Antique Winchester Knives and Company History 1919-1942

What year was this Winchester made and where and what factory manufactured them ~ anyone know ~ ? Christmas Handles are one of my Favorites on a Number of Manufacture's ~ Just Nostalgic and I love Christmas ~ Is this a Sowbelly Stockman ~ or is it just referred to as a Sowbelly ~ View attachment 1289762
Pretty sure it was made by Queen for Blue Grass Cutlery. Date should be below pattern number on rear tang of master blade... most likely early 1990s.

Edit: Did not see that Charlie had already answered. I obviously agree. :)

p.s. Interesting bolsters.
 
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From the Oregon Knife Collectors Newsletter, November 2004

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BTW, the featured article in that edition of the OKCA newletter discusses the "Humble Harness Jack" and is authored by Charlie.
 
MerryMadMonk MerryMadMonk - Sweet scout and cool information - Thanks Al :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ...

waynorth waynorth - Charlie - In the listing of Winchester knives by model (Houston and Zalesky) the 2703 is a smooth bone barlow so that is correct. I am not that familiar with Winchester (and their barlows) to know if it is real or cobbled.. I will say that the stamp does not have Made in USA under the Trademark - not sure I have seen that variation - maybe it was during the later years of Winchester (just a guess)...

Here's a Winchester bone jack (close in model # to Charlie's knife just above :)) - # 2911... 3 & 1/2" closed... All metal bolsters and liners... bone is interesting and though I am sure it is original I can't pinpoint it as Rogers bone or one of the other sources... Master is just about full length though no doubt sharpened - and pen blade looks essentially unused... One thing I notice on many Winchesters is that the nail nick was always abit more forward on the blade towards the tip... Also this knife having "Winchester" on the pen blade apparently based on historical info seems to indicate the knife was higher end with tang stamps on both blades...

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I have an Eagle boys knife I have to dig out - I think the relationship to Winchester makes it worthwhile to post in this thread ;)

Thanks all!
Lee
 
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, Lee!!:thumbsup:
Nice jack you posted!! Perfect Patina and Pocket Wear!!:)
 
I believe either term is correct, J !!
If there is a year (like '92) stamped on the pile side of a blade, then the knife would have been made by Queen in that year! Otherwise, I do not know!!??

Sowbelly does not belong to me I just grabbed it off the web doing a search so what year they made this one I couldn't say although I am guessing some time in the 90's
 
L LongBlade Lee, I don't know if Winchester did in-house jigging or acquired their jigged bone from outside sources, but I agree with you... it's original. I have a couple of Winchesters with that style jigging and have seen it on others. For lack of a better term, I personally refer to that type of jigging as herringbone as it reminds me of the herringbone formation used in the Army. Great knife! Thanks for showing and would love to see your Eagle knife!

Augie Augie Pretty cocobolo on the boys knife, John! That pattern came with a chain also...
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L LongBlade Lee, I don't know if Winchester did in-house jigging or acquired their jigged bone from outside sources, but I agree with you... it's original. I have a couple of Winchesters with that style jigging and have seen it on others. For lack of a better term, I personally refer to that type of jigging as herringbone as it reminds me of the herringbone formation used in the Army. Great knife! Thanks for showing and would love to see your Eagle knife!

Augie Augie Pretty cocobolo on the boys knife, John! That pattern came with a chain also...
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Thanks for the information AL, mine most likely had the chain but has long since disappeared as most did.
 
Thanks for the "plug", Al!!:D

Here's a barlow in nice shape! The bone handles are finished in the old "square-cornered" way. Can anybody date this knife, or authenticate it, if needed??:rolleyes::)View attachment 1290133 View attachment 1290134 View attachment 1290135 View attachment 1290136

Here is a catalog cut from a 1930 Winchester catalog reprint. :rolleyes: GE jr also posted a 2703 on the first page of this thread.

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Yours would appear to be a 1701. Perhaps someone inexperienced mistamped the blade at the factory?

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MerryMadMonk MerryMadMonk

Here's a Winchester bone jack (close in model # to Charlie's knife just above :)) - # 2911... 3 & 1/2" closed... All metal bolsters and liners... bone is interesting and though I am sure it is original I can't pinpoint it as Rogers bone or one of the other sources... Master is just about full length though no doubt sharpened - and pen blade looks essentially unused... One thing I notice on many Winchesters is that the nail nick was always abit more forward on the blade towards the tip... Also this knife having "Winchester" on the pen blade apparently based on historical info seems to indicate the knife was higher end with tang stamps on both blades...

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Lee

Here is a 1930 catalog cut of a 2911. Hard to tell from catalog cuts, but the jigging on your knife looks to be the same.:thumbsup:

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Surprised nobody has posted any of their Winchester 1920 Patterns ~
 
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Also available on the WWVHSC (www.thewaldenhouse.org), is an excerpt from a book "Old Walden" by String Cooper. Below is the link to this:

http://www.thewaldenhouse.org/LHD 2012/Knife Industry.pdf

The quote below is from about the middle of page 4.

"During World War I government contracts kept the factory operating to full capacity. One of the major items produced were large knives for the Navy. After the armistice there was a sharp decline in the demand for pocket cutlery. E. C. Simmons Company, being in a precarious financial situation merged with the Winchester Arms Company who were as bad off with their large munitions factories standing empty, and started making knives in their Bridgeport, Connecticut factory. The Walden plant started down hill. They continued working in a small way until 1927 when they closed their doors for the last times."

Through searching old newspapers, I found the article below. It is from the Warwick Advertiser, dated July 27, 1922. I talks about a visit by President Otterson, of the Winchester Arms-Simmons Hardware Co., to the Walden Knife plant. At the end of the day he gathers the plant foreman and assures them that operations will continue as usual at the Walden plant.

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I also have two newspaper articles giving an exact closing date for the Walden Knife plant. One is from the Ithaca Journal, dated April 16, 1927 and the other is from the Walden Citizen Herald, dated April 14, 1927. Both state that the Walden Plant will shut down on April 30, 1927. The Ithaca Journal article also states that the 175 employees had been notified.

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There is the notice for the Public Auction of the Walden Knife Co. equipment available on www.collectors-of-schrades-r-us.com as below:

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Walden/Walden.pdf

The list of equipment up for auction is over 20 pages long. I have looked through it and don't see as much of some types of equipment (grinders, anvils etc) as I would expect, but, it is still quite an extensive list.

That is pretty much a summary of what I have to date. As I said, I am still hoping for more from the Walden village historian, and will post information as I get it.

Danno -
Thanks for in the great information. I’m curious about when the last Walden-marked knives were made. Simmons Hdwe took over the Walden plant to build Keen Kutter knives. I see in Sellens’ book on Keen Kutter Pocket Knives that Walden was listed as a Simmons house brand in their catalogs, but was last listed in 1911. I don’t know how often they put out a catalog, but I wonder if 100% of the Walden production was eventually devoted to Keen Kutters. It seems reasonable to me that if Walden-marked knives were still being made they would be sold in the Simmons catalog after 1911.

I also wonder about the two different tang stamps for Walden knives. I own several that are stamped Walden Knife Co NY. I also own a two-blade regular barlow that is stamped Walden on the grooved bolsters and Walden Knife Co Made in USA on both blades. The frame looks and feels like a Winchester barlow. Could it be that Winchester made the Waldens stamped Made in USA? If not, why the change in the tang stamp?

It’s all very confusing. Thanks again,
Wilson
 
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