"Old Knives"

[wlfryjr]

Thanks everyone.
Nice knife John, same here.

Two more wonderful examples!!!
I wish there was an article written on these models, if only there was someone who had a large collection and diverse knowledge of these neat knives???

Tell that person I have several questions for them. Grin'n.
Maybe I will, if Mark won't change the last sentence. I'm laughing, it's a good story....

 

[paulhilborn]

Northshore, Lee, Charlie, great knives, Neal, great info

This Ulster Pen Knife arrived and it's a sweet little, slim knife. Great jigged bone covers, solid blades that are pretty full yet.

 

[wlfryjr]

Somehow I missed Neal ,Charlie ,and Lee's knives.Thanks for the continuing education.
Beautiful Ulster Paul.

 

[waynorth]

Great Ulster, Paul! Killer jigged bone!!
Any chance of a clearer shot of the tang stamp(s)?

 

[Campbellclanman]

Total agreement- that Ulster is a sweetheart Paul, stunning Jig work.

 

[LongBlade]

Wonderful Boys Knife Lee! Yes, this knife would have been another perfect example in your written presentation. Really enjoyed your article "The Boys Knife" in Knife Magazine. Well written, researched and the photographs of specimen Boys Knives are outstanding! Overall A++++ and well worth the cover price just for this article. I would pay two or three times the current subscription price if Knife Magazine was just only composed of articles like yours each month. Congratulations!! Lloyd

Thanks Lloyd - much appreciated and very kind my friend

Thanks for showing those Lee and Neal! Beautiful!!
They missed the article, but we get to see them here!!
It's hard for me to resist a knife on a chain! I am sure some of these fall into the "boy's" category:
View attachment 740895 View attachment 740896

Awesome showing of Boys Knives Charlie - classics from IK Co, Shapleigh (made by Schrade), Schrade jigged bone beauties etc !!! I love those chains as well but I have not had much luck finding many of the chains - I think you have them all ... They are harder to find than the Boys Knives ... As an aside I have that same Shapleigh knife but I got lucky & the painted logo on mark side is very readable - and I am sure as you know already it has that patented Schrade folded liner (similar in a a way to the Frary with the folded frame)... Cool!!!

That's a really great old Boy's knife!!!
James D. Frary patented that style of "cast handle with ornamental designs" in 1880.

Thanks Neal

and thanks Lyle and Paul - much appreciated

Northshore, Lee, Charlie, great knives, Neal, great info

This Ulster Pen Knife arrived and it's a sweet little, slim knife. Great jigged bone covers, solid blades that are pretty full yet.

Beautiful Ulster Paul - great bone on that knife!!!

 

[herder]

Congratulations to you also Neal on the article! Everything I said about the article in my above post I say to you also. Sorry I didn't know Neal and herder were the same person and that you were the co-author. Anyway great stuff, Lloyd

Thanks.

 

[herder]

Thanks everyone.
Nice knife John, same here.


Tell that person I have several questions for them. Grin'n.
Maybe I will, if Mark won't change the last sentence. I'm laughing, it's a good story....

The only question that guy should have is which knives to show since there are way more fine examples than allowable space...
And, I would like to hear "the rest of the story" as the late Paul Harvey used to say.

 

[herder]

Northshore, Lee, Charlie, great knives, Neal, great info

This Ulster Pen Knife arrived and it's a sweet little, slim knife. Great jigged bone covers, solid blades that are pretty full yet.

Beautiful example, and I would also love to see a picture of the tang stamp. It looks like its "Ulster" over "Knife" over "Co." (or Company)???
Probably dates to the 1920s or 1930s. I have several catalog cuts showing this model from that time frame.

 

[Augie]

BEAUTIFUL Ulster Paul, great find!

 

[waynorth]

Please show us that wood-handled Shapleigh, Lee!!

 

[paulhilborn]

Thanks all and sorry I forgot to post the tang stamp. Usually I do. Neal, you are correct...

ULSTER
KNIFE
CO

 

[LongBlade]

Please show us that wood-handled Shapleigh, Lee!!

Charlie - its not mint but no doubt finding one with most of handle logo intact is not common as you probably know - "Shapleigh's / Every Boy / Guaranteed"... that painted (at least it looks painted) wood handle no doubt would wear off fast ... There is abit of "crud" on one spot on mine and haven't quite looked at it closely enough to see if I could get it off, and preserve the label underneath without pulling off a piece of it..

You can see the spring inside the liner from this end shot of pivot bolster... and shows nicely the folded liner/frame deign and patent from Schrade..

Cheers
Lee

 

[paulhilborn]

Lee, that is an AMAZING find right there

 

[waynorth]

Thanks, Lee! Your stamping is much clearer than mine, both the ink and the tang stamp!
But I am sure they are identical, except for the ink color. Mine is black and yours is red.
Thanks for the nice close-ups!

 

[LongBlade]

Thanks Paul and Charlie .... That is cool Charlie and no doubt identical!! - I didn't know they were in black or red lettering - if I ordered it back in the day I would have went for black - as an aside when I looked at your knife I wasn't sure if it was just age or black lettering so thanks for the clarification ....

 

[waynorth]

Well, I rooted around a little to see if I had any other knives that might have been intended as Boys' knives. These two Schrade Cut Cos might qualify. One is 3 1/8" (top) and the other is 3 1/4", but maybe a little fancy?
I found this photo a few years ago, and had Bill Ruple convinced it was a photo of him I had dug up! He believed me for about an hour!!
Then I apologized - he has a good sense of humor!!

 

[LongBlade]

Beautiful knives my friend ... and love the photo too ... Definitely not too fancy to be Boys Knives but in my opinion which I believe based on multiple sources is that they are abit long in the closed length to be a Boys Knife... I really believe based on many examples and background these knives were mostly 3 & 1/4" or less in most cases though could be up to 3 & 1/2" at the largest size in some cases.... I like those longer one blade jacks myself & have a few examples but no photos at the moment - but I call them stabber patterns - that may be incorrect but terminology of knives becomes very confused pending name the cutlery company gave it vs those one may read in a knife reference book... I'm sure that is not not news to anybody here .....

 

[waynorth]

I have corrected the knife lengths, Lee!
I must have had a "senior moment"!

 

[LongBlade]

I have corrected the knife lengths, Lee!
I must have had a "senior moment"!

Hey Charlie - I have a few of those moments myself .... and given the lengths those would indeed be Boys Knives and quite nice ones too ... Not too fancy at all and I think what alot of background suggested is that some of the Boys Knives were not all cheaply made... in fact some of the early knives for boys even had ivory and other fancier handle materials as well as tip bolsters, shields etc... The Montgomery Wards catalog cut from the mid 1890s found by Neal that was discussed in the article labeled at least 18 different knives as Boys Knives and many different styles, fancy handles, shields etc - unfortunately there was not page space in the article to include that catalog cut (but Mark Z did a great job getting the vast majority of the article, photos, catalog cuts into print)... Part of the intriguing part of the Boys Knives to me was that they were not just those cheap but durable small knives for boys .. Thanks for sharing those Charlie - Schrade did make some awesome Boys Knives ...