All About Pocket Knives

Here is my contribution. A Case 6318. The store name is Placerville Hardware. Also known as Hangtown Hardware. It the longest continuing hardware store West of the Mississippi! Founded during the Gold Rush, it's in the same location. Its such a cool store. I bought this knife from David the owner. At the time, 2009, he said he was not happy with the price he was given on these by Case and was not going to buy any more. This is one of 27. They are not serialized though. I used to shop there a couple times a month when I was living in Coloma.

Very cool, Randy. It's amazing that place has stayed open for so long, especially with all the competition from big corporations like Home Depot or Lowe's. Placerville Hardware's history must be fascinating.

They do have a bit of history Dave as does the town of Placerville. Here is a link to a brief history of the store. http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/northern ... re-norcal/ Oh and make sure to check out the video at the bottom of the page. The newest member of the Fausal family to take over the store explains why they are still in business vs the big chain hardware stores.

WOW Dave, that's a rare find you have there. I've seen Spauldings on the larger size frame but not on the junior size frame. That's a keeper!

I recently picked up this Queen advertisement knife manufactured in the late 1940's. Cash Hardware in Sevierville Tennessee was founded in the 1920's and is still in business.

Some great knives posted here so far! I'll contribute a few. Laclede was a trademark of Simmons Hardware. Rev-o-noc trademark was a Hibbard, Spencer, & Bartlett brand. The old Laclede may have been the original "beer scout"!


Ken

Great knives, everyone. Ken, I'd never heard of Laclede before. Very cool.

#goldpan wrote:They do have a bit of history Dave as does the town of Placerville. Here is a link to a brief history of the store. http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/northern ... re-norcal/ Oh and make sure to check out the video at the bottom of the page. The newest member of the Fausal family to take over the store explains why they are still in business vs the big chain hardware stores.

Thanks for posting that link, Randy. Just fascinating history. You can see just how much character that store has. After watching the video, it's easy to see why that place has been in business for so long.

Mumbleypeg wrote:Some great knives posted here so far! I'll contribute a few. Laclede was a trademark of Simmons Hardware. Rev-o-noc trademark was a Hibbard, Spencer, & Bartlett brand. The old Laclede may have been the original "beer scout"!


Ken
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I was just thinking about the "Rev-o-noc" the other day and couldn't remember whose mark it was. BTW, "Rev-o-noc" is "Conover" spelled backwards. I think that he was an officer in the company.

tjmurphy wrote: I was just thinking about the "Rev-o-noc" the other day and couldn't remember whose mark it was. BTW, "Rev-o-noc" is "Conover" spelled backwards. I think that he was an officer in the company.

Your right TJ, Conover was an officer of HS&B.

Another interesting hardware trademark is Norvell-Shapleigh. Mr. Norvell was formerly with Simmons Hardware of Saint Louis. He left Simmons and joined its rival Shapleigh Hardware, another Saint Louis based hardware distributor, known for its Diamond Edge brand. At that time or thereabouts the company changed its name to Norvell-Shapleigh. The name was later changed back to Shapleigh Hardware. Ironically, Shapleigh Hardware bought out Simmons Hardware in 1940. Simmons owned the Keen Kutter brand name among others. Simmons Hardware once owned Walden Knife Company and from 1922-1929 were merged with Winchester Arms, but they had divested all of that before the merger with Shapleigh.

I think I got all of that right! If not I'm sure someone will set me straight. Here's a couple of whittlers, a Norvell-Shapleigh D-E, and an E. C. Simmons Keen Kutter.

Ken

Really nice looking whittlers Ken especially the jigged bone on the Keen Kutter ... interesting that the first one has that diamond shield - many of those with the plain diamond shield I believe were made by Empire for Norvell-Shapleigh. Is there by chance a model # on back of pile side master tang?

Thanks Lee. The bone on the Keen Kutter is indeed nice. As for the Diamond Edge whittler, there's no sign that it ever had a pattern number. I couldn't see one in the picture so got it out and looked to make sure.

Ken

I hope this one qualifies. I don't know where, or when I acquired it, or the age, or worth. It is a MAC TOOL Knife, with the sides of it made of brass, it has three Stainless steel blades. The large blade is etched with a picture of a MAC TOOL trademark Truck, and marked Limited Edition - One of 12,000, Imperial - USA- Prov. R.I.A. The knife looks really well designed, and made.
Sut Tatersaul

Found another one today, in my stuff. The action works a little like a Christy knife.
Sut Tatersaul

Hey Guys, How about this 2 Different Hardware stores on the SAME Knife. A.F Shapleigh and John Primble ISW. I personally LOVE all Hardware brand knives and have tried to study them throughout the years. Thought I would post this knife here in the hardware section and maybe I can find a John Primble section on AAPK also to post it in.
Kind Regards,
Mark

I am always on the lookout for C.M. McClung Hardware knives from Knoxville, TN. I just picked up the best example I have found so far. This particular knife has full blades and even has the “Cranberry” brand etch!

Adam

That's really nice. I'm unfamiliar with them. Thanks for showing.

That sir, is a beautiful knife!

Thanks guys! C.M. McClung was a goods distributor located in Knoxville Tennessee that was sort of like a regional Sears and Roebuck that operated from about the 1890s-1970. They branded items with different trade names such as “Cranberry” “Cherokee” etc. Pocket knives were branded “Cranberry” or “Keeneredge”. I knew (from old catalog images) that the Cranberry brand was etched on the blade of some knives but this was the first example I have seen where the etch was still visible. Most of these knives got “used up”. Any guesses on who may have manufactured this one?

Adam

Adam, that is a mighty fine pocket knife.

The latest C.M. McClung knife that I have turned up. It is a Keeneredge branded pen knife with pretty celluloid handle. C.M. McClung was located in Knoxville, TN. Keeper edge brand was used from the 1930’s-1960’s.

I discovered the the existance of Sporting goods distributor, Fred Biffar's Trade Mark "Dixie Switch" knife in Goins. I actually saw an ad for one in the Golden Rule section of the Big Book Of Pocket Knives first, but it makes no mention of Biffar. G.R. was a Chicago based Company and it was a picture knife. So perhaps Biffar had his picture-knife version of the "Dixie Switch" made by them. Fred Biffar is a (Sears) towering giant in my opinion for trade-marking one of the cooler street names for this knife. According to goins he sold them from 1917-1922.

It took me several months to find a genuine "Dixie Switch" on E-Bay. Sad to say, finding it was one of the peak moments of my late middle age.

The truth is, I was polish-happy in those early days (about a year or so back) and while attempting to bring out the etch by way of obsessive cleaning managed to diminish it-- very nicely! it's a relatively inexpenxive A.W. Wadsworth from Czechoslovakia.

A short while later I found the other. It has no etching but there's a crisp "Fred Biffar /Chicago" stamp on the tang. I want to believe it's a Union Cut Co. as they did some contract work for Biffar along with a number of other companies. But it doesn't have that tell-tale Ka-Bar slight backward curve at the top of the spine. So I'm still investigating the origins of that one.

Cornell Publications Sells a re-print of one of Biffar's sporting goods catalogs. I purposely obscured most of the "Dixie Switch" ad so the lady who runs things at Cornell won't scold me on her web page if she happens to see this post. (Yes, she does publicly shame customers who reveal the innards of one of Cornell's many awesome re-prints-- but she does so in a fairly hilarious way.) The picture-knife version is also listed there as well as his Trade Mark "Dixie Guard" which I'm fairly positive is a Union Cut Co 4inch bowtie.

Very cool discovery Robo! Thanks for sharing.

Adam

Interesting that there was a knife branded, "Dixie Switch".

"Dixie switch" was a term used to identify a toothpick or Texas Tickle style knife that had been rigged to open with a flick of the wrist by inserting a portion of a wooden match stick inside the knife's frame to leave the blade partially open and to over-ride that first little resistance applied by the backspring. The tip of the blade was still below the top edge of the frame.

I have a Gerber Applegate Combat Folder that I have rigged that way. I can open it faster than most could open a true automatic knife.

Charlie Noyes

A John Primble knife - made by Schrade and sold by Belknap Hardware.
The two Old Timers were also made by Schrade, for Belknap Hardware...Ken.