All About Pocket Knives

As far as I have ever known, the only US manufacturers of shell-handled pocket knives were Imperial, Colonial, Providence Cutlery Co, and Ideal Knife Co.

How to explain these two then?

One is marked SYRACUSE KNIFE CO USA...which we all know to be a CAMILLUS brand. The cigar jack is marked STREAMLINE SYRACUSE NY. Again, we know that STREAMLINE is a Camillus brand. I have seen Camillus knives marked STREAMLINE but never on the tang like this one.

Very unusual...has anyone else ever seen shell handled knives with these markings?

Very interesting indeed!
Just an observation, but that clip blade on the top knife sure screams Colonial to me...
Mike

I've had a couple in the past. I sold them on. I didn't really attach any importance to them. There are other shell handle manufacturers over here and sometimes things were made in Europe with the US as an intended market. They weren't above a little trademark theft so I figured that is what they were.

BL4 does say that some of the Syracuse knives were imported by Camillus, made in Poland. Could be a possibility?

knifegirl888 wrote:BL4 does say that some of the Syracuse knives were imported by Camillus, made in Poland. Could be a possibility?

Those I have seen...and they were 1970's era Swiss Army style knives.

The shell handled knives that I posted do not have Poland on them...I would think that they would have been marked Poland. But its possible.

I have found knives identical to those over here with no stamps on them as well. There were also unmarked one of a slightly different pattern available in a street market in Spain a few years ago. There was absolutely no marking on them.

Cool knives, Steve!

It's hard to call a shell handle "rare" but those certainly stand out from the crowd!
Does the equal end have a cell wrap or is it painted? I have seen European shell
handles that have a painted handle - but not any from the U.S.

They look very Imperial in design... but there seemed to be a lot of disregard for any
patents when it came to how these knives were made and assembled.

You think those were possibly assembled in the Imperial factory in RI. with the blades
sent to them by Camillus?

..... Joe

One possibility is a contract knife for Camillus made by Imperial.
Anything is possible in the world of cutlery manufacturing and marketing.

edgy46 wrote:One possibility is a contract knife for Camillus made by Imperial.
Anything is possible in the world of cutlery manufacturing and marketing.

EXTREMELY WELL SAID. It will be on the next quiz. Wish more people realized this. It is like English class. Lots of rules, but all can be broken.

Joe Dirt wrote:Cool knives, Steve!

It's hard to call a shell handle "rare" but those certainly stand out from the crowd!
Does the equal end have a cell wrap or is it painted? I have seen European shell
handles that have a painted handle - but not any from the U.S.

They look very Imperial in design... but there seemed to be a lot of disregard for any
patents when it came to how these knives were made and assembled.

You think those were possibly assembled in the Imperial factory in RI. with the blades
sent to them by Camillus?

..... Joe

I would think if anything it would be what Edgy said - the entire knife including the blades made by Imperial to Camillus's specifications. Correct me if I am wrong, but out of the four shell handled knife manufacturers that I mentioned, Imperial was the only one to use this particular construction - with the little tabs at the very end of the handle bent in to secure the handle.

Both knives look to have painted on handles not the usual celluloid wrap.

I have posted a phone interview with Tom Williams in a couple places on AAPK, but it is impossible to catch everything that is posted any more.

In the 2010 interview with Tom I asked him about a shell handled Camco knife tang stamped IRELAND.
In response Tom said, "In the mid 1980s there were some Camco knives made at the Schrade factory in Ireland. This is where the Irish Camco knives came from."

I know that Syracuse Knife Co was a trademark Camillus used "c. 1935-1940" as per Goins; and then again "c. 1975-1976" for the knives made in Poland.

It is quite possible that this Syracuse was made by Imperial Schrade, however looking at the soft rounded lines of the stamped parts, it looks more like a product of Richards of Sheffield to me. Imperial also owned Richards at one point in time, or were in partnership manufacturing with them.

It may be that at some point the Schrade factory in Ireland made some knives for Camillus under the Syracuse Knife brand along with those made under the Camco brand, or it maybe that the Syracuse shell handle was made by Richards of Sheffield. Any of these scenarios are in the realm of possibility given Albert Baer’s involvement in all of these companies, including Camillus.

I have had Richards's and Imperials that are identical aside from the stamps and I have had some shell handles that just say Sheffield made as well. there are all sorts of possibilities. There was a whole industry for cheap knives over here as well.

Here's yet one more at auction!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clover-Brand-Sy ... 19d6b78952

NOT my knife - NO interest in bidding...

...... Joe