The Walden Knife Company 1870-1923

[Miller Bro's]

Nice one, and rare too!

[wiseguy]

thanks for commenting MB ....yes the Presto Girlscout is a bit scarce

[singin46]

Here's one of my 2 NYKCs. This Barlow marked on the pen blade only, NEW YORK KNIFE CO. WALDEN underneath.
Hammer is stamped on the main. I like the match strike pull and swedging on the main.

[Beechtree]

Great barlow singin46, it is a very fine old knife with nice patina. I assume that is an N on the handle? Seems to me that most often the mark on the bolster of barlows would have been viewed from the horizontal, making this a Z?

[mickeyevans]

here is my former mystery knife, now id'ed by MB as a old stainless steel walden with the etched Walden worn off the main blade

[mickeyevans]

this is another 'Mystery knife' I posted
no markings to find, and no one ID'ed it like Dimitri did for the above knife
I am going through this thread, and every other old thread here to continue my education before I buy any more, and i found one that looks like mine
on page 1, is the knife like this, could this be a Walden?

[cato]

GOT THIS JACK

WALDEN KNIFE CO.

ETCHED; WALDEN STAINLESS

TANG STAMPED BOTH BLADES

MODEL # 1880 3/4


MB I TRIED TO LOOK FOR THE STAINLESS YOU HAD POSTED BUT COULD NOT FIND IT... DO YOU STILL HAVE PIC. THANKS CATO

[msteele6]

Nice knife.

[peanut740]

I have one of those Cato.

[cato]

nice one peanut, wonder if these were done in there last yrs in biz.

[peanut740]

That would be my guess.

[daddynewton]

Nice knives guys. Here is a well used one I snagged a while back.

[Miller Bro's]

MB I TRIED TO LOOK FOR THE STAINLESS YOU HAD POSTED BUT COULD NOT FIND IT... DO YOU STILL HAVE PIC. THANKS CATO

Just seen this. I looked and it seems the pictures disappeared

Here is the only one I can find at the moment, same knife as Mickey`s.

[mickeyevans]

knice knife Peanut, swell end jack maybe my favorite pattern for now, EO or not
http://www.villageofwalden.org/about/walden-history
President McKinley served with Tom Bradley jr in the civil war where Bradley won the medal of honor at Chanclerville
when he came back to his fathers NYKCo he got in politics and called on his old friend to push for the knife tariffs of the the 1890's
I went by that statue a thousand times, and the falls and the old remnants of some of the old facories in Walden and Ellenvill

[mickeyevans]

here is my old Walden with no markings and stainless steel, some blade problems, in case you were trying to find it

[j.thorn]

Here is a Walden knife that belonged to my grandfather (born 7/4/1882, Riverdale, NY). I have no idea of the approximate date of manufacture but perhaps someone here knows.

j.thorn

[stockman]

Very nice.

Harold

[bladeguy58]

Here is a Walden knife that belonged to my grandfather (born 7/4/1882, Riverdale, NY). I have no idea of the approximate date of manufacture but perhaps someone here knows.

j.thorn

Interesting about your knife, here is a picture of mine that has 3 blades and a file but is stamped HS&B who was an old Hdwe wholesaler between 1855-1960. Miller Bros posted a Walden just like yours in the Big, Bad, or Bold Bolsters. It's really hard sometimes to identify exactly when a particular knife was made if they don't have a code system like case of changed their markings through the years. I just won an auction for an I*XL but it said it was made between 1891-1971 so figuring out when it was made is a challenge.
Good luck,
Bladeguy

[msteele6]

Just to venture a guess.

Aluminum is the third most abundant element in Earth's crust. However, because of the difficulty of extracting it from its ores it was, until the late 1800's more expensive than gold. By the time the Washington Monument (which has an aluminum capstone) was finished in 1884 it was still as expensive as silver. For this reason aluminum was a luxury item that had some cachet at the time (for example, the German Kaiser had an Aluminum Helmet).

I believe that the aluminum bolstered pocket knife (generally with pearl handles) was a high end good. Probably it took until the 1900's before they were commonly produced. Your knife, I believe, was probably produced sometime between 1910 and say 1930 (the Depression) I have seen them with various manufacturer's stampings including Keen Kutter, New York Knife, Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett, Walden and others which I've forgotten (if you notice, all of the companies mentioned have roots or ties to Walden N.Y.). If you look on eBay right now there are three or four for sale (none in quite as good condition as yours). They aren't super rare or valuable but are certainly quite collectible.

An interesting knife on eBay right now is a knife marked "Springbrooke Knife Co." The seller states (and Levine agrees) that this knife was made by NYK. Levine dates this marking to c1914 - 1920 and I believe that your knife would have a production date somewhere in the same general timeframe, as stated above.


JMO

[bladeguy58]

Just to venture a guess.

Aluminum is the third most abundant element in Earth's crust. However, because of the difficulty of extracting it from its ores it was, until the late 1800's more expensive than gold. By the time the Washington Monument was erected in 1884 it was still as expensive as silver. For this reason aluminum was a luxury item that had some cachet at the time (for example, the German Kaiser had an Aluminum Helmet).

I believe that the aluminum bolstered pocket knife (generally with pearl handles) was a high end good. Probably it took until the 1900's before they were commonly produced. Your knife, I believe, was probably produced sometime between 1910 and say 1930 (the Depression) I have seen them with various manufacturer's stampings including Keen Kutter, New York Knife, Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett, Walden and others which I've forgotten (if you notice, all of the companies mentioned have roots or ties to Walden N.Y.). If you look on eBay right now there are three or four for sale (none in quite as good condition as yours). They aren't super rare or valuable but are certainly quite collectible.

An interesting knife on eBay right now is a knife marked "Springbrooke Knife Co." The seller states (and Levine agrees) that this knife was made by NYK. Levine dates this marking to c1914 - 1920 and I believe that your knife would have a production date somewhere in the same general timeframe, as stated above.


JMO

Thanks for the history lesson!

[j.thorn]

Yes, very informative! Thanks also.

[galvanic1882]

Here's my latest Walden. I saw this knife years ago at a show and tried many times to trade for it but could not make the deal work. Then a member picked it up from the dealer that had it and he was gracious enough to work with me on a trade! Thanks Mark!!! I just love the etch on it.

[tjmurphy]

WOW!!!! That Tickler is Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr8!

[danno50]

galvanic1882, that is a really beautiful knife. Great condition and etch. I also really like that hunter pattern.
Dan

[PA Knives]

Check out this. The shield is fitted well but just on and angle. Sooooo, mistake or on purpose?