All About Pocket Knives

While going through my fixed blade knives I came across this one I got years ago at a flea market.Stamped "Western Auto Supply Co. Pat.# 1,967,47_(can't read the last number).I have a feeling it was made by Western due to the style of the double riveted pommel(indicating a split tang).Don't think they were affiliated with Western Auto Supply(not even sure that company still exists;I remember them in the 1950's).
Anyone have any info on these knives or have one? This is the only one I have ever seen.

Made by Western alright. That bifurcated tang is a dead giveaway. Looks to be one of the 39 patterns (L39, W39, etc). I'd say an SFO for Western Auto from the late '40s or 1950s and of course I remember them.

Wikipedia:
Western Auto Supply was started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine, who later founded Pepperdine University.[2]

Western Auto was bought by Beneficial Corporation in 1961; Western Auto's management led a leveraged buyout in 1985, leading three years later to a sale to Sears. Sears sold most of the company to Advance Auto Parts in 1998, and by 2003, the resulting merger had led to the end of the Western Auto brand and its product distribution network.

jerryd6818 wrote:Made by Western alright. That bifurcated tang is a dead giveaway. Looks to be one of the 39 patterns (L39, W39, etc). I'd say an SFO for Western Auto from the late '40s or 1950s and of course I remember them.

Wikipedia:
Western Auto Supply was started in 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri, by George Pepperdine, who later founded Pepperdine University.[2]

Western Auto was bought by Beneficial Corporation in 1961; Western Auto's management led a leveraged buyout in 1985, leading three years later to a sale to Sears. Sears sold most of the company to Advance Auto Parts in 1998, and by 2003, the resulting merger had led to the end of the Western Auto brand and its product distribution network.

Jerryd that's a nifty piece of info I remember those Western Auto stores and unfortunately Beneficial Finance as well.

Where I grew up they had one and they sold guns and televisions. One near my now has the old sign on the building but is a bicycle shop. We even had a Coast To Coast hardware store.

The Western Auto stores was my favorite store when I was a yonker they sold everything a kid could want or an adult for that matter. My first bike was bought there, my first pocket knife that I bought was bought there, little red western flyer wagon, always wanted one of those pedal cars but I guess they wasn't in Santa's buget. When l was older my mouth would water looking at those Revelation shotguns. Dads first power mower was bought there and on and on.We went to town on Saturday and most of the time besides a trip to the grocery store Western auto was generally on the agenda. Thanks for the memories.

bighomer wrote:We went to town on Saturday and most of the time besides a trip to the grocery store Western auto was generally on the agenda. Thanks for the memories.

For us it was a stop at Sears and then the grocery store. When I lived in Belvidere in '79-'85, they still had a Western Auto store. Every time I stopped there looking for something, it was like stepping back in time. It just had that old time "feel".

Jerry our town was to small for Sears and Roebuck store but we had the catalog, my first shotgun came from there. The catalog made some fair toilet paper after they sent a new one. Aahh those was the days.

bighomer wrote:Jerry our town was to small for Sears and Roebuck store but we had the catalog, my first shotgun came from there. The catalog made some fair toilet paper after they sent a new one. Aahh those was the days.

Well, we lived in Evansville at the time I'm referring to. Other places we lived, the Sears catalog had many uses in the little house out behind the big house (even the slick colored pages).

Looks like the blade is a tad over 4", so that would make it a model 40. That handle style, with "pearl and amber composite", would be a model 240.

That handle style came out post-WW2, starting around 1948. Since there is a patent number reference on the blade, that would make it not later than early 1953.

The various model 39s have a 5" blade.

Thanks to all who posted with information AND memories! The town I grew up in didn't have a Western Auto store(or a Sears)so we had to depend on a couple of local hardware stores for everything.
The town was pretty spread out so one of the stores(Allen's Hardware where I bought my first knife at the age of ten which I still have)was known as Cliftondale Square in the southern part and Saugus Centre in the northern section where Adlington's Hardware was located.There were two other gathering spots but they only had a small store or two.
As my grandfather shopped at Allen's because he knew the Allen brothers well that was where I would go. As an aside the younger of the two(Lloyd Allen)is still alive as far as I know at the age of 106 and still remembers not only my grandfather(whom he greatly respected)but remembers me and my fascination with knives as a kid!
To go to a Western Auto store we needed to travel to the city of Lynn Massachusetts(the next town over).We made that trek over there just before Christmas when I was eight years old to buy my first new bicycle. Up until then I had been riding an old bike that my grandfather had ressurrected from somewhere and was in pretty sad shape.The balloon tires were starting to crack from age and he figured it would probably be cheaper in the long run just to buy a new bike.
The bike was a J.C.Higgins model painted red and black with white striping on the fenders and a simulated gas tank under the main bar that had a button on the side that operated a very sick sounding horn. Powered by a D cell battery(which never lasted very long)it was barely audible.
I remember very well setting it up with baseball cards clipped to the frame with spring clothespins that flapped when they hit the spokes and made a sound like(to us)a motorcycle. I also remember the first time I hit a rock in the road and it sent me flying off and the bike crashing to the ground;putting a scrape on the fender and a dent in the tank. I was more worried about that than my bloody elbow and arm filled with gravel.
Sorry to get off on a side track but reading of your memories brought these out in me. I've been thinking a lot about life recently as I have lost several very dear friends in the past couple months.Thinking about some good memories helps one get through the bad ones.

J.C. Higgins was THE Sears sporting Goods line for the late 1940s and 1950s. Replaced by the Ted Williams line in the early 60s.

Western, Case and Schrade (IIRC) made various Higgins stamped knives.

I had a nice bright red 11 hp Western Auto Lawn Tractor that I bought used in 1983 and used it until 1999. That's when I sold it for more than I paid in 1983. And I wish I had it back. The one near here sold appliances, lawn equipment, and tractor parts. I loved the place.

Western Auto sold also musical equipment under their Truetone label. Some, if not all, were made by Kay. I have a 60s Truetone bass that was definitely made by Kay. It has the distinctive Kay "Hatchet headstock". Stock photo