In Search of Education on Colonial Hobo Knives

[DaveyPocket1]

Hello,

I am new to this forum, and wonder if you all may be able to help me.

I received a Colonial Hobo knife as a gift, and I am curious to know how old it is, what the scales are made of, it's value, and any historical context associated with it. Please see the attached images.

Are resources available to help me learn the answers? Thank you for any guidance you may share!
Dave

[Reverand]

Unfortunately Colonial did not use date codes or change their tang stamps often, so it can be very difficult to date their knives precisely.
If I had to take a stab-in-the-dark guess, I would guess that your knife was made in the 1960's. That is based purely upon the tipped bolsters, so I could be very wrong.
I would be surprised if it would be valued above $20, as Colonial made literally millions of knives, and most were considered low-end inexpensive cutlery. They used surprisingly good steel in their knives, but most are just not highly sought after by collectors.
It looks like a good hobo knife in good condition though, so I would consider it a keeper if I were you!

[DaveyPocket1]

Thank you for your thoughts here. I appreciate it! I have since found a video indicating this is the "Camper" model, so perhaps I can learn what years they made Campers and what materials they used. I agree that the small bolsters are a key identifier, which is how I made the connection to the Camper model. The fork and spoon on this are stainless steel, while I do not believe the knife blade and can opener are. The person who gave it to me said he was told by the person who gave it to him that it had a military connection, but I cannot find evidence of that. Thanks, again!

[ta50gear]

I have one as well but it looks like the one in the pic (

not mine)

My brother gave it to me having bought it as a souvenier on a western trip when we were kids sometime back in the early 60's.

[ThatWeirdKnifeGuy]

The handles are delrin. The fork and spoon are probably 420 stainless, and the blade and can opener are likely 1075 high carbon

The military connection might be that colonial made alot of advertising and promotional knives. Not just the cheap give away type of knives, but also nicer ones. Think 25 years with the company so you got a Colonial electricians knife with your companies name on it. They also made these for military units. I've seen several Rangers (a Colonial brand) with branch and unit insignias inked on from the desert storm era.

The logos never last as long as the knife though, so you end up with a nondescript and humble knife, with good steel and functionality.

As far as I know the only military knife they made on contract was the ww2 pilots survival jack. I could be wrong on that though, but the ink that rubbed off is the most likely scenario.