All About Pocket Knives

Nothing special here. I got this old Hammer Brand cheap because one of the springs was broken. I just took it apart, cleaned it a little and put it back together as a one blade. Any idea how old this could be? We're they all pinned before they went to the shell handles?

I think shell handles first appeared in the late 1930s. They were conventionally pinned before that.

Thanks OC! I didn't realize it was that old.

I could be mistaken but I don't think the frame and blade were together originally. Looks like a late model Ulster with an Imperial blade added.

Thanks Gunsil! I'd have never guessed that. Anyway to tell for sure?

Hammer Brand was originally the top-of-the-line brand of New York Knife Company. NYK closed down circa 1932. After they closed Imperial was able to get the rights to the Hammer Brand name. Very much like it works today when a company goes out of business if it brand is very successful, there are probably multiple people waiting to purchase the brand name. Hammer Brand in its Heyday was one of the most successful brands of pocket knives in the United States. The name was synonymous in the minds of consumers with highest quality. Imperial used the name recognition of hammer brand and paired it with an inexpensive manufacturing method for a pocket knife, but they used good Steel. There were other companies who also used the shell handle construction method that did not necessarily use the highest quality of steel like that which was found in the Imperial Hammer brand knives.

Perhaps if you show a picture of the tang stamp we can figure out if it is a New York Knife Hammer Brand or an Imperial Hammer Brand.

However, I do agree that the frame looks like an Ulster frame.

"However, I do agree that the frame looks like an Ulster frame."
And with Ulster shrinky-dink covers?
Stewart Taylor had somebody (Bear & Son?) stamp some recent knives with Hammer Brand stamps. And Imperial Schrade Put out a little run of stag-handled patterns in the early 1990s with NYK stamps.

Here's a picture of the tang stamp. I appreciate you guy's knowledge! I can't believe I bought a counterfeit! I guess it could be that years ago somebody just used what parts they had to build a knife?

Probably not so many years ago. Many guys in the last twenty years swapping blades and frames, hell members here do it all the time. Some call it "modding". If you look at the bolster where the blade pin is it sure looks messed with, not something I like to see on a prospective purchase.

Thanks Gunsil. I didn't pay much for it. An antique store had a basket of like 3 for $10 that I got it out of. It was the first pinned Hammer Brand I'd seen. Good conversation peice anyway!