Northfield "Germany"??

GEC specializes in highly collectable and premium quality usable pocket knives. The company's USA manufactured knives have quickly proven to be a big hit with both collectors and users who seek quality American craftsmanship.
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npeters3
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Northfield "Germany"??

Post by npeters3 »

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363612102254?h ... SwAQVheDDt

I am confused by this knife. Can someone please help me understand what this knife is, who it was made by, and when?
This brand name seems to overlap with the GEC knives, but I am definitely not an expert on the Northfield name and it's history.
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kootenay joe
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Re: Northfield "Germany"??

Post by kootenay joe »

Likely a knife commissioned by James Parker before GEC started up in 2006. There are a few different old USA brand names that show up on German made knives from about 20 or so years ago. These are decent knives but have almost no collector value.
kj
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gsmith7158
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Re: Northfield "Germany"??

Post by gsmith7158 »

kootenay joe wrote: Mon Nov 08, 2021 10:06 pm Likely a knife commissioned by James Parker before GEC started up in 2006. There are a few different old USA brand names that show up on German made knives from about 20 or so years ago. These are decent knives but have almost no collector value.
kj
I would agree! Many old time makers were copied by Parker in that time.
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beresman
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Re: Northfield "Germany"??

Post by beresman »

According to Goins, the Northfield Knife Company was in business from 1858-1919, and made excellent quality cutlery, and in quantity. They were in Northfield CT for much of that time.

Then there was the Northfield company, also in Northfield, which produced knives from 1931-1964, and was apparently a very small shop.

Levine also lists Northfield Knife Co. as a Parker product in the '90s and beyond.

I'm not very experienced, but I would be tremendously surprised if the knife in question is an original. It just looks too good. I"m with KJ and Gsmith in thinking this is a Parker knif.
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npeters3
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Re: Northfield "Germany"??

Post by npeters3 »

Thank you to everyone for their replies. The Parker deal makes complete sense to me. Does anyone know if Great Eastern bought the NorthField name from Parker then?
thank you
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." -John Wooden
kootenay joe
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Re: Northfield "Germany"??

Post by kootenay joe »

npeters3 wrote: Tue Nov 09, 2021 2:40 pm Thank you to everyone for their replies. The Parker deal makes complete sense to me. Does anyone know if Great Eastern bought the NorthField name from Parker then?
thank you
My understanding is that Mr. Parker did not buy the rights to use the brand names of old defunct USA knife manufacturers. When these manufacturers ceased to exist, after a certain period of time their brand names were no longer protected so anyone could start using them again, which is what Mr. Parker did.
When GEC began they wanted to use "Northfield" as a brand name and so paid money to get exclusive rights to use this name.
Who the money is paid to and how exactly this works i don't know but hopefully someone who does will post this information.
kj
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