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Interesting piece of Western States Knife Lore
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:19 pm
by knifeaholic
I did not win this but it is an interesting item of Knife Lore. An envelope that was evidently used to send a knife back to the factory for resharpening - note the edge choices.
A great look back at the era when pocketknives were made and sold to be USED.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-WESTER ... true&rt=nc
Re: Interesting piece of Western States Knife Lore
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:01 pm
by coffeecup
One of my contacts who worked at Western in Boulder has said there were at least 4 variations of these: two from Western States, and two from Western. Both Western States envelopes had the same questions about sharpening; the major difference was a change in the address. The envelope on ebay is the earlier one. One of the Western envelopes had the same questions about sharpening. The other (probably later, but who knows?) just had the front printed, with nothing on the back.
When they moved the factory, apparently they found several boxes of each of these--as well as what has been described to me as a "truckload" of old catalogs, price lists, business cards, info for salesmen, etc. Most of it went to the dump. . . .
Re: Interesting piece of Western States Knife Lore
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:06 pm
by knife-nut
WENT TO THE DUMP! That's enough to make a grown man cry.
Re: Interesting piece of Western States Knife Lore
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:19 am
by Miller Bro's
Here are the auction pictures for posterity.
Re: Interesting piece of Western States Knife Lore
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:15 am
by coffeecup
Sot here I was, minding my own business, when out of the blue I get an email from some guy who says one of the old Western employees I occasionally correspond with mentioned that I might know where he could find a particular Western knife for his great-grandson. I sent off my spare spare of that pattern (an NIB S-901A scout knife), and he was ecstatic--he says it was made while he was working at the factory, on that line.
Since then, we've done some exchanges of email, etc. According to him, there was even
more stuff disposed of during the to Western Avenue from the original factory at 12th and Marine. But note carefully the wording:
coffeecup wrote:Most of it went to the dump. . . .
He took home a couple of pickup-loads of various stuff, as did some of the others. Over the years, some of it was given away, or thrown away when he relocated after retirement, but he's still got a good-sized cache. Someday I hope to visit just to see it all, and maybe get copies of the records he has.