All About Pocket Knives

Bill, I have a couple of these and they are in fact brass.

Sorry, my mistake. Brass it is.

Hey it's ok, I wouldn't have said that but mine are very obviously brass.

Here is a knife jerryd posted about in the All Metal Handle Knives topic. It was on ebay, and it looked like a shell handle to me. I won the auction and when I received the knife, sure enough it was a shell handle, but unlike any other I have seen.
Thanks again to jerryd he provided a link to a similar topic on BF in Bernard Levine’s Forum. So the info I will share is based on the info given by Bernard Levine.

The tang stamp is:
AW WADSWORTH/& SONS GERMANY/D. R. P.

If you consult the list of brands associated with Camillus you see many brands that were used by Adolph Kastor even prior to the time he bought Camillus. The dating given on this stamp is 1905-1936. http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/knifewor ... orlist.pdf

The D. R. P. stands for Deutsches Reichspatent or roughly translated German Patent.
Levine goes on to say is an early knife, pre-1915 and probably even pre-1905.

I knew the shell handle had been patiented in Germany pre WWII. Like the poster in BF, I assumed it was the later Stiehl & Lohr patent that Imperial used on their shell handles. Bernard says the D. R. P. indicated the Second German Reich which ended in 1918 with the end of WWI. He also said the British Navy blockaded German shipping to US cities starting in the Spring of 1915. So the knife would necessarily be made before that time.

I was unable to attend our last knife club meeting (OKCA) so I was not able to show the knife to Bernard in person, but I hope to do so in the next month or two.



The shell handles on this knife are heavier than the ones we normally see on Imperials. There are remnants of paint on the handle in the cut-out for the easy open. As Bernard said; these knives were probably plated or painted.

The front of the knife has the two tabs that hold the front of the shells to the knife, like an Imperial. But in the rear there is a pin that goes through the entire knife, and has a head on each side, (see the pin heads on in front of the lanyard loop & below the easy open cut-out). This is what holds the back end of the shells on the knife. In most Imperials, the back is secured by tabs like the front.

In this pic you can make out the pin above the springs. It is most evident on the right side. The knife is 3-3/8” and weighs 1.7 ounces, only 0.03 ounce less than a 3-1/2” Camillus wood handled, pre-WWII jack, with steel liners and bolsters.
This shell is a much heavier knife than the Imperial shell knives.
I thought some of my fellow shell lovers would like to see an older shell handled knife.
Dale

Dale, I would think that information or "provenance" as they say on Antiques Road Show, would increase the value by a considerable amount over the price you paid for the knife on eBay.

whitebuffalo58 wrote:Thanks guys. Jerry, before coming across each one, I didn't know they did exisit. That's always been part of the fun collecting the shell handles. Just when you think...surely I have one of every color...another handful of colors show up out of nowhere. I don't think anyone really knows how many there are. I've never seen a list.
Some of the guys have started giving names to them, that's fun too. But, i've always thought they likely had a number assigned to them. We need to track the origins of the cell. material and that could lead to a somewhat comprehensive list.
I'm with the others when they say, it's about the colors. But, I'll go a little farther in saying, don't forget how many different patterns they came in. Imperial was one of the most prolific knife companys in history. I don't think there very many patterns they didn't produce at one time or another. Like the colors, everytime I think...surely I have every pattern in a certain color...I discover another one. Even after more then 40 years, I'm still missing the Barlow and a small sleeveboard pen in the cracked ice. (the most available color there is) There may be others I havn't even seen yet.
Anyway, that's what appeals to me when it comes to the shell handled knives. Endless variety, endless discovery. You can fill an entire lifetime with them. WB

So it's just the old "hunt and peck" method you use.

jerryd6818 wrote:Dale, I would think that information or "provenance" as they say on Antiques Road Show, would increase the value by a considerable amount over the price you paid for the knife on eBay.

I would like to think so.
Actually, this knife to me has historical value, beyond what anyone would pay for it.
The fact it was less than $20 shipped for a very functional 100+ year old knife is icing on the cake.

Having one of the very early (perhaps earliest?) examples of a shell-handled knife is worth more to me than I could ever afford to actually to pay for it.
The history is priceless to me.


I just realize that sounds like an old man.



I just realized I am.

I completely dig what you are saying Dale!!!

I LOVE shells, because I can almost always afford one!

I'm glad you got that knife, Dale!
I was quite interested in it myself, but the information YOU have given us
would not have come to light if I had won the auction.

Seriously, thank you Dale! GREAT knife! GREAT history!


whitebuffalo, what a great summery of shell collecting.
The only thing I could add is "shell collecting is like a box of chocolates..."

...... Joe

Here's one I have always liked and haven't seen another like it yet!

It measures 3 3/8" as compared to the more common 3" swell end,
short bolster Barlow, capedswellendshortbolsterBarlow, or whatever ya want to call it.

...... Joe

Whatever you call it, I'd sure have grabbed it if I could!

Sweet knives, joe and orvet!

Thanks for the lesson/info too, orvet. Yours is the first easy opener in a polished metal-like handle that I have seen, nice find.

There were a few hands in on that auction, Dave!

These 3 are the solid colors that were offered through the Hammer Brand era.
Note the dull yellow... it came that way from the factory.
The black single blade with a bail is "out of the norm."

Does anyone know if the "Hopalong Cassady's" were a single blade?

I have an orange, grey, bright yellow, and an "odd" candy stripe also.
They are from the later era of the cell covered shells.

Has anyone got/seen any other colors?

..... Joe

The handles might be a bit shaky but you have a bunch of GREAT steel there!

Joe Dirt wrote:Does anyone know if the "Hopalong Cassady's" were a single blade?

..... Joe

As shown in the 1952 Imperial catalog they have 2 blades.

Here's an oddball Joe.
I have a 5" toothpick/ fish knife in this same color. It has the same Hammer Brand stamp on it's primary blade.
This one is also odd in that it has an Imperial stamped secondary. It's an Imperial stamp that i'm not familiar with. It's an older block letter font, but with the vertical USA. The USA is also a block letter font, not like the later ones. The spear blade primary is also out of the norm. Strange little knife, not sure what it's story is.

Here's a little better shot of the Imperial stamp.

Thanks, Dale, for the info on the Hopalong's.
That just puts my single blade w/bail in the "oddball" category then!

WB, that is an UNDOCUMENTED Imperial stamp!
It would be post war, having USA stamped on it.

I HAVE seen it before on a knife on debay - they wanted $35 for it. I watched it
be re-listed over & over for about 3 months. They never dropped the price, so I finally gave up.

It is not to uncommon to find a knife with a Hammer blade and an Imperial blade though.
After all, they were made side by side in the factory.

The spear blades were only found in the large utility/camp, Kamp-King, and the larger equal-end cigars.
The IKCO "boys knives" were available with either blade, spear or clip.

Great knife, WB!

...... Joe

I have those same scale on a little Dogleg.

I don't know HOW they can be so PURTY!!!

Thanks Joe, I had been trying for a cracked ice Barlow when I came across this one. I know the pics make it look like C/I, but it's different somehow. In hand, it has some pinks and grays in it that aren't in the standard C/I. Looks more like marble then pearloid. I'll try to get a picture of the toothpick/fish posted along side of a standard C/I toothpick to show the difference a little better.
Hey Dave, are they on a Hammer Brand or an Imperial? I'm thinkin' this color may have been exclusive to Hammers. Just curious. WB

I don't notice pink or green in my knife, but I can't get over how it looks 3D!

Mine is an Imperial USA little Dogleg.

Joe Dirt wrote:Thanks, Dale, for the info on the Hopalong's.
That just puts my single blade w/bail in the "oddball" category then!

...... Joe

Either that or it was made at a different time, probably later in the 1950.

Some more solid colors and an odd candy stripe.
These are the 4 1/4" 2 blade picks that showed up sometime after Hammer Brand was dropped.
The yellow is bright as compared to the older ones.

The orange auto has the '45 - '55 Hammer Brand stamp.

It's got me wondering if they were even able to make other solid colors.... why not blue or green?

..... Joe

Here's the comparison pics.
Camera flash adds a bit of yellow tint.

I do like that Barlow my man!!!!