All About Pocket Knives

Hi all,

I bought a knife today and I need a little help. It looks like a well-made knife, although it has been obviously polished and cleaned. It's about 3 1/2 inches long.

The tang is marked with 2 lines, I can only make out the last 2 letters of the first line (GH), and the second line is CUMBERLAND MD.
The back of the tang has a capital K on it.
Does anyone know what the first line could be, and about how old it is?

Sorry for the bad scan

Thanks in advance,
Keith

I just found a knife (John Primble) on ebay that looks suspiciously like mine.
It's a different model, but the main blade and shield are almost identical.
My knife guide says that some of the early Primbles were made by Boker, so could
mine be an off-shoot for a customer in Maryland? (un-educated guess)

http://cgi.ebay.com/JOHN-PRIMBLE-VINTAG ... 7C294%3A50

Hi Keith,
I went thru all the listings in Blade's Guide and did not find a single knife company listed for Cumberland, Md. I know that is no help, but I wanted you to know at least someone had tried.

Phil

Phil,
Thanks for checking for me, I appreciate it. Maybe I'll run across something on it one of these days.
Keith

Keith,

I live about 20 miles from Cumberland MD, not having grown up here, however, I have talked with some of the old timers (folks not knives) and I haven't found anyone who recalls a knife manufacturer. I know that's not very encouraging, however, I might not have asked the right folks yet. I will however, continue to ask and see what I come up with.

Tom

maybe for a hardware store???

Go to the local (if you're near there) library and check the old City Directories for wholesale hardware firms whose name would match what you can see on the knife.
Or, contact the library in Cumberland to see if they will research that for you.
Charlie Noyes

I haven't given up trying to identify this knife.

I ran across a couple of interesting knives on Ebay that looks very similar.

#1 has the same pin location, shield, handle material and basic shape
But, the blades are different.
The listing states that this is a Robeson.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ROBESON-SHUREDGE-12 ... 2eb1d1c546

#2 has the same pin location, shield, and main blade shape with swedge
But, it only has one blade (mine also has a pen blade)
The listing states this is a Robeson Fillmore.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Early-Bone-Handle-P ... 3cb3571f0d

I would appreciate any info or suggestions!
Thanks
Keith

Keith,

I work with a fella' that grew up in Cumberland MD...I will check with him, see what he knows.

I'll provide a little clarification on the "Fillmore" knife.
A Robeson made knife marked, "F.C. CO." was made by Robeson for a Fulton Cutlery Co. I have no idea who they were.
Every F.C. CO. marked knife I've ever seen was an obvious Robeson product. Most of them had remnants of a previous Robeson tang stamp that had been ground off or remnants of a pattern number that had been ground off the back of the tang. "F.C. CO." had been stamped over the old stamp on the front of the tang.

Millard Fillmore Robeson imported knives in the latter years of the 19th century that were marked Fillmore Cutlery Co. Every one I've seen was made in Germany or Austria and were so marked and I think they all predated 1900.

F.C. CO. does not mean "Fillmore".

I know that Tom Kalcevic states in his book Knives Can Talk, the best Robeson reference available, that F.C. CO stands for Fillmore.

I thought he was wrong when he wrote it. I think it's still wrong today.

The "Fillmore" knife you linked to is actually a Fulton. It's a bit strange, however, as I've never seen a Robeson knife of that handle-die shape with just a single blade.
The bone on the knife is shouting "Robeson!" to me. Whether it left the factory with one blade or two, I cannot say.

The 013 two blade Robeson jack is a standard pattern.

Did Robeson make your Cumberland, Maryland knife? I have no idea.

I'm going to post a Robeson bone handled 013 jack and a Fillmore tang stamp below. I do not currently own nor do I have a photo of an FCCO tang stamp. I've had them in the past. Just don't have one now.

Charlie Noyes

I have an FC Co. Knife i don't know anything about also.

Funny that this old post would pop up, haven't seen it before. I'm sitting at my laptop in my family home/farm in Cumberland, MD. On vacation this week, working on the farm and helping my Dad. Pretty sure there was not a knife maker here but I'd like to make some knives some day. Just wondering if there are any other markings on the knife? Can you post a better picture? Thanks!

I'll try to post a better pic this week.

Thanks

could be a Primble,they were made by a few different co's
including:
Camillus
Case??
Roberson
H. Boker
Schrade
Schrade-Walden
Queen
Wostenholm

kblesuperman , I don't think your knife is a "FC co" I am pretty sure you have an RC co

Check it out.

keithw wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2011 4:19 pm I'll try to post a better pic this week.

Thanks

What ever happened to this knife? If you don't mind me asking.

Thanks for the reply Redrider.
I haven't thought about that knife in a long time.!
I made a couple more photos.
Thanks!
Keith

keithw wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:08 am Thanks for the reply Redrider.
I haven't thought about that knife in a long time.!
I made a couple more photos.
Thanks!
Keith

Keith
I know this is a old thread but for what its worth in 1911 there was a Wholesaler named Cumberland Hardware Co in Cumberland MD at 55 Baltimore

Keith, the only thing I could find in Cumberland from around the early 1900's was the J. (John?) McHugh Coal Yards. That might be a possibility. To whittle down a manufacturer you might try to search for some equal ends with long pulls on the secondary blade. There were far fewer manufactures who used those over the standard nail mark.

Eric

keithw wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:08 am Thanks for the reply Redrider.
I haven't thought about that knife in a long time.!
I made a couple more photos.
Thanks!
Keith

Awesome find, thanks, Keith!

I took liberties with your photo: