All About Pocket Knives

Note how this postcard (on eBay for a mere $65!) explains how Case's Checker Aerobus made in 1963 was used to transport workers during WW2. Somebody sure got their stories crossed!

Dennis

LMAO!!! Great catch!!

My interpretation was that the vehicle was repurposed into a Case advertising tool, after having served transporting workers. I never made the connection that a 1963 year model couldn’t have been used during WWII.

Ken

Oh boy, I had to read this a couple times before it clicked for me too. That's just confusing ain't it. I grabbed this though...

Thanks for posting that. Sounds like Case used an earlier version to transport workers during the war, which makes sense - I’m sure wartime production of knives was prioritized. That makes more sense - that blurb on the back of the card doesn’t explain it well.

Ken

Here's how I would have written it-

Pictured is the 1963 Case Checker Aerobus with the one-of-a-kind Kodiak mounted on top. It was previously used to transport employees to and from their jobs during World War Il as a way to help conserve gasoline, tires, etc. The car was later donated to the children's home of Bradford, PA

Here's how I would have written it...

Tell me once again how a car built in 1963 was used in WW2? I have no doubt Case used some kind of large passenger vehicle to transport workers in the 1940s, it just wasn't this one.

Dennis

deo-pa wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 2:09 am

Here's how I would have written it...

Tell me once again how a car built in 1963 was used in WW2? I have no doubt Case used some kind of large passenger vehicle to transport workers in the 1940s, it just wasn't this one.

Dennis

Well, let's try again-

Pictured is the Case Checker Aerobus with the one-of-a-kind Kodiak mounted on top. It was previously used to transport employees to and from their jobs during World War Il as a way to help conserve gasoline, tires, etc. It was modified in 1963 to look as pictured. The car was later donated to the children's home of Bradford, PA.

Well, let's try again

WW2 ended in September of 1945. Checker built the first Aerobus in 1961. No Aerobus existed in the 1940s.

During the war Case probably used a hotel transport vehicle like the one below which was made in the 1930s by Chevrolet.

As SwedgeHead points out, the vehicle shown on the postcard was used to carry guests and employees but not until Case bought it in 1965.

Dennis

Gotcha, Checker never made these in the 1940's.

Based on the info from the post by Swedgehead:

Confusion often arises because Checker Motors Corporation did produce heavy-duty
transport vehicles for the W.R. Case factory in Bradford, Pennsylvania, during WWII………. During World War II, Checker vehicles were used to support the war effort at home by transporting workers to and from the Case
factory.

The facts seem to be that Checker did produce heavy-duty vehicles during the war, and Case used one or more of these Checker-built vehicles to transport workers during WWII. Case later (1960s) bought a Checker limo, mounted a replica Kodiak Hunter knife on its roof, and used it to transport guests, company execs, and as an advertising ‘vehicle”.

So Checker did in fact produce vehicles during WWII. The “Aerobus” pictured on the postcard was a later model, also produced by Checker. Somehow the producers of the picture postcard mangled the card’s inscription. Whether the fault was the Case marketing personnel or an advertising agency, the ultimate proofreading responsibility was with Case.

Interesting note is the Kodiac Hunter was introduced in 1962, so that means the replica on the vehicle must have been post-1962. The other pertinent fact (to me at least) is that Case subsequently donated the vehicle to a good cause. Bravo on them.

Ken

Doesn't amaze me at all since Case tang stamp charts have many guesses and have many provable errors.

Gunsil wrote: ↑Sat Jan 24, 2026 2:47 pm Doesn't amaze me at all since Case tang stamp charts have many guesses and have many provable errors.

Blasphemy!!

Here's a 1939 checker bus, probably closer to what Case used:
Eric