Help me date a Böker USA knife

J

Joshua91

Joined
Mar 27, 2024
Messages
52
Hello knife friends!

Can anyone help me date this pocket knife?
Confused by the information i found online or i'm misinterpreting it.

Hope the link works.
One tang stamp should mark it between 1945/1983 but if i Google the tree on the other blade google says 1900

Hope ya'll can help me!

Greetings from the Netherlands

Joshua.

https://imgur.com/a/GqBjgO7
 
Joshua91 said:
Hey Fishhunter, wasn't able to see your message. Does my photo link work?
Click to expand...
Yes. The link works.
I "think' your tree with skinny trunk matches the starting 1917 tree more than the earlier tree. ... I am probably wrong though.
Are the trees you found for Böker USA or Böker Germany?
I don't know if they are the same. A couple of the later Germany trees (1950's for example) seem a close match, as well.

Very nice knife. 👍
 
afishhunter said:
Yes. The link works.
I "think' your tree with skinny trunk matches the starting 1917 tree more than the earlier tree. ... I am probably wrong though.
Are the trees you found for Böker USA or Böker Germany?
I don't know if they are the same. A couple of the later Germany trees (1950's for example) seem a close match, as well.

Very nice knife. 👍
Click to expand...

Not sure if they are American or German tree's it doesn't say so in the chart.
 
You can rarely date a Boker knife by the blade tang stamp or tree shape alone. You have to combine the pattern and shape along with the handle material and handle shield as well as the tang stamp.
Your particular model 5858 knife with all the features mentioned dates from the early 1950s to early 1970s era. Enclosed is a catalog illustration from 1959.
There is a very good book on Boker knives which is available in both English and German languages that would answer many question on Boker knives.
"Knife Magazine" carries the English version, and the Boker company in Germany carries the German version.

Boker Stockman 5858 1959 (1000x853).jpg
 
My guess was going to be 60s or 70s, but I think my colleague herder has got it right.
 
herder said:
You can rarely date a Boker knife by the blade tang stamp or tree shape alone. You have to combine the pattern and shape along with the handle material and handle shield as well as the tang stamp.
Your particular model 5858 knife with all the features mentioned dates from the early 1950s to early 1970s era. Enclosed is a catalog illustration from 1959.
There is a very good book on Boker knives which is available in both English and German languages that would answer many question on Boker knives.
"Knife Magazine" carries the English version, and the Boker company in Germany carries the German version.

View attachment 2559438
Click to expand...

That is amazing thank you so much!!
Definitely going to look for that book
 
Boker U.S.A. was founded in Juli 1986 in Denver, Colorado. So I guess it's possible for it to not be older than that. Even though the design of the knife is older, as portrayed correctly in posts above this one.
But then it could be older than that according to the history text and their history-timeline on Bökers website.
Here a short excerpt from the text:
World War II
Because of the tree-brand being well established by then and the good understanding within the international Boker family, there wasn´t any problem to get permission from Solingen to use the tree-brand for American made products as well. Since then there have been two different product lines of Boker knives on the US market with identical logos and sometimes even identical item numbers; one product line Made in USA, the other product line Made in Solingen, only to be differentiated by the markings "Boker USA" or "H. Boker Improved Cutlery Solingen".
Click to expand...
On their timeline section on their website it also states:
1899: Boker US merged with Valley Forge to produce product in US
Click to expand...
1941: Boker USA etch replaces German markings
Click to expand...
So I guess it's manufacturing date could sit somewhere between 1899 and 1941. Since I couldn't see an etched logo on that, although it could be withered away by now. 🤔 I'm not sure though.

Sources:
www.bokerusa.com

Boker USA

www.bokerusa.com www.bokerusa.com
 
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