LT

[stockman]

LT I have enjoyed your post and I have learned alot. I tracked down a couple of out of print books that you mentioned in earlier post and have them ordered. Thanks for the tip. It would be interesting to me to know your background in knives, the history you know and your knife knowledge is amazing and I for one will be waiting for more post. Could you tell me anything about the box pictured Date ect. 1/2 Doz. No.8903.

Thanks Stockman

[lt632ret]

OK so lets take what seems like a simple question and confuse everyone. By the way to some of the readers this may seem a bit basic especially to anyone who has studied Schrades but the fact is if you are not aware it can be a puzzle. First your box is marked Schrade Cutlery Company this designation was used during the years 1903 ( they say 04 but it was really 03 ) until approximately 1946. When the company used Schrade Walden as the tang and company name. The tang was changed again in 1972 to Just Schrade and of course in the end the company name was the Imperial Schrade company. When I say approximately this is because actually Old stock had to used up so you could get say a Schrade Walden in 1973 even though they had been producing just Schrade for a year. Often a 1973 store display would have some of each marking but we can go into that about a million points down the road. In the mean time 04 to 46 is the expected answer. Now the Schrade Cutlery Company marking system is self explanatory ( I have included a copy of it in the attached pics. ) your knife an 8903 by definition would be a 3 bladed ( 2 blades in one end and one in the other ) denoted by the first digit 8 next its pattern is a serp round bolster and the last digit makes it bone stag. Which when you look it up it is. I have included a pic of the knife as found in the 1926 catalogue reprint by A G Russell ( a must for this study see attached pics ) the reprint has been out of print for a while but still can be found also with luck you might even find an original I have both and there is not much difference except the reprint states that it is a reprint. Also Two books which are about the best Schrade pictorial are the Jim Sargent first and second edition he is now up to 6 but these are the only ones which carry Schrade the story of these knives being included in these editions is interesting to itself and again to be related later ( or I will never get done. ) I have included pics of these two books as well. Let me know if you need more info by the way. Often when people show these they like to know the value a lot of people who answer these questions try to refrain from giving monetary values to the items. Since I could care less and it is only my opinion I have no problem with giving a quote on value. So I do not know if you care but your box is worth 20 to 40+ dollars RETAIL. I always quote retail. If my giving the value offends please accept my apology but I wanted to make the point that if anyone wants it I have no problem in doing so. I hope this helps and if I missed anything or can be of help please let me know. LT PS please rate this answer from one to ten so that we can continue to improve our quality control ( NO THAT IS ONE OF MY POOR JOKES I HATE WHEN COMPANIES DO THAT ) in fact if your didn't like the answer I especially do not want to know. PPS regarding my backround regarding knives I am an expert since I have been getting stabbed in the back all my life. Down the road perhapes I will explain more about where my interest has come from in fact I did put some of this info in a recent post. Good Hunting LT

[upnorth]

Thanks for the suggestion, LT!! I scored a second edition of Sargent's book, and immediately solved an old mystery (for me) while leafing through the Schrade section! Books are wonderful things!
I bought this knife from a large collection that A.G.Russell was/is selling for someone. It has this interesting blade, which is an alteration of a punch, but is supposedly factory done, but I wanted some confirmation of this.
Here's the knife, and here it is in the book!

[lt632ret]

Yes indeed a real as rain and quite rare. As I started to mention in another post these knives that appear in the Sargeants one and two were mostly from the Herman William collection which was eventually bought by Schrade and part of the factory collection sold to Smokey and Blue Ridge. Williams was an affialiate of Schrade and there is a write up about him in Sargeant 1, If you recently bought this knife it may very well be the one that was used in the book . This was a rare pattern and in your's condition it leads me to believe that this is a possibility. I know I managed to get a few that were the actual examples in the book. Herman is a heck of a nice guy and does magnificent work both in customizing and restoring. That is a dandy congrats . LT

[upnorth]

Thanks LT, for the verification! Too bad the book picture isn't too clear. I think the "tool" on mine is slightly longer, but it might be the angle used in the photo.
You know, I can't walk and chew gum at the same time! Since I got blindsided by Schradelove (is that like puppy love?) I've been ignoring my Harness Jack collection. Talking about the actual knife used for a book, you have reminded me that I do have a knife that was used to compose Sargent's book! The guy who sold it to me told me about it, and
on page 259, the Candy-stripe Harness Jack from Western States is the same example as this one I bought a couple years back.
It's cool when a knife has a little added history!

[smiling-knife]

Very cool knife upnorth. That's a beauty. s-k