All About Pocket Knives

Nice find, Kinda stuff I hunt, rarer things. Waitin for the UPS driver as we type!

Not to disagree, but I gotta wonder about that one. Etching was done with an electric vibrating tool and very unevenly. Queen did very high quality acid etching, why would they do a poor job with an electric pencil?

From some of the knives Ive been seeing in COUPLE COLLECTIONS HERE NEAR THE OLD qUEEN FACTORY, i TEND TO THINK ITS LEGIT. A lot of things went on at the factory, and yes at some home shops of employees. There are lots of knives with very low production numbers. I hope to high light a few as time passes.

Take this for what it's worth. I think the op knife is one like this, these were put together by Gilbert Cooper the man that bought alot if not all the Queen machinery. These were parts that he obtained at the auction.This was told to me by a gentleman who worked the at the SMKW antique and specialty section. I might add he did a fine job imho this one is a slicker than snot on a doorknob.

“Factory Sample” and similar markings are a marketing gimmick from the fertile imagination of James Parker. Like “COA” (Certificate of Authenticity), “Limited Edition”, “Pilot Run”, “One of XXX”, etc they’re all intended to give the buyer the impression of uniqueness, exclusivity, etc.

It’s all in the mind of the (potential) buyer. In some minds they obviously do, else they’d quit doing it! In my experience most items made to be collectable, aren’t. YMMV.

Ken

I accumulate so none of that hooey means much to me,
I see knife ,I like knife, I buy knife IF the price suits me.
The one that's always got me is salesman sample.

bighomer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 10:22 pm I accumulate so none of that hooey means much to me,
I see knife ,I like knife, I buy knife IF the price suits me.
The one that's always got me is salesman sample.

At one time the “salesman’s sample” was a legitimate item. “Back in the day” some cutleries used traveling salesmen. Cutlery salesmen carried sample knives in salesman’s rolls which were used to show retail buyers samples of their cutlery’s products. An item number inked onto the item was needed so they could “write up” the buyer’s selected items. Typically those orders didn’t arrive back at the factory until that salesman who took the orders returned from his trip.

Case Brothers, Cattaraugus, W.R. Case & Sons were noted practitioners of the traveling salesman “shoe leather” method. There were others. Which explains why today we see few old print advertising ephemera from those companies. I’m often skeptical though when I see a knife with a number inked on its blade being touted as a “salesman sample”. Seems to me to be fairly easy to simply write numbers on a blade and try to get a premium price for it.

Other cutleries, like Remington for example were heavy users of print advertising and not many, if any, direct salesmen. So we see their old ads and catalogs ephemera.

Now, if someone can explain the purpose of the COA, Pilot Run, Factory Sample, etc in today’s internet world ……….

Ken

I get it about the salesman sample knives of the bygone
days of yore and you alluded to my problem with said knives you see avertized as a salesman sample.

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:51 pm “Factory Sample” and similar markings are a marketing gimmick from the fertile imagination of James Parker. Like “COA” (Certificate of Authenticity), “Limited Edition”, “Pilot Run”, “One of XXX”, etc they’re all intended to give the buyer the impression of uniqueness, exclusivity, etc.

It’s all in the mind of the (potential) buyer. In some minds they obviously do, else they’d quit doing it! In my experience most items made to be collectable, aren’t. YMMV.

Ken

When I first acquired the knife I thought it was one of those china made queens . Queen brought back the Shatt and Morgan tang stamps in 1991 .Queen City 2000-2018 .Both more than likely ideals from some marking genius to expand their sales market .case collectors club , case family ties same ideology.I posted the knife not so much for the factory sample etching but because I could not find the frame and single blade style in any of the catalogs from the old Queen City pages or the 20000 -2018 pages I have found available. Thank each and everyone for the replies .