Wawarsing Historical Society and Knife Museum

[junebug]

WOW...MY GOODNESS WHAT A SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!
THANKS ,GLENN!!!!

[btrwtr]

Simply awesome! The next best thing to being there with you guys.

Glen, Dimitri, Lt, thanks so much for sharing this with us.

Wayne

[timgreene48]

I could have only enjoyed it more, if I had been there myself!!

[philco]

Excellent report guys. I'm particularly happy to know that Dimitri has finally come to see the light when it comes to Canal Street cutlery.

Are you guys camera shy ?

[Colonel26]

Awesome. I'd loved to have been there with y'all.

[RobesonsRme.com]

A trip of a lifetime, possibly.
Wish I had been there.
Fabulous stuff all around.
Charlie Noyes

[orvet]

Wow, that was quite a show! I sure wished I could've been there!
Canal Street and the Museum in a single day!
That is kind of like Cutlery Shock and Awe!

I need to make that trip someday.

[Mason]

To say that this road trip was enjoyable would be a gross understatement. Knives were certainly the pretense for the trip, but the comradery between all involved was an absolute pleasure!!!
As already stated, the folks at "Canal Street" cutlery and the "Wawarsing Knife Museum" were beyond gracious and accommodating. LT pushed aside not feeling well to spend hours with us in talking about the museum and answering unending questions. Any effort should be given by all to help support both these operations how ever possible. I would finally add that you will not find to finer gentlemen anywhere in the knife community than "MillerBros." and "glennbad", thank you both.

[313 Mike]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!!!

[danno50]

Great reports on trip that I am sure all of the rest of us are drooling over. Fantastic photos, Glen, I love seeing shots of display cases full of old knives. I likely can only dream of ever seeing such sights in person.
Dan

[TripleF]

That was awesome! Thanks for the story and all the pics! I'm in awe!

[Miller Bro's]

I found this interesting poem in a 1917 American Cutler magazine.

An Encomium of the Drop-Knife.

No knife is so slick,
It is quick on its trick
And a joy that will last you through life.
There is none 'neath the sun
Just like it, not one,
It's the Schrade Safety Push-Button Knife.

If the button is pressed
The blade does the rest,
Opens out like a thing all alive;
You break no thumb nail
In your efforts-that fail-
If you're owning this Push-Button Knife.

It's the handiest yet,
It is everyone's pet,
And with all good knife merits it's rife.
Its blades are rare steel,
And really ideal
Is this notable Push Button Knife.

It's the very quick pick
Of club, class and clique
Its equal they cannot contrive;
It's a true treasure trove,
And a thing you will love
Is this wonderful Push-Button Knife.

A. W. BELLAW, DeGroff, O.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Right under the poem is this:

The Schrade Cutlery Co. of Walden N.Y.,
advises us that it is in a position to make
immediately deliveries on its famous safety
push-button pocket knives.

Neat stuff!

[glennbad]

That's some creative marketing right there.

[lt632ret]

Neat thanks for the posting I just got in from the west coast or would have responded sooner. LT

[Miller Bro's]

I was wondering where you were

Hope you had a good trip!

[lt632ret]

Vegas on family business. it is not like it was in the old days. it was Ok played cards and drank that is always good. weather was 65 70 degrees and i started to feel like it was spring. I cannot take these winters any more I am locked down with venison, Crown royal, and the fire place see ya next year. Good to be home. Plane trip was a night mare ( for reasons I will not explain ). Vegas is more like Hong Kong or Singapore. A melting pot. I could understand about every third person. Oh yes and there are no OLD POCKET KNIVES. I even went back to a guy who had one at home in a safe he said it was some kind of civil war knife turned out to be an Italian or spanish vendetta style. it was badly engraved with a modern engraving marker to intimate english royal family connection . I saw one Remington about 6 Schrades and imports and imperials. One springless Schrade cut fishtail and a G Schrade pullball both marked to high. The people were nice but mostly uninformed with wrong prices. Perhapes a dozen shops. If not for the big hotels the town would look just like any other southwestern city same stores same plastic. The rodeo was in town but did not get to it. Did run into a couple of good country bands and one old boy that played the Fiddle as good or better than Charlie Daniels, which set the hair up on neck, man he could play.. There you have it I am glad I got it done it was an obligation more than anything. I hope all you guys are OK. LT PS when they told me that there were no knives around anymore I kidded around and told them yep thats because I have them all.

[Miller Bro's]

Never been to Vegas, maybe someday or maybe not from what you are telling me.

The best stuff is right around here IMO where the majority of these old knives were made. There is no where as many as there were 20 or more years ago but there are still good finds waiting to be had. I agree most of the knives are locked up in old collections that will someday come to market or end up in a museum. I still find it fun to collect knives but definitely not like it use to be.

[orvet]

when they told me that there were no knives around anymore I kidded around and told them yep thats because I have them all.

LT, come on out to the Oregon show in April. No snow, probably Spring weather, and there may even be a couple knives you DON"T have in your collection!

[lt632ret]

After the trip I just had I am locked down defcon 5 . The fire, crown , and steaks are nice . Watching the deer outside. But thanks I will think about it.

[lt632ret]

Hello I just wanted to make mention that we will be opening for our second year on memorial day weekend. We have finally got our web site going thanks to an amazing amount of help from Taylor cutlery (Schrade) and the entire Taylor family also Ultimate survival tips who did a utube video for us to get out to the public. the link is theknifemuseum.com We have a few surprises this year a gift shop with at least 200 vintage Schrade and old knives. One display case of old factory leather blades handles ect. One display case will have high end old pieces pearl salesmans samples, calandar knife, automatics ect. Those will all be sold in the Hondurian mahogany display boxes pictured in the old esquire ad. We also plan to have a museum Market at least 6 times this summer all vendors will be member agents of the museum as such due to the law I helped write and get passed ( 8 years dealing with the NYS dysfunctional legislature ). vendors will have more leeway in the types of knives and items they sell. It should be a good place to come and talk and show knives as a member agent you are allowed to own carry and display automatics in Upstate NY. Forget NYC they do not know there own laws themselves. Membership is 25 dollars a year. We will be limited to around 40 vendor spots. I will have more information on this later. It has been 15 years since I wrote my book The Collectors guide to Switchblade knives. My reason for the book was not monetary ( although money is nice ) The object was to eventually to have a legal way to display these artifacts and preserve this history with a museum. I was never sure if this would happen or if I would live to see it. But we now exist. We are a fledgling organization working on a shoestring budget with a handful of people most of which are in there 60tys 70ty or 80ty. So who knows but for now we are here come on out and share some unique American cutlery history. Regards LT Vice President. Curator, Executive board member and I sweep up at night.

[PigSticker]

Nice web site--if you look at the pic titled Blade Finishing Room the first two people look like a father & son--
Keep up the good work-nice that Taylor Cutlery is helping out also--

[jerryd6818]

Nice video.

http://theknifemuseum.com/

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMdfSpuumCU[/youtube]

[danno50]

Jerry, thanks for posting that link. Great video It is now a tossup as to what tops my knife bucket list, visiting the Wawarsing Museum, or attending the OKCA show.
Dan

[1967redrider]

Going to add this to my list of places to visit, great video.

[lt632ret]

Hello to all just thought I would mention and remind anyone who might have an interest that the Wawarsing Historical and Knife museum is now open on weekends from 10 AM till 4 PM EST. we have added a gift area where original USA vintage knives may be purchased ( mainly Schrades). Aside from assorted New old stock pockets and folders we also have original schrade sheath knives . We also have original sheaths knife blanks, parts ect from the old Schrade plant. This week ( actually it may take a couple of weeks) I am planning on adding a new display case with about a dozen high end pieces. Original henry Baer owned pearl sample gents knifes. ( he used to give these small pearl beautys to some of his executives for Christmas.). Very rarely you may find one with the hand inked salesmans sample numbers. I hope to have an example of each in the new high end display case. Also a rare 1937 calendar knife. Just to name a few. Also Schrade automatic doubles and other stuff that unless spotted at a show is usually never seen especially in one place for sale. All these pieces will be sold in the original Schrade Walden Honduran Mahogany satin lined Schrade walden display boxes that were shown in the old esquire add. These alone are very rare. One piece I hope to put in is a 1613 3/4 Sabre blade Schrade cut large automatic hunter it is in decent ( not perfect condition ) but is being offered with an original Schrade half dozen box for that very knife and is so marked. I also will be putting in some Herman Williams Schrade customs This stuff is for the collector who is serious and understands what i am talking about. The thing I am finding is that some people do not understand that when this stuff is sold I cannot just go out and replace it. Even the USA Schrades have not been made for 12 years some of it is over 100 years old and as such I can only keep the cases full as long as my stock lasts. often when a piece is sold it often cannot be replaced. I am always looking for stock to buy but as we all know it gets rarer and rarer as time goes on. Please keep in mind that any moneys over cost from these items goes to funding for the museum which is non profit. We are also still planning for 6 weekends during the summer in July and August on having a museum Market ( in essence a flea market where we are hoping to attract assorted vendors). I hope to keep you advised as this progresses.

For any one who is familiar with our museum it has taken 15 years to make it a reality. We have done it with a shoestring budget. While we have around 150 members ( remember this is only our second season open ) however there are only a handful of active participating members and the youngest of those are in there 50tys. We need people to become hands on involved or this great American history may still become a lost memory. Foreign interests already make up the vast majority of this industry if we lose the legacy of our history we will have lost even the last vestage of this American heritage. Thanks to a lot of help from the Taylors ( the present owners of Schrade ) our Web site is Theknifemuseum.com is up and running. Please check us out if you havent yet. Frankly in our case we have many more artifacts which should be on display originally I had planned to concentrate heavily on antique and vintage switchblades. ( which are my main area of interest ). However what I found was that my obligation was larger than just automatics but instead inclusive to the entire 175 year history of Knives in the Hudson valley. Luckily my collecting over 60 years has given me the opportunity to acquire all the related needed artifacts. The fact is that even with the area we have I quickly ran out of usable area. The result is that we have plenty of items and displays to add when and if we get the room.

If you have an interest in this history and live in our proximity we urge you to get involved. You will be welcome. if you are in the area please stop in to see us. We also welcome new members our dues are 25 dollars a year and offers among other things certain advantages in the owning and carrying of swithblade knives in NYS. To those of you who have already visited us I hope to see you again and for everyone else i am looking forward to meeting you. Regards to everyone have a great summer . Rich Langston