Any Joseph Rodgers & Sons collectors here?...

Gorgeous Knives being shown here by all, Ernie, Mike, Danno and Charlie showing exceptional examples!
 
glennbad said:
That one is a mod, the original covers were either shot or shrunk
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Great work looks like it could have come straight from the workshop 100 years ago :D

This ones my current EDC

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Charlie that jigged bone lambsfoot is about the finest example I've ever seen!

Great knives everyone!

Eric
 
Charlie that's awesome, couldn't have picked a better one!

Eric
 
Wonderful knives being shown everyone! Joseph Rodgers made quality knives for a few hundred years, can't remember ever seeing an old one that wasn't a great knife. I have a few, an unused large Congress with its original oil paper bag, a nice penknife and a large jack.


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Forgive me for jumping on an old post, but my neighbor had this old Joseph Rodgers jackknife on his counter, it was very dirty and had a lot of surface rust. It would barely open. I asked if he would like me to clean it up. I did, and the rust was not deep, and with some oil and rubbing, it walks and talks, and I even sharpened it easily with my Spyderco Sharpmaker. The edge is great. I took it back to him, and he insisted I keep it. He is in his 70's, and said it was his uncle's. I have not seen any way to date it, but I'm guessing about 1920. Nice stag horn scales. Still tight. Can anyone refer me to information about this model? I have a small collection, but this is my first Joseph Rodgers, and I am impressed.JRknife1JRknife2JRknife4JRknife3
 
Hmm. Just after this post, I saw this link https://woodsandarrow.com/joseph-rodgers-sons-star-cross-knife-making-history/ which ishows a catalog page for Southern Hardware and Supply Company of Mobile, AL. This company was incorporated in 1946. From the catalog page (not dated), the knife appears to be a model 24479 two blade jack, iron lined with stag scales. Sold for $9.15 a dozen ($133.00 in 2022 dollars, still cheap). So, I can infer that the knife is perhaps 75 years old. Still, it verifies that in that era, there were some very good pocketknives that were common, even imports. I may start carrying this one, it is as sharp as any I own, and I am not risking a huge value loss. I am surprised after decades of being interested in knives, I did not know this company.
 
jerrycup said:
Forgive me for jumping on an old post, but my neighbor had this old Joseph Rodgers jackknife on his counter, it was very dirty and had a lot of surface rust. It would barely open. I asked if he would like me to clean it up. I did, and the rust was not deep, and with some oil and rubbing, it walks and talks, and I even sharpened it easily with my Spyderco Sharpmaker. The edge is great. I took it back to him, and he insisted I keep it. He is in his 70's, and said it was his uncle's. I have not seen any way to date it, but I'm guessing about 1920. Nice stag horn scales. Still tight. Can anyone refer me to information about this model? I have a small collection, but this is my first Joseph Rodgers, and I am impressed.JRknife1JRknife2JRknife4JRknife3
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What a beauty, and a wonderful gift from your neighbor. Please share other knives from your collection. If they are old ones, we have an "Old Knives" thread.
 
I think it's been a year or two now that I was at my local flea market and picked up this Joseph Rodgers hunting Bowie knife for $50.
I went home that day pretty giddy, knowing that, if it was legit, I had gotten a scream of a deal, especially for it's condition.
Well, it turned out to be legit, so it really was a great score šŸ˜Š

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glennbad said:
What a beauty, and a wonderful gift from your neighbor. Please share other knives from your collection. If they are old ones, we have an "Old Knives" thread.
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Hello, Glenn, I have a bit more info on my knife after digging around a bit. You can date the knife by looking at the tang stamp on the small blade.

I shows:
G(crown)R
CUTLERS TO
HIS MAJESTY

We can infer that this means the knife was made between 1938 and 1952 - when George VI was King of England. Some tank stamps show "HER MAJESTY" after Queen Elizabeth became queen. Tang stamps with E(crown)R and "HIS MAJESTY" must be before Queen Elizabeth.

However, the knife could also be made during the reign of George V from 1910 to 1936.

The pattern is the same as the shown in this 1938 Rodgers catalog, a No. 24479. One of the least expensive knives in the catalog, $27.50 per dozen to dealers. Note, $27.50 in 1938 USD would be $554 2022 dollars, or $46 each dealer cost. :) It would not have been very inexpensive in the day.


My collection is quite varied, I am partial to Queen Cutlery in the modern era.

Jerry
 
jerrycup said:
Hello, Glenn, I have a bit more info on my knife after digging around a bit. You can date the knife by looking at the tang stamp on the small blade.

I shows:
G(crown)R
CUTLERS TO
HIS MAJESTY

We can infer that this means the knife was made between 1938 and 1952 - when George VI was King of England. Some tank stamps show "HER MAJESTY" after Queen Elizabeth became queen. Tang stamps with E(crown)R and "HIS MAJESTY" must be before Queen Elizabeth.

However, the knife could also be made during the reign of George V from 1910 to 1936.

The pattern is the same as the shown in this 1938 Rodgers catalog, a No. 24479. One of the least expensive knives in the catalog, $27.50 per dozen to dealers. Note, $27.50 in 1938 USD would be $554 2022 dollars, or $46 each dealer cost. :) It would not have been very inexpensive in the day.


My collection is quite varied, I am partial to Queen Cutlery in the modern era.

Jerry
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Thanks for posting the link to that catalog. It may have been shared before, but nice to see it again regardless!
 
J jerrycup A very interesting & attractive knife, enviable find.

Could you post the images directly using a hosting site like Imgur? It makes looking at the images easier & faster.

Obviously, dating knives can be very tricky indeed unless dealing with a special run. What I notice is the quality of the Stag on your knife: deep grooved and looks fantastic as a Barehead. It may be a model that was on their books for a long time indeed . Can I ask how you know the catalogue is from 1938? I must have missed seeing any dates on it. We can say it's after 1913 as it has stainless steel knives so likely 20's or 30's. But is your knife from that time? ;) It could in fact be earlier and was a model that carried on in production.

The Majesty it refers to could be Geo.V 1910-36 Edward VIII 1936 abdicated Geo VI 1937-52 or even Edward VII 1902-1910. The quality looks good so I'd hazard a guess it's from the Geo V era , quality decline began soon after WW I due to multiple factors: skilled men killed or maimed in the war, destruction of apprenticeships -the pitiful money they were paid made skilled workers inclined to work in the new automotive & electrical industries of the English Midlands, old cutlers retiring or dying, loss of skills poor investment and other non commercial aspects all diminished the eminence of English cutlery, its golden years were over and never returned. However, this was a slow process.

Your neighbour who generously gave you the knife is then born in the 1940s? His uncle may have been 20, 30, 40 years older and may have had this knife a long time? Or it may have been a knife that was unused & forgotten for years and then the uncle might have got hold of it. May, might :D but as I say the knife looks of good quality Stag, maybe a bit dated or old fashioned compared to sleeker multi blades but quite a lot of that catalogue has patterns that were familiar at the turn of the c20th. If that catalogue is from 1938 then that's possibly the minimum age the knife would be, WWII would have stopped export of pocket knives to the USA almost immediately and, given the then dominance of the US economy and its own knife makers I would not imagine that large scale exports of English knives really resumed for many years after 1945.

So I'd guess Geo V era. I mean old stock did hang around in shops for years in some dusty old places :cool: Or else your neighbour's uncle might have been a serviceman stationed in Britain in the war and picked up the knife there? We likely won't know, but I do know it's an attractive haul, well done. Not sure when Norfolk Street was removed from tang stamps, that could help a little in dating it?

Thanks, Will
 
Hello, Will,

I don't have an Imgur account, but I will look into that. The links I posted were to my Google Drive. Apparently not an accepted source for media on this host.

My neighbor Bill is about 75 (born in the late 40's), and his family is from the Charleston, SC area. He said he believed it had belonged to his uncle. I believe his family traces back to a large rice plantation in the low country (and I don't mean Netherlands).

I wish I had taken photos of the knife as I first saw it - it was crusty dirty and had a lot of rust, although it was easily removed with a fiberglass burnishing tool. It would barely open. I'd guess it had been in some tackle box or drawer in the garden shed. I am quite sure it had not been used in years.

If the knife had been from the Edward VII era, would it have not shown E(crown)R on the tang?

The archive that had the catalog showed the date as 1938. In my post of May 16, I linked to a catalog from a company in Mobile, Alabama USA that showed the same pattern knife, and that company was founded in 1946. So, it seems possible the knife was purchased post war, but I concur with your thoughts about being from George V era.

Anyway, after an hour or so of cleanup, the edges were undamaged, I used a Spyderco Sharpmaker, and the knife will cut paper slivers. I'm glad to own a classic "English Jack" and happy to know about this great old Sheffield cutler. I will leave it to Bill's son. ;-)

Thanks for your interesting comment.

Jerry
 
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