Vintage Mother Of Pearl (MOP) Knives

[thegreedygulo]

That particular Improved Cutlery tang stamp was the only one used by Boker for both U.S. and German made knives. I'm basing this on Mark Zalesky's Boker article in Knifeworld and familiarity with the brand.

[Dinadan]

Very fine old whittler, Cal. That is some nice pearl! I think it is especially interesting to see two different tree stamps on the same knife.

[ObsidianEdge]

Since I'm not sure if Ulster actually made this Ellenville Knife Co. cattle knife I'll put it here.

[peanut740]

Mike,I like!

[ObsidianEdge]

Thanks Roger. It's a bit beat up. Must have been something brand new.

[kootenay joe]

Mike you regularly come up with rather rare knives and always in excellent condition. Beautiful cattle knife which is at least 100 yrs old.
My pearl contribution is not quite as rare but is an interesting pattern: Keen Kutter (E.C.Simmons i think), 2 7/8" swell center congress whittler, pearl with 'cigar band', sunk joints. Likely this was a premium knife in it's day.
Any info the K.K. collectors care to post about this knife will be appreciated.
kj

[FRJ]

That is a beautiful Ellenville, Mike. What a stamp and what a history. Little I read from Goins'.
How long is it?

Also a beautiful little shadow whittler.

[BWT]

Mike and Roland two beautiful old knives, thanks for sharing

[ObsidianEdge]

Very nice shadow whittler Roland! Does the cigar band mean it's older? That seems to be true of some German knives with pearl and a band, but no idea on a KK.

Thanks for the nice words on the Ellenville, Roland, Joe and Bill. Joe, it's 3 7/16 (I think) closed. I didn't know anything about the Ellenville mark until I read Goins as well. I thought it was an Ulster when I bought it.

[danno50]

Beautiful cattle knife, Mike!
Very nice little Keen Kutter, Roland! I believe that is a K3808, made between 1905 to 1908, according to Sellens. Below are catalog pages form 1912 and 1917, showing the K3808. They show a bar shield and no cigar band, however, I am sure there were variations in handles that never made it into the catalogs. Between 1905 and 1918 there were years when no catalogs were put out: the years 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911 and 1916 did not have catalogs issued. There are also a few pearl handled knives in the Keen Kutter catalogs that have cigar bands, so I know that they were used occasionally. Your knife also has no pattern number (may have originally had an etched pattern number) and I believe that the KKs with no pattern number, or an etched pattern number, are Walden made knives.

[danno50]

Further to the KK that Roland posted, here are a couple of pics of a K3808 that was sold on ebay a few months ago. It has a crest shield and an etched pattern number.

[kootenay joe]

Smelling salts to revive those who might feel faint. It was not coca leaf, but that would also work.
kj
oops i was answering a post on page 54 at bottom about a tiny scoop or spoon in the end of a knife handle.

[KAW]

Since I'm not sure if Ulster actually made this Ellenville Knife Co. cattle knife I'll put it here.

Ahh... so you posted it over here... very nice... now you have me very curious about this Ellenville Knife Co.?

Looks very similar to this 80 to 90 year old Dwight Devine & Sons' Ulster equal ender with MoP handles I just picked up at an antique show at the Warren County, NJ fairgrounds at the end of last month. The dealer had a bunch of pocket knives in a box & I picked out 3 (including this one with a sticker price of $12). She said she would take $20 for all three. The other two were a Kingston & a Wardlow Cutlery / Walden... but I've been carrying this on around in my pocket ever since... as it still has a great edge to all 3 blades

Its stamped with the pattern №. 33487 on the pile side of the main blade.

[LongBlade]

Awesome Ken ... $12 for that beauty of a MOP Dwight Devine & Sons Ulster - great score ... and 2 others for a total of $20 - Sweet!!!

[Miller Bro's]

Smelling salts to revive those who might feel faint. It was not coca leaf, but that would also work.
kj
oops i was answering a post on page 54 at bottom about a tiny scoop or spoon in the end of a knife handle.

Really?

[ObsidianEdge]

That is a nice Devine Ulster Ken. And I think it does look like the Ellenville knife I posted. Mine doesn't have a pattern number, and I paid more than $12 for it! I don't know much about Ellenville other than what I read in Goins. This knife did come out of an Ulster collection.

[kootenay joe]

Really because spoon was not for smelling salts ? or really because post i was referring to was old ?
kj

[Miller Bro's]

The spoon, if you want to call it that was for removing ear wax.

[KAW]

Thanks Mike for the Ellenville Knife Co. info... now I have a new quest to seek...

[kootenay joe]

" spoon, if you want to call it that was for removing ear wax."
People did use smelling salts. Just a tiny amount placed in or at nostril will revive someone in a psychogenic faint. (i.e. not a faint from head injury, blood loss, etc.)
Do you know what type of spoon was used to scoop up a small amount of this powder ?
I have heard the ear wax use mentioned before but i have never seen any reference to it in vintage British literature. Only reference is on a knife forum. Maybe there are vintage print ads that say "ear wax removal scoop" or something similar ?
If i had one i would try it out to see how effective it is.
kj

[Miller Bro's]

Read this:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelling_salts

Liquid was very popular, very early on they used crystals like the ones in this 17th century bottle, notice how large the crystals are. All you needed to do was open the bottle stopper and place it under the nostrils of the patient.

I have tried it and it works very well, better than cotton Q-tipps, you can scoop the wax right out with out pushing it in like the Q- tipps. I do have a page from a knife catalog that describes it for removing ear wax, but I would have to look through thousands of pages to find it again

[Miller Bro's]

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this box, I either bought the farm or I scored

I have no idea who the makers are or their condition other than what can be gleaned from this one and only picture

Life's a gamble

P.S. guess which one I am most interested in this lot.

[LongBlade]

Well Dimitri ... I would guess that 8 blade congress could be interesting ... The small one on bottom with a flat end looks to be interesting as well - at least to me as I don't recognize the pattern I see a couple fruit knives and a proud tip on one - nahhh... Best of luck!!! - make sure you report back whether it is a score or the farm .

[Miller Bro's]

You guessed it Lee, looking forward to seeing that Congress Knife!

[peanut740]

Good luck MB