All About Pocket Knives

Gone2Three wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:13 pm Hello friends,
I'm asking for help to identify the maker of this old toothpick knife.
It was a little rough when it arrived. I took a few pictures before and after
It measures 8 1/2 inches open and 5 closed. It's possible that the blade might have been slightly longer at one point in it's lifetime.
Tried the pencil to remove the rust initially but not able to determine a stamping... after cleaning up, still nothing definable remaining of a makers stamp
Hope there may be some other way of identifying, maybe by the bone that can determine manufacturer
Solid snap, no wobble, brass pins and liners, beautiful bone and nickle silver bolsters
Thanks
Randy

Robo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 09, 2024 7:20 am

Gone2Three wrote: ↑Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:13 pm Hello friends,
I'm asking for help to identify the maker of this old toothpick knife.
It was a little rough when it arrived. I took a few pictures before and after
It measures 8 1/2 inches open and 5 closed. It's possible that the blade might have been slightly longer at one point in it's lifetime.
Tried the pencil to remove the rust initially but not able to determine a stamping... after cleaning up, still nothing definable remaining of a makers stamp
Hope there may be some other way of identifying, maybe by the bone that can determine manufacturer
Solid snap, no wobble, brass pins and liners, beautiful bone and nickle silver bolsters
Thanks
Randy

Making a correction so anyone coming across this post in the future won't be mislead. This is a Toothpick/Tickler made by Utica. It is not a Remington (not even close). Utica made contract knives for a lot of wholesale hardware companies in the 20s-30s. So you'll often find them with a name other than Utica on their tangs "Hibbard Spencer Bartlet," for instance, or "Henry Sears". They also made contract knives for Cutlery Companies like "WR Case & Sons" or "Challenge," for instance, a common practice. Company "A" would contract out to Company "B" to help fill in gaps when over whelmed with large orders or to provide their customers with a pattern that they didn't produce.

Almost all knife sellers on Ebay or here, etc., don't-- or can't-- distinguish between contract knives and the Company on the tang stamp. As a toothpick pattern collector I've learned to identify the toothpick patterns of 21 or so companies. (This is also good for picking out counterfiets. See my posts in the counterfeit section)

Some companies would order knives with no tang stamp and have their name etched on the blade. The etch usually wears off after years leaving a mystery knife. The first Toothpick I bought like this was-- as it turned out--a Utica! It took me at least a year to solve the mystery, but it was a thrill when I finally solved it! A big part of the hobby to me is being able to identify any toothpick I come across.

There are huge gaps and question marks in correctly identifying knives made by the the old cutlery companies. Serious collectors need to work on solving these mysteries. So, at the risk of sounding like a kill joy, may I suggest that we clearly state if we are just taking a wild guess in order to make a friendly reply to a member looking to ID his or her knife? We need to clarify, not confuse. Cheers!

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:23 pm I'm thinking it may not be a Remington. I don't own one at present, but the ones I've seen have a more rounded pivot bolster. Yours seems a bit more asymmetrically shaped. The nail nick is also slightly smaller from what I've seen. That blade may be a replacement, given it's overall condition it just doesn't look like the entire stamp would be obliterated and the pattern number too, if it had one originally. If someone here has that Remington knife it would be nice to see pics from the same angle for comparison. I'm no expert but if I were buying that knife, (just for conversation), I'd be very careful about identifying it. It may be a Remy but ??? JMHO.
J.O'.