1970 and Earlier Case Knives

[upnorth]

Before Case, and other cutleries made a big jump in taking some of the hand work out of making pocketknives, tumbling blades and so forth, they retained some of that flavor that makes us prefer the old ones. Some say that late 60s to early 70s was a period of change.
Here, from the top, are 3 knives from what I think of as the last days of the golden era; an "XX" from the 50s or 60s, a "U.S.A." from 65 - 69, and a "10dot" from 1970. Please show us your Case knives from about 1970, and earlier!!

[philco]

Charlie,
Do you see a significant difference in the 1970 Case knives and, say 1975 or 1978 produced knives? I always thought the most obvious difference in the "look" of the Case knives came about the time the 1980 products were released.
I will grant there is a difference between the 1970s production and those that came earlier, but I don't see a huge shift during the 70s in the way the Case knives looked.

Phil

[philco]

These are all Case knives from the 1970s. Some are 10 dot. Some are newer. I don't see a lot of difference in them.

[upnorth]

Charlie,
Do you see a significant difference in the 1970 Case knives and, say 1975 or 1978 produced knives? I always thought the most obvious difference in the "look" of the Case knives came about the time the 1980 products were released.
I will grant there is a difference between the 1970s production and those that came earlier, but I don't see a huge shift during the 70s in the way the Case knives looked.

Phil

By the middle seventies, the knives got "boxier". Less hand hafting (on some models only). Less careful swedge details also. Some shields were glued on instead of pinned.
I have often wondered if they found something toxic with the red dyes they used to use, because the nice red colors became much darker, more brown than red. Your picture bears that out.
Of course these things sort of phased in, but took a leap downhill in the late 70s, early 80s.
These are my opinions of course. Has anyone else noticed these trends?
It's nice to have these discussions, but keep posting knives also guys and girls!

[jonet143]

here's a few

[upnorth]

Nice bunch Johnnie! Sweet Toothpick!

[philco]

Johnnie,
Those are all great, but ooooooh, that Congress!!

[Paul M]

Here are my only 3 Case XX era knives. They do get style points

[Mossdancer]

Charlie:
Here from the top are an XX flat ground, an XX Saber ground A 74 Sab and a 76 Sab. Just looking at a side view says bundles about the changes. Why they dropped the old Frame other than to save hand work is atrocious in my opinion. The fit and finish sort of varied from era to era
I suppose part of that was the individual cutler. On the two later knives the blade exposure is interesting. It is as though they raised the arch of the bolster on the 76 to cover up the problem rather fix it. Also notice the difference in shields on the two 70's. I made this scan large enough. It should go twice with left clicks.
moss

[philco]

Moss,
In addition to the change in the bolster arch, aren't the scales on the bottom two wood instead of bone?

[Mossdancer]

Philco:
The answer is yes. I guess you could call that a bone of contention.
moss

[upnorth]

I like the swell centers a lot Paul. Looks like 08, 83 and 48 patterns; nice selection! The Rough black on the 08 gets short shrift from collectors, but I like it. Tony Foster knows a guy who has a whole Rough black collection!
Moss, the XX redbone gets my vote as the nicest, and thanks for the comparison shot to show the differences! The older ones are definitely the nicer ones!

[keithlong]

Hey Paul,
I like the stag handles and the pattern of that whittler. Nice stag handles.

[muskrat man]

As with most knife companies, the older the better. past 1970 things slowly went down hill and after '79 they just flat fell off the side of the cliff, and unfortunately there was a field of collector interest and a lower grade of craftsmanship at the bottom of that cliff. I have sold a lot of my case knives and still have more to sell, all that is going to remain living with me is my pre 1971 whittlers and pre 1985 muskrats the rest find new homes, but not becuase they are a lower grade, most of what I am selling is XX era, I have a couple WR case ect. it's just the fact that I have too many, and want to narrow my field of collecting to avoid spending large sums of money in short windows of time, which is easy to do. the only modern produced knife I will own is GEC which has the flavor of the old, and the quality of the old. More of a "quality not quanity" operation which I highly respect.

[hot tempered steel]

As with most knife companies, the older the better. past 1970 things slowly went down hill and after '79 they just flat fell off the side of the cliff, and unfortunately there was a field of collector interest and a lower grade of craftsmanship at the bottom of that cliff. I have sold a lot of my case knives and still have more to sell, all that is going to remain living with me is my pre 1971 whittlers and pre 1985 muskrats the rest find new homes, but not becuase they are a lower grade, most of what I am selling is XX era, I have a couple WR case ect. it's just the fact that I have too many, and want to narrow my field of collecting to avoid spending large sums of money in short windows of time, which is easy to do. the only modern produced knife I will own is GEC which has the flavor of the old, and the quality of the old. More of a "quality not quanity" operation which I highly respect.

A man after my own heart. Very well said Muskrat Man, and also very, very true! That's what I was trying to say about the Case Classic line on another post. The Case Classic line was just pre-1970 quality knifes offered during those few years in the 1990's. It does prove that quality knifes could still be built, IF THEY WOULD JUST DO IT! I like GEC knifes. They are good quality knifes. I would like to see them bring out different patterns and stop with the 1 of 50 etching.

[muskrat man]

I think the etching has to do with making them desireable to collectors which is nice but what I really admire is they do not let that (collector market) get in the way of the temper of thier steel, thier fit/finish is acceptable of both users and collectors.

I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that disagree with me and that's fine becuase if everyone was alike life would be boring, and I respect others feelings towards a brand but I have had lots of experience with just about every common brand made, new and old and I have found no currently produced slipjoint knife that takes and holds as good an edge as a GEC. Folks have different standards towards edge taking and retention, I have high standards my two favorite brands one new one old for EDC and that have great edge taking abilities and great edge retention in old German eye, 3 eye era(pre 1980) and GEC. Now don't get me wrong, I have some great cases. schrades, westerns, waldens, camillus, remington and many other brands that are great (all vintage), but those are my two PERSONAL favorites as for brands (one new, one old)

Well, it seems I have ventured off target here, and i apologize to upnorth for hijacking his thread.

Carry on, men

[jonet143]

how about a couple of barlows?

[tmwsiy]

XX era was also the last of the pretty bone sunfish