All About Pocket Knives

..just got a #72 pattern Camillus whittler marked-mark side of primary-"sword brand". pile side of primary-Camillus 4 line stamp. no markings on secondaries. all 3 liners worked. bowtie shield and smooth brown(molasses) bone handles. anyone out there got one like this???..I've never seen another one like it......... ..............

carrmillus wrote:..just got a #72 pattern Camillus whittler marked-mark side of primary-"sword brand". pile side of primary-Camillus 4 line stamp. no markings on secondaries. all 3 liners worked. bowtie shield and smooth brown(molasses) bone handles. anyone out there got one like this???..I've never seen another one like it......... ..............

I don't have one.
Jerry might.( I have not seen him post for a few days )

Grant

I've never seen a 72 like that. Iirc the 72 first appeared in the 1946 catalogues. Doesn't the 4 line stamp pre date '46? Maybe they made the pattern before they introduced it as the 72?

..it's not stamped "72", but it's identical except for the worked liners and the stamping!!..... ........

..according to goin's, 4line stamping on main blade only-1941-1946......... ...........

WOW, just so weird to have Jerry not chime in.....so weird it's almost not right.

Unfortunately I don't see Jerry coming around anytime soon......so sad. Hmmm.

What happened to Jerry? I've been waiting on him to show up. I wanted to ask him a question.

carrmillus wrote:..according to goin's, 4line stamping on main blade only-1941-1946......... ...........

IMHO, Goins got it wrong on the 4 line stamp starting in 1941.

Tom Williams, (the late Historian for Camillus Cutlery Company), was also of the opinion that the 4 line stamp went well back into the 1930s, maybe even earlier.
Although Tom and I discussed the Camillus tang stamps at length on several occasions, in one of our first discussions on the topic was in a telephone interview I had with him on February 16th, 2010. In that interview Tom said the use of the 4 line stamp was prior to the beginning of WWII.

I am not sure exactly when the 4 line stamp was introduced but I am confident it was well before 1941, on that Tom & I agreed.

....guess I didn't "tell" my question correctly!!...4 line stamp was started in 1919. 1919-1941 it was used on all blades-1941-1946 it was used on 1 blade only, along with the "sword brand" stamp. what I was trying to determine was when did they first offer the"72" pattern-this one I have has the 4 line stamp on the pile side of the master, and the sword brand stamp on the mark side side!!, which dates this "72" to 1941-1946????................didn't think they made this pattern that early???.................. ...........................

Jerry is the expert of the #72 pattern, and I think Jerry believes that the #72 was introduced after the war. I have no reason to disagree with him.
We need to get Jerry on this thread.

I have 24 72's and their clones. Including two of the type that Jerry refers to as first generation. But none look like that! Have any pictures? I exchanged a couple of e-mails with Jerry just a little over a week ago. Maybe I should e-mail him tomorrow and see how he is doing.

Randy

#goldpan wrote:I have 24 72's and their clones. Including two of the type that Jerry refers to as first generation. But none look like that! Have any pictures? I exchanged a couple of e-mails with Jerry just a little over a week ago. Maybe I should e-mail him tomorrow and see how he is doing.

Randy

Has Jerry been ill? If so, I'm sorry to hear that.

Mark

......I'm about ready to give up on this one!!!.....with the sword brand and 4 line stamp, bowtie shield and worked liners, I've decided it's got to be 1919-1941 according to goin's!!........... .............

Tommy I can't place my hands on it now, but I've seen old pics that predate the 72 that look identical. I don't remember who made them, but I believe the pattern is much older than the model number.

.......what all this boils down to is, when was the "72" pattern introduced??...apparently it was before WW2??................ ..................

IMO the pattern existed before it was called the 72 which was born in 1946. I'm not sure who was the first to make it.

.......i think you are right, col., and the stampings on this one confirm it!!.......... ............

Randy asked to see a pic of it, it's the bottom one of these 2, which Tom purchased from me.

Thanks for posting the picture Steel Now I have another one to keep an eye out for!

Randy

Colonel26 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2016 5:22 pm IMO the pattern existed before it was called the 72 which was born in 1946. I'm not sure who was the first to make it.

Agree with you on the pattern and believe it to be as old as 1920 s or older at least thru Camillus .
Believe there are 2 different model numbers ,or more ,that came before the 72. Still talking about the swell center 3 blade , 3 5/8 inches long .
A black handled one # 248
A Stag handled one #247 .
These both have Secondary blades opposite the main .
Still not sure of the one Steel showed in bottom pic here . It looks to be a 1 st gen 72 model number . they didn’t put model numbers on until the short line era . does anyone have a idea if Camillus actually called it a 72 ? Or did they have a 3 digit number for it ?.
Here’s a pic of what I believe to be a 248

Very sweet old Whittler. I'm not sure when the model #'s showed up. I have a couple they made for Sears in that model but not the condition of yours. Thanks for sharing.

Camillus started the model numbering consisting of one or two digits in 1946. Before that, there was a four-digit numbering. At the same time, the pattern numbers used for production remained unchanged.
For example, a pruner knife (pattern #07) until 1946 had a model number #1001, and in 1946 it became #1.
I do not know what the model numbers of the knives were made according to the pattern #55 before 1946, but after that they were #72, #1047 (BSA number), etc.
Those three-digit numbers that we see in old catalogs are usually the internal numbers of the hardware companies that sold the knives.

Vit_213 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:34 pm Camillus started the model numbering consisting of one or two digits in 1946. Before that, there was a four-digit numbering. At the same time, the pattern numbers used for production remained unchanged.
For example, a pruner knife (pattern #07) until 1946 had a model number #1001, and in 1946 it became #1.
I do not know what the model numbers of the knives were made according to the pattern #55 before 1946, but after that they were #72, #1047 (BSA number), etc.
Those three-digit numbers that we see in old catalogs are usually the internal numbers of the hardware companies that sold the knives.

That makes perfect sense .
Thank you Vit . Never thought of the 3 digits being hardware store numbers .
So much to learn ,appreciate the info.

The blade configuration of the first gen 72 was definitely used by Camillus long before the 72 was introduced in 1946. Here's one I have with the Sword Brand on the mark side and a 4 line stamp on the pile side. The only difference is the regular nail nick on the master.

gsmith7158 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 12:10 am The blade configuration of the first gen 72 was definitely used by Camillus long before the 72 was introduced in 1946. Here's one I have with the Sword Brand on the mark side and a 4 line stamp on the pile side. The only difference is the regular nail nick on the master.

Dang Greg you amaze me with your knowledge and the knives you keep showing us newbies . with both those tang stamps it’s definitely before 1946 . So with those stamps it could go back as far as the 1920 s ?
Thanks for posting that old knife. Another one to find for the Sword brand pile .