All About Pocket Knives

I have come into owning this beautiful knife. Tang stamped Pacific Hdwe & Steel Co and then the other side is 3649. Another blade is stamped oil the joints on one side and PH&SC on the other. Third blade is stamped PH&SC. The three blades are as I see them drop point, sheepsfoot and pen blades.
All three have powerful snap in both directions. And powerful describes the knife in general. 4" closed. 7" when open with the master blade. A nice bold shield on the handle on one side and inscribed R J Thurston on the other. Appears to be MOP. All I have found is that it might be old. And no sense on value but I suspect it might be substantial. Can anyone talk to me about this knife?

What a nice knife that is! With a spear blade as a main blade with Mother of Pearl.
1901-1918. They had a main office in San Francisco. They merged with Baker & Hamilton in 1918.

There is a Baker, Hamilton & Pacific Hardware Co. in Knife Lore.

You can still see some of the "Stiletto"etch on the blade.Nice knife

PH&S are kinda hard to find. Here is one I found several years. Probably already posted some where. Tim yours knife is really special as for value I have no idea. You just don't see them often. I like the pattern and handle material.

Harold

Thanks for the feedback. A very nice looking knife you have and looks to be very solid.

San Francisco, 1901-1918, Made by Napanoch (NY), merged with Baker & Hamilton, Greenville, PA, 1918 Ref: Levine's 3rd edit. Beautiful piece! J.O'.

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Thu Feb 09, 2023 10:26 pm San Francisco, 1901-1918, Made by Napanoch (NY), merged with Baker & Hamilton, Greenville, PA, 1918 Ref: Levine's 3rd edit. Beautiful piece! J.O'.

I'm kind of doubtful of Napanoch origins on this particular knife (although Napanoch did make knives for them). The "Oil the Joints" mark and that monster shield are more reflective of the Sheffield shops.

Eric

Agree on the features but, in that case wouldn't it require the foreign origin stamp. Just wondering. I have one PHS knife but is so rough I hesitate to post it! Only one I've ever had. J.O'.

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:24 pm Agree on the features but, in that case wouldn't it require the foreign origin stamp. Just wondering. I have one PHS knife but is so rough I hesitate to post it! Only one I've ever had. J.O'.

Very true J.O., and that would have been post 1890, a detail I hadn't considered. That's really a mystery for sure, and just a stunning knife.

Eric

Walden Knife Co.used an overly large crest shield similar to that on their large cigars.

Update, I just saw a Stiletto NY stamped harness jack that had the Oil The Joints stamp as well. The Stiletto Knife Co NY stamp was a trademark of PH&S and was used almost exclusively on their Napanoch made knives. That's very cool as I'd never noticed the Oil the Joints stamp on any of my Stilettos but then again they were all smaller pearl knives that may not have had the stamp.

Also, right now there's a pearl knife just like Tim's knife on Ebay but with the Stilleto Knife Co NY stamp. Seems like they're all popping up at once!

Ridgegrass I think you were right, sure looks to be Napanoch after all. That shield is wild, also a first for me.

I saw Roger's mention of a Stilleto etch on Tim's knife but wasn't sure if they'd just put that on all their knives so I figured I'd do a little sleuthing around.

Eric

Not disputing Napanock as the maker, but the OP knife has a distinct look of BOKER, U.S.A.

Charlie Noyes

Timdog44: Here's your cousin WILBERT by Napanoch or Empire. Very similar, nickel/silver liners. J.O'.

Here's my one and only PS&H knife. The main blade is ground out but the Alvord,( Pat# 833146, Oct.16th, 1906), punch is totally unused. The bones resemble Case "Green Bone". The knife was made by Empire.( 1856-1930 ) J.O'.

What I find interesting is the number of collectors who can go to a place and bring out an unusual knife. I have a drawer full of this kind of knife. Like an unusual variant or one made by an "unheard" of company. I have several that I was afraid to put up because my search led me to nowhere and they are most certainly well made knives. Some I have because of an unusual pattern even though not an unusual knife company. I call them my top drawer knives as I keep them in the top drawer. Just making comment.

TimDogg: I agree with you totally. I'm in the midst of cataloging my collection. I've listed all the big names together and am now combing through the smaller, more "obscure" (for lack of a better word) brands. For some I have only one or two but they are very special to me. They're very hard to value because there are rarely any comparables, and the only folks who would understand their value are the more avid collectors.
Looking through Levine, Pride, Goins, etc. shows the thousands of brands there were and the short life of many of them.It's amazing to find one in some place you'd never expect. Makes you wonder how in the world it got there.
I'd like to see some of your "obscure" ones in that thread. Post them sometime. J.O'.

Ridgegrass - I just posted a new post about one of the knives in my "top" drawer of knives. Have a look. Tim

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:39 pm Timdog44: Here's your cousin WILBERT by Napanoch or Empire. Very similar, nickel/silver liners. J.O'.

The op knife has flat bolsters.

Tim: Where is the latest knife posted? O',

Ridge grass - posted as new knife - finedge ostiso.

Posted as new knife - Finedge Ostiso

Saw it. Thanks, I have one in pearl. I'll dig it out ans reply on that thread, in a day or so. Never seen another one. O'.

Here’s a Pacific Hardware & Steel co. with some nice Pearl . With the oil the joints stamp is this a Sheffield piece or ? Read the other posts regarding the country of origin and this or that and it seems they were sold thru San Francisco? Nice snap ,no wobble in the blades. Pearl has no cracks and a nice little fire in it .

That’s a beauty and a nice find! Although that oil the joints stamp is often seen on Sheffield-made knives, I don’t think Sheffield knives were the only ones with oil the joints stamp. Given the time period the company is believed to have been in business, if it was made in England it should have a country of origin stamp somewhere.

Ken

JP, that pearl is a dandy!

I have a couple Pacific hardware knives, but this one is the interesting one to me...