All About Pocket Knives

A recent post featuring an old solid bolster Imperial got me to thinking about them. I amassed quite a few of these back when I was collecting knives because they were well made and not of any specific brand. The old Imperial knives never disappointed me and great examples could be had for very reasonable money as no one really cared about them.
Going through mine and doing some re-photographing I found some interesting variations.For instance some of the curved can openers are stamped,"Can Opener" and one I have has a patent number below the stamping while still another has,"patent pending" underneath. There are at least four different leather punches featured including one that is two piece! Some of the non Scout utilities feature a pen blade in lieu of a punch blade.The screwdriver/cap lifter comes in at least 3 sizes.Some have pinned bails while others have snap on(wire)bails that usually disappear.I won't even get into the number of shield variations as well as tang stamps.
Of all the ones I photographed today probably the most unusual(to me anyway)is the 3 blade with the shield stamped,"Kamp King". This is the first time I have ever seen a Kamp King with solid bolsters. I have several of them with the shell bolsters including my grandfather's which was the first knife I ever cut myself with at the age of eight!
Anyway here goes the pictures;I hope you enjoy them and feel free to add any you might have.

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five The IKCO with two different color handles may have been a salesman's sample.

Great variety of old Imperials, Ray! I really like the second one on the second page, with the large clip and the serrated sheepsfoot. I don't really like serrated blades, but on that one it seems to fit.
Dan

danno50 wrote:Great variety of old Imperials, Ray! I really like the second one on the second page, with the large clip and the serrated sheepsfoot. I don't really like serrated blades, but on that one it seems to fit.
Dan

I was a bit hesitant to post that one as the master blade isn't stamped but it has all the earmarks of an Imperial.If you look closely at the serrations you will notice there is a mis-cut tooth about two thirds of the way down the blade. Someone else posted an identical knife on one of the forums here awhile ago that had the exact defect! Here is a closeup of the blade.

Those serrated blades like that, were they for dog grooming? Something seems to ring a bell.
Treefarmer

treefarmer wrote:Those serrated blades like that, were they for dog grooming? Something seems to ring a bell.
Treefarmer

I believe the dog grooming blades had a little more pronounced tooth to them such as this one;although I suppose they could have been used for that purpose.

Interesting historical bunch of Imperials, Ray. Of the ones posted my favorites are on page five: the first and third cracked ice jacks - the ones with bolsters. I like the nice swedged clip blades with the long pulls on those. I do not know if that cracked ice material is a kind of celluloid or not, but it has certainly held up well.

K7K,
There is quite a difference in the teeth on the that "stockman" compared to the one we are discussing. Back to the 1st serrated blade, the tooth count is about 24 per inch like a metal cutting hacksaw blade and appears to not to be directional. What do you think such a blade was intended to cut?
Treefarmer

Dinadan wrote:Interesting historical bunch of Imperials, Ray. Of the ones posted my favorites are on page five: the first and third cracked ice jacks - the ones with bolsters. I like the nice swedged clip blades with the long pulls on those. I do not know if that cracked ice material is a kind of celluloid or not, but it has certainly held up well.

The first one with the greenish tinted handles is indeed a beautiful little knife.The serpentine is pretty decent although it does show a bit of shrinkage. The one above it with the blue handles originally had cracked ice handles but they were deteriorating so I replaced them with some blue Plexiglass I had left over from a job.And yes they are celluloid.

treefarmer wrote:K7K,
There is quite a difference in the teeth on the that "stockman" compared to the one we are discussing. Back to the 1st serrated blade, the tooth count is about 24 per inch like a metal cutting hacksaw blade and appears to not to be directional. What do you think such a blade was intended to cut?
Treefarmer

I'm not really sure of the intent of those teeth;a sheepfoot blade isn't really suited to cut anything that would require serrations such as steak or some other meat. What I cannot understand is how two knives got out of the factory with the identical fault in the blade. I'm going to have to search and find out who posted that other knife.

knife7knut wrote:I'm not really sure of the intent of those teeth;a sheepfoot blade isn't really suited to cut anything that would require serrations such as steak or some other meat.

Schrade, the eventual owner of the Imperial brand (or vice versa depending on your perspective) thought otherwise:

You guys have some nice Imperials! They certainly made some fine knives in their early years. I looked through my pile and I have 5 old school Imperials. The top four all have the two line marking dating 1935-1945 per Goin's. The Barlow on the bottom has the earlier curved stamp dating it to 1917-1925.

knife7knut wrote:

Dinadan wrote:Interesting historical bunch of Imperials, Ray. Of the ones posted my favorites are on page five: the first and third cracked ice jacks - the ones with bolsters. I like the nice swedged clip blades with the long pulls on those. I do not know if that cracked ice material is a kind of celluloid or not, but it has certainly held up well.

The first one with the greenish tinted handles is indeed a beautiful little knife.The serpentine is pretty decent although it does show a bit of shrinkage. The one above it with the blue handles originally had cracked ice handles but they were deteriorating so I replaced them with some blue Plexiglass I had left over from a job.And yes they are celluloid.

I also like the one that you replaced the handles on, but the swedge made the difference! Regarding the green tint on the knife, that passed me by. I am partially colorblind, and I am never confident about subtle green and red tints.

Dinadan wrote:
I also like the one that you replaced the handles on, but the swedge made the difference! Regarding the green tint on the knife, that passed me by. I am partially colorblind, and I am never confident about subtle green and red tints.

Many of my customers are afflicted with color blindness;some more than others.As someone who works with colors all the time I am glad that I am not.In my line of work not only do I have to get an accurate replication of a particular shade of color but I also have to take into account that it dries slightly darker than when it is wet so I have to compensate for that.
One of the worst times I ever had was trying to affect the proper shade of gray(to match the leather upholstery)on a vintage truck that was painted Sea Foam Green.No matter what I did it came out looking purple. I finally gave up trying and used another shade of green and white. Gray is probably the most difficult to match as there are many different over tones such as a green,red,brown,or blue component. Probably why most art schools spend an entire year just working with shades of gray.

Very nice, K7K. I am gaining a whole new appreciation for the older IMPERIALS. I've not got very many but as I scan ebay I pay a little more attention to the IMPERIALS now.

This one goes here....

I like that one, Scott!
Dan

Thought I would post this one up even though it has no bolsters.The stamp on the master blade isn't listed in the Imperial tang stamp list but the one on the secondary blade is(#3).The master blade stamp is the,"IMPERIAL KNIFE CO" in all capital letters on two lines.Black waterfall celluloid scales are a bit unusual as well.Probably one of the earliest Imperial knives.

Hey GUYS, Great GREAT knives from ALL of you!!! Do you guys COLLECT these Early IMPERIAL's or just buy/sell/trade them??
I only have 1 Nice Early Imperial in a TUFF TUFF Pattern to find if anyone is interested (knife7knut??)
Its Been in my "Keeper drawer" for at least 2yrs now(Probably longer, LOL),,,I suppose I am ready to let someone else Play with it and LOVE on it AND who can appreciate Imperial's,,,I KNOW I sure do. LOVE Love them IKCo brand knives Also,,,Probably one of my personal favorites that I dont tell everyone, LOL hahahaha
Please PM me if anyone is interested,,,Knife stays in my Keeper drawer AND IS Not going to ebay or my AAPK store. It Will Only go to "Knife guys" on here that will appreciate it. If you DONT know what Pattern it is,,,Well then YOU better start studying up my friend. Those knifenuts like US know EXACTLY what it is, LMAO!!!!! Isnt that right guys???? HAHAHAHAH
Kind Regards,
Mark

Here are a couple of solid bolstered Imperials from the 30's,very well made

Hey Guys, Here is my Early Imperial IKCo stamped Harness Jack. Goins dates the knife 1928-30 right?? Its got that Triangle IKCo stamping
Thx Mark

That is one outstanding old HJ, Mark!

Here's my humble hoard of pre-clamshell Imperials, minus one or two electrician's knives and an ad knife or two...