All About Pocket Knives

Holley claimed they were the earliest knife manufacturer in the U.S., maybe. There was another company making knives earlier, of all places in the state of Maine, but I cannot find any evidence they made pocket knives just kitchen knives and the like. In any case they are one of the earliest makers of pocket cutlery in this country.

The quality from beginning,(1844), till their end 1930`s?, was very high.
If you have ever held one in your hands and examined it carefully you would certainly agree. I have been fortunate to own several over the years and I have not seen one I did not like yet. They made virtually every pattern know at the time, there are in existence several photo cards showing the actual knives they displayed in the worlds fair and very deservingly won gold medals for manufacturing them.

There is a lot of information already online and in books documenting their history from inception till their demise so I won`t go into detail here.

I was lucky to find this one recently, a lock back hunter, and it renewed my interest in this company and their fine knives. Some of the others I have posted before but will include them here for posterity.

What I would like is to see are any knives you may have in your collection made by Holley, good or bad I like `em all.

Dimitri, I've never seen a Holly up for sale and I doubt I could afford it if I did. This is a great posting of some beautiful old knives. Thanks.

Thanks for looking Jerry, I appreciate the feedback

Dimitri, I owned one and traded it. My mistake!!

Harold

Been there Harold

You still have a picture of it?

MB those are topshelf.

Nice knives, Dimitri

I have a couple that I have had for several years. Could never bring myself to sell them.


Tom

...I still want to see one of the holley charter oak knives??...anybody ever seen one??..I read somewhere it's supposed to be the rarest collectible knife there is!!...... ...........

Nice old knives, Dimitri, great find on the hunter! I also really like the photo of the lineup of old Holley knives.
Dan

I had a very nice large frame Holley coke bottle jack with a beautiful, but grey, heavy sabre-cut clip blade. I got it at a trade day in northeast Alabama and eventually traded it to Joe Seale for a Robeson toothpick in mint condition.

There was a knife on Ebay some time back purporting to be a Charter Oak. It certainly did look like one. They wanted major dollars for it, but I do not think it sold.

We discussed it here extensively and I'm pretty sure the Ebay photos wee posted as well.

As far as I know, no Holley knife has ever been found with the Salisbury tang stamp. Lakeville was originally Salisbury and Holley started before the date of the name change.

I think a Salisbury marked knife would eclipse a Charter Oak.

Charlie

Very nice looking knives. Like Jerry I've never seen one in the flesh, but I sure do like looking at y'all's pictures!

carrmillus wrote:.I still want to see one of the holley charter oak knives??...anybody ever seen one??..I read somewhere it's supposed to be the rarest collectible knife there is!!......

Here you go Tommy:

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 35&t=38816

I personally looked at this knife from the guy that listed it on e-bay at our local knife show in 2013 or last year IIRC. The knife is legit as far as I am concerned and it was a pleasure to be able to examine one in hand.

peanut740 wrote:MB those are topshelf.

Thanks!

olderdogs1 wrote:Nice knives, Dimitri

I have a couple that I have had for several years. Could never bring myself to sell them.


Tom

I don`t blame you Tom, I would hang on to them myself Thanks for showing them

danno50 wrote:Nice old knives, Dimitri, great find on the hunter! I also really like the photo of the lineup of old Holley knives.
Dan

Thanks Dan, that is quite a line up of knives in that photo!

Miller Bro`s wrote:

carrmillus wrote:.I still want to see one of the holley charter oak knives??...anybody ever seen one??..I read somewhere it's supposed to be the rarest collectible knife there is!!......

Here you go Tommy:

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 35&t=38816

I personally looked at this knife from the guy that listed it on e-bay at our local knife show in 2013 or last year IIRC. The knife is legit as far as I am concerned and it was a pleasure to be able to examine one in hand.

...the tree was blown down in a storm in 1856, and I read somewhere that holley obtained some of the wood to make the charter oak knives?????............ ...........

Loved the aged handles on that lockback hunter Dimitri. Beautiful knife.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne

Here is another large knife, 4 3/4" closed.

Can you tell I don`t like to polish `em?

Great thread MB and beautiful Holleys posted so far...

I'll throw this Holley Ebony Hunter up though it is also posted under the Traditional Hunters thread so just 2 photos here - This Hunter is the twin "wooden legged" brother of MB's ivory handled knife just above - even the shield... but mine has a lanyard hole...
MB - Check the blade on this old folding lock back dirk (this was made to be a dirk based on fit in liners and I don't believe it was sharpened down to look like a dirk - look at swedge) - integral liners with bolster on this one but no tang stamp that I can find.. nice worn stag handles - doesn't that blade look similar to the first one you posted?? Long swedge and nail nick very similar... does that Holley by chance have integral liners and bolsters?? I always assumed mine was Sheffield made based on the liners/bolster... I did find this on a local hunt in CT though
Have at least 3 more Holleys but need to get photos.. just realized I never took photos of them yet ... anyway once things settle abit over the holidays I'll get them done and up here...

Good to see you Dimitri,happy Christmas to me.Great thraed.

I'll get to posting a couple.Here is one now,but the other I don't have pictured yet.

I think this is the only farmers jack I have( or seen) with the nail notch for the spey (budding blade) blade.I'd love to have the other two listed,especially the one with pruner, budding,and pen blade.My new quest.

In the regular pruner section of the catalog,a slim version of the larger pruning blades is called a peach pruning blade.

LongBlade wrote:MB - Check the blade on this old folding lock back dirk (this was made to be a dirk based on fit in liners and I don't believe it was sharpened down to look like a dirk - look at swedge) - integral liners with bolster on this one but no tang stamp that I can find.. nice worn stag handles - doesn't that blade look similar to the first one you posted?? Long swedge and nail nick very similar... does that Holley by chance have integral liners and bolsters?? I always assumed mine was Sheffield made based on the liners/bolster...

That one has Sheffield written all over it and early too, nice knife

No, the Holley I posted does not have integral bolsters/liners.

I really like the ebony handle hunter you posted Lee, can`t wait to see the others you have!

Nice to see you too again Lyle

That`s a real beauty, and a rare pattern to find with a Holley stamp!

Keep your eyes open and your fingers crossed for finding the other two patterns, there out there somewhere

Longblade the stag is incredible on that dirk. It is so impressive that I believe I remember seeing it before on another thread (and at my age I don't remember much) and Lyle that Farmers jack is beautiful. I have a few Holleys I'll have to get pictures of. One of my favorite knives is a Holley Rip Van Winkle that I showed a catalog picture of to my wife as my dream knife that I would never own, and 6 months later I stumbled into one and didn't have to mortgage anything to get it.__Dave

Great knives all, this is a wonderful holiday thread. Dimitri, I have never before seen any pictures of the 1876 display that you posted. That is wonderful. I would love to see the whole thing!!!

Beechtree wrote:Great knives all, this is a wonderful holiday thread. Dimitri, I have never before seen any pictures of the 1876 display that you posted. That is wonderful. I would love to see the whole thing!!!

Me too.