All About Pocket Knives

A friend brought me the below knife. It was a tackle box find. It is in poor condition, but is stamped Cattaraugus on both blades. There is no pattern number on the knife. Could this be one of the knives produced by A.G. Russell after he bought the trademark in 1984? Or perhaps it is a complete counterfeit? Though being a counterfeit is kind of hard to believe because it would not have been worth the effort.

I appreciate your help.

Joe

Looks like a genuine peacock pearl or abalone shell Cattaraugus pocketknife to me.

The lack of a pattern number does not make me think of James Parker, either.

After Cattaraugus closed, a large horde of blades, frames, handles, etc was found. Those were purchased and assembled into "knives", however, not knowing what any Cattaraugus patterns were supposed to look like, the assembler(s) put together knives that you could not find in any old Catt catalog. And, if they had a blade with a pattern number on it, the pattern they created did not match the number. That action severely suppressed Catt prices for quite some time.

Is this one of them? Possibly, but I think not.

Why anyone would have an abalone handled Cattaraugus knife in a tackle box in the first place is beyond me.

Charlie Noyes

Thanks for the information. It is a puzzle about being in a tackle box. My friend collects old lures and brings me the knives. He buys the whole tackle box and then sorts. There have been Case, Robeson, and a Battle Axe, but mostly old hammers, kutmasters and imperials. All are usually in poor condition with a surprise every now and then. Though in poor condition this abalone Catt is the biggest surprise to date.

Thanks again,
Joe