Old Puma. Can anyone tell me about it?

[orvet]

I picked up this old Puma a few days ago. I have not seen a Puma with a stacked leather handle before.
With the "Texas" stamp on the pile side of the blade, I'm assuming it was made for a company in Texas or for sale in Texas.

The leather has shrunken and it needs to be replaced, but before I do that I would like to find out more about the knife, it's age and perhaps it's value. If it's very old or very rare, I will probably leave it as is. But if there's no great value I think it would be a fun restoration project.

I look forward to any information you and share with me about it.

Thank you in advance.

[djknife13]

Really interesting knife Dale. I can't wait for the experts to tell us what you have. I wish I was smarter.____Dave

[Gunsil]

I believe it is missing the rest of the blade markings. I had a near mint one that said "Texas Bill" with a cowboy etched between Texas and Bill. I have no proof but was told "Texas Bill" was a radio show in Germany in the 1950s. Somebody else told me the radio show was late 1930s.

[orvet]

Thanks for the info guys. At least I know a little bit more. I showed the knife to Bill Clawson, some of you may be familiar with his monthly knife flyer, and he thought it was probably pre- World War II or just post war.
I know when I was managing the cutlery store in the 1980s we sold Pumas, but I never saw it any Puma with a stacked leather handle in that time frame.

[jerryd6818]

A LOT of information about Texas Bill Strength here:
http://www.hillbilly-music.com/artists/ ... p?id=11253

[orvet]

Great information Jerry, thank you!

I did a web search and found where a Texas Bill knife had sold for $300. From the look of it it was pretty much in mint condition. The seller dated it Circa 1970. I didn't see a date of when the knife was sold. The site had great pictures of the knife that was sold.
https://www.pumaknifeman.com/puma_knife/texas-bill/

Because of the pitting on my knife, the picture of Texas Bill and the word "Bill" are not visible. My knife is a far cry from mint, but it should be a fun restoration project.

[btrwtr]

Dale, With the sheath in the link you provided marked Western Germany it would indicate the sheath was made sometime between 1949 and 1990. The knife was likely a special offer of some type and as you said the construction isn't what you would expect from a regular production Puma knife.

[Gunsil]

Dale, Puma made many models with leather handles but I don't think they all came to America. They did make a bunch of leather handled models for the US market before the war. Wayne, my minty one did not have Western Germany on the sheath. I think I got $300 or close to it for mine too.