All About Pocket Knives

Joe, nice old tuxedo. the older the better
just found a Waltco saf-t sheath knife made in 1956 with original clipping from paper.

Paul, very unusual handle color on that one. Most of them have a red plastic handle.

I have also seen ones with Gray colored handles

Dang.....were seeing some beautiful knives guys! Thank you for showing!

Bob

Wester Bros. Germany c. 1919 [img]

This little knife measures a hair over 2 inches in length and is a simple folded metal frame with a blade pinned in. Hard to believe it was worth serializing, registering, and offering a reward for its return, but those were older days.

The Thornton & Minor Clinic was formed in 1885 by two Kansas City doctors, and specialized in treating rectal and colonic disorders using non-surgical methods (so no, this knife probably never reamed out some poor guy's prostate). They moved several times into larger buildings and finally merged with the McCleary Clinic and Hospital in 1957 of Excelsior Springs, a town just outside of Kansas City. This hospital, known as McCleary-Thornton-Minor, finally closed in 1974. Since the knife handle is stamped Thornton & Minor, I think this dates it to before 1957 (more on the dating later).

There is plenty of information on the web about Thornton & Minor, here is one good site:

http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_view ... OX=1&REC=8

Whitehead & Hoag was incorporated in Newark NJ in 1892 and saw rapid growth in the trade of supplying pins, buttons, badges, banners and other novelty items. The company was known for using celluloid as a medium, and no doubt many of their products have out-gassed away over the years, but there is still an active collectors interest in their products. At one time they were one of the biggest wholesalers of novelties in the world. They finally closed down in 1955. So that is the new latest date for my knife.

Here is one site with information on Whitehead & Hoag:

http://www.nehushtanantiques.com/whiteh ... _hoag.html

So who made that knife that Whitehead & Hoag sold to Thornton & Minor? Who else but their New Jersey neighbor, H. Boker & Co! Boker bought the Valley Forge Cutlery Co. of Newark in 1899. I found references to W. & H. stamped knives supplied by Boker from the late 1800s through the 1940s. I found no other references to a W. & H. supplier, so that leads me to believe my knife is one of these Bokers, from 1949 or earlier.

A lot of history in this little 2 inch knife...

Trail, neat little knife!

I bid on that knife! I figured the registration thing was for your keys, intending the knife to be on the ring? We have one W&H, and I recently read Phil Pankiewicz's New Jersey Cutlery chapter on them. I think he said they patented celluloid, but somewhere else I read that another guy patented it about the time W&H were getting out of diapers. They used a lot of it anyway so maybe they bought it, or it expired?

That was you, Brett? I think we were the only two bidders. I was surprised it didn't get more interest, with the unusual tang stamp and Boker connection.

I saw that about W&H and celluloid too. Evidently the U.S. patent was held by the Celluloid Manufacturing Company which started off in Albany and later moved to Newark. Interesting to think of the interlocked industrial complex in northern New Jersey, with Boker and Celluloid both supplying W&H. My guess is that W&H developed expertise at printing on celluloid and found it a perfect medium for their custom advertising products.

Yep, that was me. They did some beautiful things with celluloid, but I have not seen a cell handled knife yet, have you?

No, in fact mine is the only W&H knife I have ever seen. They don't seem to turn up very often. You mentioned you had one, and I'd be interested in seeing it if you get a chance to post it.

Here you go Trail. It appears to be nickel silver, maybe coin silver? The scales are solid slabs. It is a tight well made knife, and I would guess Boker made it.

Wow, that's a good looking knife. The big swedge and the hollow grinds make it exceptional. Pretty darn nice for a safety award.

i have one . made by Robeson / shuredge......very well made knife

Whitehead & Hoag didn't make pocket knives.... so Robeson must have made it on contract for them?

Robeson might have made the W&H, but it's also possible the handles were produced or sold by an independent supplier to multiple cutleries.

I've seen those handles with even different branded blades.

The knives catch my eye on Ebay because of the Robeson connection, and all of them are not Robeson marked knives.

Charlie Noyes

I was hoping to hear from you on these knives.... Thanks for the information, Charlie!

Anytime, Kathy.

Charlie

While this one surely isn't obscure, it is old and you hardly see them anymore. Hammer/ New York Knife Co. stamps on this Barlow with bone handles. 36' to 37' stamp.


There are a few numbers I can make out on the back of the main, all I can make out is 20.
Anybody got any info on this?

Love that bolster stamp on that NY barlow.

Paul

Thanks Paul, after havin so many of the shell knives under the Imperial/Hammer Brands, I thought it only fitting
to dig a little deeper into the history.

Nice find Perry! I love the New York Knife brand and that stamp on that georgious old Barlow! Here is another New England oldie. An old Waterville knife with what I think is one of the coolest swedges and one incredible snap! I`m soooooooo tempted to carry it! but havent researched it yet to see how old it is, etc etc.

Bob

Perry & Bob great old knives

Thanks Paul! Man Bob, that's a sweet lookin older Jack!

paulsvintage wrote: Perry & Bob great old knives

I second that motion!

Thanks so much Kathy.