All About Pocket Knives

I recently acquired this small bone handled EO knife.
It is only largely marked U.S.A. on the main blade.
This looks to be a high quality made knife.
I can't imagine the knife being one of those cheap five and dime knives you could get that were stamped USA.
I'm wondering if this could even be maybe an issued WII military knife?

Any info would be appreciated.

JW~

Probably Imperial

Great knife and you're correct, it's not a cheap knife.

The knife was made for the United States Army during WWII and that is what the "U.S.A." on the tang denotes, not United States of America.

Looks like a knife made by The Robeson Cutlery Company of Rochester and Perry, New York.

I collect Robesons and I know they made these EO's because I have had one or two.

The way I recognize the knives as Robeson products is the bone, which can be found very commonly on Robeson pocketknives made for sale to the general public.

I'll post a pic of my knife. I bought this knife in a box-lot auction on Ebay. It was not identified as a Robeson. I bought the lot based solely on the bone in a group photo.

Charlie Noyes

i concur with charlie,,,,,,,,robeson. i have three just like that, two have the robeson name and the third just has usa.

I do too after looking at the bone handles. "Read the knife, not the stamp"

As a new member, I am amazed by the knowledge of the denizens of this forum. I think I'll stick around.

tjmurphy wrote:I do too after looking at the bone handles. "Read the knife, not the stamp"

your are right to say its an imperial. they also made some of their eo's with just the usa tang stamp. but it the proof here, as you have said, is in the handles.

Thanks people~
I thought it might be Military issued.
It's a nice little knife.
The knife is in perfect working order.
Handles have no chips or cracks.
The knife was used as it needed a good sharpening.
Main blade is a little worn down but that is to be expected.

Thanks again for the info...........

JW~

One with blade etch. Picture should enlarge

Stockman

Nice knife Stockman. I guess that was made by Camillus or....?

Charlie

stockman, charlie, they are beauties

As are the two you posted. The bone on those two look almost like they were from the same lot.

Charlie Noyes

RobesonsRme.com wrote:Nice knife Stockman. I guess that was made by Camillus or....?

Charlie

Hello Charlie Camillus or Robeson? Robeson for sure!!

Harold

Stockman, you may be right. I was never aware of Robeso made Kingston knives before. Looking at that bone, while it is not quite the same as the other knives posted here, certainly enlightens me to the probability of a Robeson/Kingston alliance.

That, too, is a form of Robeson bone.

Very nice knife and etched to boot.

Charlie

RobesonsRme.com wrote:Stockman, you may be right. I was never aware of Robeso made Kingston knives before. Looking at that bone, while it is not quite the same as the other knives posted here, certainly enlightens me to the probability of a Robeson/Kingston alliance.

That, too, is a form of Robeson bone.

Very nice knife and etched to boot.

Charlie

This may be an exception since "KINGSTON" is inked out on the blade , but Kingston , Ellenville , N.Y. was a trademark of a joint venture between Ulster / Imperial and Kingston USA was a trademark of D. Devine & Sons & Ulster according to C. Houston Price .

Bob

Yup, I`m a little lost here....as just said, Kingston was associated with Imperial, Dwight Devine, etc, just how did Robeson get in the mix with these knives which I had always thought were either made by Imperial or Camillus?

Bob

I'm looking purely at the bone, which is very similar to some Robeson bone of the time.

I am in no way claiming that bone to be exclusive to Robeson.

Charlie

knives-are-quiet wrote:I recently acquired this small bone handled EO knife.
It is only largely marked U.S.A. on the main blade.
This looks to be a high quality made knife.
I can't imagine the knife being one of those cheap five and dime knives you could get that were stamped USA.
I'm wondering if this could even be maybe an issued WII military knife?

Any info would be appreciated.

JW~

Camillus made a knife marked like that for the US army,that may be what you have.I will see if I can find the information for you.

RobesonsRme.com wrote:I'm looking purely at the bone, which is very similar to some Robeson bone of the time.

I am in no way claiming that bone to be exclusive to Robeson.

Charlie

Very interesting stuff here.


Bob

knifetime wrote:

knives-are-quiet wrote:I recently acquired this small bone handled EO knife.
It is only largely marked U.S.A. on the main blade.
This looks to be a high quality made knife.
I can't imagine the knife being one of those cheap five and dime knives you could get that were stamped USA.
I'm wondering if this could even be maybe an issued WII military knife?

Any info would be appreciated.

JW~

Camillus made a knife marked like that for the US army,that may be what you have.I will see if I can find the information for you.[/quote]



Camillus made a utility knife marked "Made In USA" for Sears. The ones made for the Army had U.S.A. stamped on the shield and had a four-line stamp. Imperial did use a simple "USA" stamp.

My Knife??-------Charlies Knife Robeson

Stockman

Robeson Cutlery Co: Roberson USA, made by Camillus 1965 to 1971.(Blade's Guides To Knives and Their Value )

Really neat knives and nice to learn from those that take their time to help out others.

My personal observation on these Navy utility knives from the WWII era is that the ones marked U.S.A. on the master blade were all made by Robeson.

The others made by "Kingston" are marked on the pen blade U.S.A., or the pen blade is blank and they are marked on the master blade "Made in the U.S.A.".

Also if you look at the E.O. notch Robeson cuts the bone right to the bolster on almost all of them, other companies usually left a little bone between the notch and the bolster.

Robeson made both of those knives, IMO