All About Pocket Knives

Hi all! Thanks for the add (to the admins) it's nice to "see" everyone! We have quite a few very old knives as we're reenactors of the American fur trade and this one in particular is rather perplexing there's no marks on the blade and we think it's hand made. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to AAPK!

Looks factory made to me with cast pewter bolsters. Hard to say who made it. Judging from the wear on the blade the stamped markings may have worn off with use and time. Typically the stamp would be out on the opposite side of the blade that shows in the pictures. Great period piece for reenactment.

Thank you, there's zero marks on it still. I looked for a while trying to see if there's any remnants and there's none, the blade has some pock marking so I think it was rusted out and restored at some point.. The design just looks really rough to me but it would make sense if it was factory made. Also, it's definitely pewter. It also looks like it's missing an end cap, so it's hard to say what the original design looks like. What is the design called? I seem to remember a French cross looking similar but I'm not sure.

It was probably some kind of kitchen knife, most of those just had an etch on the blade stating the company's name, and those wore off pretty quickly. Here's an old Walden Knife Co. example, not as ornate but it'll give you an idea:
Eric

Welcome to AAPK TwistedBuffalo
I know how popular the Civil War reenactors are but I have not realized until now that the American fur trade reenactors even existed.
Do you have a website? I would like to learn more about your reenactor group.
When you get the opportunity please educate us on your group.
Perhaps share some of the other knives that your group carries.
(We love pictures)

Your posted knife is certainly a factory made knife. The design is most likely called a "Carver" they did not come with sheaths but many were sold as cutlery sets with matching large two prong forks with finger guards and occasionally sharpening steels.
Many knife manufacturers made these knives with pewter handles from the mid 1800, through early 1900s.
With no visible markings on your knife it will be very unlikely to obtain the maker unless one can find an identical pewter designed item.

The below picture is from my 1884 "John Russell Cutlery Company" sales catalog. The company was located in Greenfield Massachusetts, Also known as: "Green River Knives"
The Green River Knives are best remembered for their glamorous uses to which they were put, but the reputation it built was for a real working knife. Buffalo hunters used them to skin their catch , miners used them to scratch veins and deposits from the earth; the scouts and mountain men who depended upon them for their lives put them to many tasks: dressing leather, cutting wood, skinning animals, cooking and carving, and anything else which the occasion might call.

Your knife would most certainly fit within the dates of American and Canadian Fur Trade. This picture is from the 1897 Sears and Roebuck Catalog. You can see various pewter designs on the handles.
As you can see, pewter handles were very popular and in demand. The below is my "Fancy Carver" it is 10 3/4" long with a Brass Keen Kutter Logo shield accompanied with Pewter inlay Fancy Bolsters.
Shapleigh Hardware adapted the DIAMOND EDGE as their brand name for a line of superior tools and cutlery in 1864. "KEEN KUTTER" was the name chosen by E.C. Simmons in 1870 for their high grade tools and cutlery.
The famous wedge and bar "KEEN KUTTER" logo below was adapted after 1904.
Without the "Keen Kutter" shield logo I would not know who made my carver.
Sorry to have rambled on TwistedBuffalo, but we have a tendency to do that here on AAPK at times.















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My gosh! Thank you for the time spent to give us the information! We do have several Green River knives, at least my father does, they're common amongst the "Mountain Men" at our events we go to called rendezvous. We do not have a website ourselves yet seeing as we do not own a computer but I do dream of building one at some point. There are many websites for research, one is https://www.spvhs.org/tallow-river-trappers.html that's our most common area we go to for events but like I said there's many websites/events, mainly across the Rocky Mountains and surrounding areas. It's rather cliche but a good movie to watch is The Mountain Men, it's fairly accurate in it's portrayal of the things that we do. Also, I'll dig out some other blades to post here after a bit.

TwistedBuffalo, If you have not seen it you might enjoy the Robert Redford movie Jedediah Smith.

Quick Steel, I'm guessing you mean Jeremiah Johnson? It's one of our favorites. The majority of the designers for that movie were also fur trade reenactors.

Dan.....WOW....that's helpful info bud!! Great job!!!

Jebidiah Smith? Did you lose a marble or 5 somewhere Garry?

Just bustin' yer chops pal!

I lived in the Jackson, wy area for a few years and the site of the original Rondezvous is just west of Pinedale on the Green River. There is also a very interesting museum of the mountain man on the east side of pinedale. A lot a history in the Pinedale area I believe they have a annual Rondezvous there also. We also have a "Museum of the Fur Trade" here close to Chadron, Ne. that is very interesting. Your knife could be linked to that era, but probably not quite that old. Welcome to AAPK Terry

TripleF wrote:Dan.....WOW....that's helpful info bud!! Great job!!!

Jebidiah Smith? Did you lose a marble or 5 somewhere Garry?

Just bustin' yer chops pal!

No he hasn't lost any marbles, here is a book that I have called Jedediah Smith and the opening of the West. He was a mountain man in 1822-27. Terry

Whereas Jedediah Smith was a mountain man, there hasn't been a movie made about him. The movie about a hunter/mountain man with Robert Redford is Jeremiah Johnson. We did attend the "1838 rendezvous" in Riverton once and that was a nice experience. There's many across Colorado and southern Wyoming so we haven't ended up going back to Riverton but I intend to someday.

Thank you so much Scott

And thank you for the below website TB.
https://www.spvhs.org/tallow-river-trappers.html

WOW, I'm sure getting an Americana Education today that I did not even know existed.

Hey TB am I to assume you have been to Ft. Bridger Rendezvous? held every year over Labor Day weekend!! Hands down THE best Rendezvous!! Even better that the Nationals IMO Ft. Bridger, Population 150 souls swells to around 5 thousand every Labor Day!!! Yes I have been to the site where the very 1st Rendezvous was held....over by Daniels I believe..... Nice lookin trade knife!


Dave