All About Pocket Knives

This Kutmaster was at a Holloween Party in a poorly made Case Tested costume. No harm, no foul, everyone loves a costume party. But it's dang near Thanksgiving! And it appears this fella was so enamored of his outfit he decided to keep it on and sell himself on The Bay.

Thanks to Knifeaholic for the heads-up!

And to Herbva for his observations: wrong shield, wrong scales and slotted front bolsters. Perhaps some of our resident Case Ninjas can weigh in on the tang stamp.

Utica made contract knives for Case during the "&Sons" period and very possibly as far back as the short lived "Case Manufacturing" Era, although I'm going by one example I found in Sargents so I hesitate to make any claims. They may have eeked over into the Tested era but that's neither here nor there because we're talking here about a Kutmaster Toothpick here. And although these were probably constructed from the same dies as their Utica forbearers they have a distinctly lower gauge quality about them that makes the two fairly easy to distinguish.

"What its nots" are a dime a dozen in the vintage pocket knife universe unfortunately and to those of us who have been duped by them, as I have, they are always a little bit revolting because they call to mind the humiliation and anger and shame we felt when we first learned the awesome Case Tested we bought was in reality a thinly disguised KA-BAR or Queen or Kutmaster. This brings me to my point: the "What It actually Is" is often a perfectly good something else that deserves it's place in the world just as much as the thing some scoundrel dressed it up to be. I own a good half a dozen or more Kutmaster toothpick/ticklers. They're good, fairly well-made knives, honest as the day is long.

Faced with the great Depression, Companies were forced to find ways to swim in dicey economic waters. Kutmaster (formerly Utica) must have decided to cease making their top shelf knives and continue making the lower shelfers, which they had alway produced as a less costly alternative. The hafting wasn't as good and small but important touches like top grinds went by the wayside. But they still had the same--if not more-- gaudy charm some of us love in a toothpick and were just as good as the Colonials and Imperials that flooded the market during the thirties. They weren't Case knives but they fit the bill nicely as a dance knife, utility knife or fishing knife for folks just getting by. And they deserve their humble place in the history of the pattern as well as in the history of the American Made Pocket knives of the early-mid 20th Century.

Three Cheers for the Humble Kutmaster! A hearty "BOO!" to the snakes who poison our waters for a cheap buck.

Good informative post!

Robo, I enjoyed reading your informative and well written post.
I like this pattern and have a few of them but I would like to know what the pattern was designed for.
Surly, not just for dancing.
Do you have any information on the origin of the pattern?

FRJ wrote: ↑Fri Nov 22, 2019 5:28 pm ...but I would like to know what the pattern was designed for.
Surly, not just for dancing.
Do you have any information on the origin of the pattern?

I can't come up with anything right now but I have seen catalog cuts that clearly reference the 'minority' market, a knife sold to folk going dancing with a knife designed to be able to be used as a weapon if necessary and to show it off. When they use the word 'tickler,' I don't think they are advertising them as fishing knives.

Thanks, Cal.
I haven't seen any catalogs showing these knives.
I am surprised that they were designed as weapons.
I thought the "Tickler" name was collector lingo as often happens with folding cutlery.

"Tango" is an interesting etch I've seen on older toothpick knives.

FRJ wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 12:32 am Thanks, Cal.
I haven't seen any catalogs showing these knives.
I am surprised that they were designed as weapons.
I thought the "Tickler" name was collector lingo as often happens with folding cutlery.

FRJ: My short reply is that like a lot of knives there may not have been a specific purpose in mind for the pocket knife we tend to refer to as a Toothpick today. Wholesalers and jobbers simply responded to trends passed around via word of mouth either from salesmen or directly from the street. Some catalogs referred to them as outing knives, sportsmans knives, clasp knives chosing the simplest, vaugest terms. Others like Hibbard, Spencer, & Bartlett stacked up a multiplicity of uses for them in order to cover every possible base. Some were blunty racist in their descriptions, chosing to "identify" the color of the person most likely to use the knife rather than describing what the knife was meant for.

As far as the toothpick/tickler/Tango (BTRWTR--yes--my favorite name for these!) being used as a weapon: The important thing to bear in mind is that their popularity as such came before anything like a tactical "science" existed. So it may seem odd to we who live in the age of the tactical folder to think of a two hand opening, non-locking folder as a self-defence weapon. The fact is that although the last vestiges of the folding dirk like NYKco's "Keen Tickler" (The folding dirk itself the last vestige of the folding bowie) still existed at least until 1930 to some degree, the fact that it had a lock back made it more expensive than a toothpick which you could snag for 50 cents to a dollar if you bought a Imperial or a Colonial. And I believe toungue river hit the nail on the head when he spoke of toothpicks as being a knife to "show off". My feeling is like all defensive wepons from sword to bowie to the Italian autos of post WWII, their value to a great degree was symbolic. A kid carrying a "dance knife" was saying "I will defend my honer or the honer of my girlfriend" without actually saying it.

I've been meaning to write a lengthy post about this and your question has lit a fire under...me. So I'll end here and write that post and put it in a more appropriat forum. Thanks--as always!

Thank you for the response, Robo.
Again, interesting reading.

The toothpick was a substitute for a switch blade in that it could be opened extremely fast, using a unique method, by one familiar with the "trick".
Positioning the knife in the right hand fashioned in the manner you would normally use to open the knife, using only the right hand to open the knife, you would position your thumb nail in the nail nick and your first two fingers on the same hand tightly against the blade opposite you thumb on the other side of the blade. With slight pressure in an upward motion the blade would open just enough to expose the point. The knife would then be quickly brought across the seam of you Levi leg seam catching the slightly expose point and fully opening the knife. With practice this could be done lightning fast. Good alternative to the switch blade knives that were outlawed in most states. The toothpick was a cheap substitute, easily hidden in the hip pocket of you Levis and legal to carry. Getting a little to rambunctious on the dance floor would sometime result in the toothpick jumping out of the back pocket and join the owner on the dance floor. A little "stretch" on the last statement. "DANCE KNIFE"