All About Pocket Knives

I saw this on ebay and wish I had an extra $325 burning a hole in my pocket.
Here is the link to the auction in case someone is richer than I am.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULSTER-KNIFE-CO ... SwyQtVoyvq

I am putting the pics in this thread so we can reference it in the future.
Notice that the box says; "Ulster Knife Co., Inc. Ellenville, N.Y."
There was a fire in the factory in Walden, N.Y. and Schrade & Ulster combined their factories in the old Channel Master factory in Ellenville in 1958.

These box would have been printed after the move to Ellenville in 1958, and looking at the knives it appears they were made before the Prince Albert offer for the Ulster 10OT Barlow, circa 1964.

Someone with deep pockets should enjoy these!
If someone from AAPK wins this auction, please post more pics!

Seller says they're produced between 1941-1943, is that a misprint? You indicate manufacture between 1958-1964. That's a large discrepancy.

I think it's safe to say that 1941-1943 is not correct. If the handles are indeed Delrin® (and it appears they are from what I can see in the pictures) the knives would have been made in or after the late '60s.

If the knives are original to the box they were made after 1958.
1958 was when the Schrade & Ulster factories moved into the Channel Master factory in Ellenville, NY. Prior to that date their were in Walden, NY in 2 locations. I think Ulster was in its old factory and Schrade Walden was in the old Schrade Cut Co factory, even though they were both owned by the Albert & Henry Baer. I would need to do a bit of research to verify that, but I believe that is correct.

If the Barlows were made in 1941-1943 they would have had bone handles. In 1941 American knife companies were pretty much dedicated to war production. They would be very rare, esp with Delrin handles, since Delrin wasn't developed until the 1950s, according to DuPont's own website.

Dale, Ulster Knife Co. was always in Ellenville, on Canal Street to be exact, never made anywhere else. Albert Baer purchase Ulster around 1941, then Schrade around 1946. The knives were made in their respective factories until the workforces were combined in the Ulster shop in the 1950's. This wasn't due to a fire but rather was done for economic reasons. It was too costly to run three separate knife factories (Imperial, Schrade Walden, and Ulster). Once the move was made, the Ulster shop was renamed Schrade Walden/Ulster Knife Co, and shortly after just Schrade Walden, although Ulsters were still made there as well.

The move to Channel Master wasn't done until the late eighties/early nineties. This resulted in Schrade and Imperial eventually combining all production under one roof.

Those are some nice knives, I'd say your dating is right on

Eric

Thank you Eric! Your post really confused me at first, only because I was wrong.

Schrade started in Walden and moved into the Ulster factory in 1958, where they combined their operations.
Ulster Knife Company began in Ellenville as the Ellenville Knife Company. It never was located anywhere except in Ellenville, (so far as I know). Having never been closer to New York than Washington DC, I have a little difficulty visualizing in my mind which knife companies were located where, without looking them up.

I think I have it right now, but please let me know if I am not correct.

I think it was in 1984 that Imperial Schrade moved into the Channel Master factory. At least that is the date I found for the move in the Shawangunk Journal: http://www.gunkjournal.com/2013/08/22/news/1308220.html


Thanks again for helping me straighten out my Schrade/Ulster/Imperial timeline!

PS- How in the world do you say "Shawangunk?"

Some good info from both Eric and Dale. Thanks! Meanwhile, it has been my understanding that the 'fire' sometimes mentioned in conjunction with Ulster/Schrade may have been a fire at the Rogers bone factory, which furnished covers for many U.S. cutleries, and it was that fire which prompted the changeover to other materials, eventually leading to the industry-wide shift to DuPont Delrin. If this is not correct I am hoping for some better information on this subject. I am thinking that I have read the Rogers fire was in 1958, and that there was a bit of a scramble for 2 or 3 years trying to get covers on knives. Interestingly, celluloid seems to have winked out about the same time as Delrin came in, but in the troubled period aforementioned, a lot of patterns never went to celluloid. Perhaps that industry was in trouble also? ????