All About Pocket Knives

I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately about the Civil War, and was wondering if anyone here has any Civil War era folding pocket knives they would be willing to post here for our viewing enjoyment? I've searched around on the site a bit and found the link below to a short thread in the military knives section, but not much else.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =civil+war

I'd love to see some pictures of some of these knives if anyone has any in half-way decent condition...I think it's a fascinating part of our history....

Thanks in advance for sharing...

Mike

Mike,

Here is one to get things started, you can also find the exact knife in "New Jersey Cutlery, Phillip Pankiewicz Page#20, 23 Funny thing is I'm a native of NJ a transplant to SC. This knife was made there and I bought it 2 miles from my home at an Antiques store. It was only after buying the NJ cutlery book that I noticed it was one in the same. Bonehead

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... os#p144871

Great lookin' knife Bonehead, thanks for posting it! Is that real tortise shell? And do you actually edc it? I'd be feeling my pocket all day long making sure it didn't slide out!

Mike

Heck No,

At the time it was an EDC by Name only, meaning I carried it around because it was really cool. Today she has a better resting place in the collection. Yes real Tortise shell. Looking at this knife it doesn't look like much. The crimping on the bolsters make it look like the blades will not even operate. All the entire knife may be just over .250 thick but everything about it says quality, I would say its a sleeper.... Keep in mind the Booth Bros. were some of the finest cutlers to come out of England. If memory serves me correctly, this one is the earliest of their 3 moves within the state, and I believe there were twenty empoyees at the time.. BH

These are all Civil war era and slightly before.........All have Ivory handles.

Holy Smokes Dimitri, those are some fine knives, thanks so much for sharing! That C&C Sheffield is really something... very impressive

Thanks Mike

313 Mike wrote:That C&C Sheffield is really something... very impressive

It is a large knife at 4" long closed, the Ivory slabs are awesome

Miller Bro`s wrote:Thanks Mike

313 Mike wrote:That C&C Sheffield is really something... very impressive

It is a large knife at 4" long closed, the Ivory slabs are awesome

Oh man that makes me like it even more! Where did you ever find such a treasure if you don't mind me asking..?

313 Mike wrote: Where did you ever find such a treasure if you don't mind me asking..?

An antique dealer had it for sale.

Here is another oldie.................

Nice ones for sure mb. The Holley is stunning

MB - you sure you're not digging around in the mud by the Arabia Very nice knives Dimitri

tjmurphy wrote:MB - you sure you're not digging around in the mud by the Arabia

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

Thanks BH & Catt.

Here is another one you won`t see everyday. This is a Sam Wragg folding bowie, 5" long closed, the pen blade tip is missing, stag handles with the inset discs that were popular in this era. Take a look at the thread with the steamboat Arabia knives and you will see many different knives with these round nickle silver discs in the handles. The bonus on this knife is the fact that the blade face is stamped with a scene of two dogs chasing a buck, hunting scenes and patriotic themes and slogans were common on these knives made in England for the American market during this time. Also note there is no kick or choil, it is flat with the blade edge extending well beyond the tang.

Another great old piece of history there Dimitri, love it!
That blade etch is really unique too, what does it say exactly? I can make out..."Warranted not to...str...ke...."...?

Do those round nickel silver discs go all the way through the liners or are they just set into the stag?

Great knife!

313 Mike wrote:I can make out..."Warranted not to...str...ke...."...?

Strike the .....rest worn off

313 Mike wrote:Do those round nickel silver discs go all the way through the liners or are they just set into the stag?

They just go into the stag

Interesting thread. Hopefully we'll get to see some more rare ones. The ones already shown here are just fantastic.

Here's a large (5 3/8") whittler/dirk that could date to the Civil War era. It could possibly predate it. It was made by Samuel Jackson of Baltimore circa 1833-1870. The master blade has no nail nick. Instead, it has an unusual brass catch bit to push the blade partway open.

I may have one or two other Civil War era knives. I'll dig through my collection and see if I can find them.

Great looking knife Dave, thanks for posting it! Very intersting opening mechanism on that one. What is the handle material? Is the name on the shield of a previous owner, or does that relate to the manufacturer?
Mike

Thanks, Mike. The handles are ivory. The name on the shield is that of a previous owner, possibly the original owner. The name on the shield is "H Morton".

When Lincoln was killed, they found a pocket knife in his pocket. May have looked just like one of those. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

ken6 wrote:When Lincoln was killed, they found a pocket knife in his pocket. May have looked just like one of those. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

The knife Lincoln was carrying when he was killed was a 6-bladed congress made by William Gilchrist. It had ivory handles. Check out this link for some pics of it.

http://cutlerynewsjournal.wordpress.com ... ed-states/

These three date close to the civil war era. Joseph Haywood 1850-69, Nothhfield 1858-1919 (no UNXLD so before 1876) and Martin Bros. Sheffield, 1847-1860. Slim

This is the FOURTH time I've tried to post to this thread and after I download 4 pics the computer crashes so I'm going to try 3 pics and then post.Will take longer but will hopefully work.

This &*#$$$ Computer!!!!!!

One more try!!!!!!