All About Pocket Knives

Can you please tell me what brand these are?? All i know about them is 1st set of pics which looks like pearl or ivory,yellow composite??It measures 3 inches closed..itwas my uncles(who is 82) and he said it was his dads,no markings on tang worn off during the years,any ideas on brand or around what years or material? 2nd set of pics,which looks to be bone,was my grandfathers,again most of tang stamping not visable,but what i can see and read(very very little) may be camillus??Knife measures 3 10/16 closed.. all pics can be double clicked on to enlarge and magnify,thanks for any info Dave

1. that sure isn't ebony.
2. You can also scan your knives.
3. pearl is iradescent/glistens and has depth when you look at it.
4. Bone has small/tiny porous holes/dots-ivory doesn't.
5. Include some measurements with next group of photos. Or lay something next to the knife like a ruler.

NEW PICS LISTED,THANKS...ANY HELP APPRECIATED ON THESE 2

The shield and the handle material look look very much like Syracuse Knife Co.jmo

The first one looks like a celluloid handled Colonial. The second one looks like a bone handled Imperial cattle knife.

The only problem with trying to identify these knives by appearence only, is that the style is so common, it was made by several manufacturers, for instance, the shield style on the cell handled jack was also used by Imperial (it looks like it is stapled). The cattle knife is an extremely common style, the one shown could easily be a Camillus.

Anything without a tang stamp would be mostly a guess.

By the way, as for dates, I think the closest guess would be '30's or '40's for both of them.

thanks for the replys,at least that will get me into the books,and give me a good starting point...was just curious being knives passed down,my uncle of course long ago(he's 82)has forgotten (f his dad even told him)what kind of knife this was,he was from a very poor polish family who came here on one of the many boats in the late 1800"s,so im guessing its early celluloid(just guessing..but looking kinda that way)he had(get this)14 BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!!WOW....3 Died During the Epidemic/Depression.He is the only one now alive...God Bless Him,anyway thanks again and Merry CHRISTmas to all, any other replys are more than helpful

just my opinion---if you had something course enough to rub the black off the bottom of the tang on the larger blade you might be able to see exactly what kind they are....

i cleaned,cleaned and cleaned on the bone handled knife in question,i THINK the very bottom writing says cammilus,NY?? Is there a tang stamping which would read Cammilus cutlery(top tang)underneath reads Cammilus N.Y ?? Thanks again for the replys

OK,NOW IM CONFUSED,CAMILLUS HAS ONLY 1 M AND IT SEEMS I SEE TWO MM'S IN THE LOWER TANG STAMP,I CAN SEEM TO MAKE OUT SOMETHING N.Y...THAT SOMETHING HAS TWO MM"S IN IT...ANY IDEAS??SO I LEAST KNOW ITS A N.Y KNFE COMPANY,BUT THERE ARE SO MANY,ANY WITH TWO MM"S IN THERE NAME OR TANG STAMPINGS??BOTH MM"S ARE TOGETHER ON THE STAMPING,I WILL KEEP STUDYING IT WITH MY EYE LOUPE

OK,HERE IS MY BEST GUESS COMPLETE TANG STAMP READS CAMILLUS(VERY TOP) CUTLERY CO.(MIDDLE) CAMILLUS N.Y(UNDERNEATH)??SEEM RIGHT

IM 99% SURE ON THAT,IT ALL MAKES SENSE,I SEE ONE M IN THE STAMPING AND TWO LL CAMILLUS......DUHHHHH,ANYWAY THE COMPANY WAS STARTED BY A GERMAN IMMIGRANT AND EMPLOYED SOME GERMAN IMIGRANTS,MY GRANDFATHER WAS GERMAN AND HAD ALOT OF HIS FELLOW GERMANS AS FRIENDS,HE NEVER WORKED FOR CAMILLUS,BUT ODDS ARE THATS WERE HE AQUIRED THIS KNIFE.THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR THE HELP,WHAT A WONDER ALOT OF ELBOW GREASE AND EYE STRAINING CAN ACCOMPLISH ONE DOWN ONE TO GO,PROBLEM WITH THE SECOND I CANNOTT FIND ANY TANG STAMP WHATSOEVER

JRFAN1 wrote:OK,NOW IM CONFUSED,CAMILLUS HAS ONLY 1 M AND IT SEEMS I SEE TWO MM'S IN THE LOWER TANG STAMP,I CAN SEEM TO MAKE OUT SOMETHING N.Y...THAT SOMETHING HAS TWO MM"S IN IT...ANY IDEAS??SO I LEAST KNOW ITS A N.Y KNFE COMPANY,BUT THERE ARE SO MANY,ANY WITH TWO MM"S IN THERE NAME OR TANG STAMPINGS??BOTH MM"S ARE TOGETHER ON THE STAMPING,I WILL KEEP STUDYING IT WITH MY EYE LOUPE

If there are 2 M's it could possibly say,"HAMMER BRAND" which was a marking of the New York Knife Co.

OOPS Previously I posted that the top knife looked like a Syracuse knife Co. Today I found the knife. It is the exact same knife pictured. Right down to the shield. The tang is stamped Henry Sears over & son 1865.Goins' 1998 says this mark started in 1878. It goes on to say that in 1897 the firm was sold to Farwell-Ozmun-Kirk and Co,a hardware Co.in St. Paul Mn. L.G.#4 says that the son was named Edward. It also states that Farwell-Ozmun-Kirk was a hardware wholesaler.I stand self corrected.

first could be some kind of imperial or a camillus contract knife the second is an old imperial