole boys were very tough in those days.

Interesting photo Dan. Surprised how deep in the well they have to stretch.
Lee you have a good eye. It is a lamp hanging there. The Honk Falls power house went into operation 1898. It was less then a mile up the road. They list the Napanoch knife co. As one of there first customers. Rhett Stidam says in his book that Nsp started using water power. In fact it was probably both. When water was good they would use that as it was cheaper.