Colonial Knife Co Providence R.I.

SteveC said:
Here is my Old Cutler Barlow

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Hi Steve. Welcome.


That's a very nice Barlow. Thanks for sharing it with us.


Your Old Cutler Barlow is Model #720 and has 1095 carbon steel blades.


That model was made in 2 colors. Black and Buckskin. I think you have a buckskin but someone has customized yours a little bit by dyeing the white parts of the handle brown. Looks good like that.



Here is your knife in one of Colonials last catalogs from 1995.

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When I was 10 years old 54 years ago my Grandfather gave me this Colonial Barlow along with a ten dollar bill for helping him with fencing his pasture.
It was both my first folding knife and my first new knife. I had Glennbad bring it back to life and put on new stag covers.


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r redden said:
When I was 10 years old 54 years ago my Grandfather gave me this Colonial Barlow along with a ten dollar bill for helping him with fencing his pasture.
It was both my first folding knife and my first new knife. I had Glennbad bring it back to life and put on new stag covers.


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Wow! That is beautiful. Glennbad is so talented.


And such a neat story too. Your first knife!

Thanks for posting it. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
r redden said:
When I was 10 years old 54 years ago my Grandfather gave me this Colonial Barlow along with a ten dollar bill for helping him with fencing his pasture.
It was both my first folding knife and my first new knife. I had Glennbad bring it back to life and put on new stag covers.


g2tyuT4.jpg


DI1k5Pe.jpg


4V5lfLV.jpg
Click to expand...
That's some beautiful work done to that knife, and there's so much more life left in those blades than I'd expect for a kids first knife.
The steel in these blades is definitely worthy of that work that's been done.
 
scrteened porch said:
I wonder if this is a Colonial, based on the faux handle. (the seam goes right through the metal pommel.)
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Hi Jer.

Very interesting.

I am not 100% sure but I dont think its a Colonial. I sure can see its similarity's to Colonial though.


Its black handle is a lot like this Colonial.


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And the pommel is similar to this Colonial Fish Master. But I have never seen A Colonial with a pommel like this that was metal. I've only seen them plastic.


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So I think its not a Colonial but I will let you know if I see anything like it. Looks like a great little fishing knife though:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Last week I stopped in an antique store I have never been in before and found a few old knives.

One of them was the first Colonial I have ever seen for sale in person.

Its in bad shape, it was missing the handle on one side but I bought it anyway. It was 50 cents. :D


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Nice one. It doesn't really need a handle- all smooth as it is.
I think my mystery bird-and-trout was worth the $5 I paid for it, so I'll try to resist the urge to tear it apart and see what holds it together.
 
Hello my friends. I have been so busy lately I haven't had time to take any pictures. But I'm still finding new Colonials and finally have some new pictures today.



The first is a very neat old 1940's Forest Master from the days before they were shell knives. This one has the Colonial Prov Ri tang stamp Colonial used in the 40's and 50's. Its in great shape with no cracks or damage to the handles. I have a hard time telling MOP from cracked ice on some knives. I think this one is cracked ice.


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Next is a rare Forest Master that has the same Prov Ri tang stamp as the last one but is a shell knife. It was made mid to late 50's about the time the Forest Masters became shell knives. This one is different than most because it has a very pointy clip point instead of the drop point most Forest Masters had. You just dont see many of these. There is a regular Forest Master behind it for comparison.

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The next 2 Forest Masters I have been trying to find for years.

They are Forest Master advertising and contract knives. Colonial made knives for so many different company's but during my research I have only found five different Forest Master advertising or contract knives to exist.

I finally have all 5.

The first one is a Solder Seal Forest Master. Its shield says Solder Seal instead of Forest Master but is otherwise the same as any other one.

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The next one was the hardest one to find. I saw a picture of one of these once. It was the only one I had ever seen until recently. After 4 or 5 years of looking I finally found one for sale last month.

Its a Rat Poison advertisement. Instead of Forest Master the shield says Star Kills Rats Beaver Falls PA.



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Next I have 2 different contract knives for the same company. Lee Olsen Jr's Olsen Knife Co.

The first one is the older of the two knives. It says Lee Jr on the shield instead of Forest Master but otherwise is the same as a normal one.

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The next one says Olsen Ok Brand on the shield instead of Forest Master. But this one is Stainless and they also payed Colonial to make them a different tang stamp on this one. It says Colonial USA Stainless Rostfrei. For those that dont know Rostrfei is german for rust free. I am guessing they wanted to be able to sell it in Europe as well as USA.

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The last advertising Forest Master is the only one that the company did not have their name put on the shield. It is the same as any other Forest Master other than the tang stamp. It says Palco Worc. USA.

Palco is the Pressed Aluminum Co in Worcester Mass. They made outdoor equipment like canteens and mess kits. Some of them were official boy scout items.


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r redden said:
When I was 10 years old 54 years ago my Grandfather gave me this Colonial Barlow along with a ten dollar bill for helping him with fencing his pasture.
It was both my first folding knife and my first new knife. I had Glennbad bring it back to life and put on new stag covers.


g2tyuT4.jpg


DI1k5Pe.jpg


4V5lfLV.jpg
Click to expand...
:thumbsup: Awesome! (Story & "new " knife) :D
 
That Olsen is interesting to me. I had thought the "OK" was reserved for Howard City made knives because I've never seen it on Solingen Olsens. I had no idea there were Colonial Olsens.
 
B.Mauser said:
The next one was the hardest one to find. I saw a picture of one of these once. It was the only one I had ever seen until recently. After 4 or 5 years of looking I finally found one for sale last month.

Its a Rat Poison advertisement. Instead of Forest Master the shield says Star Kills Rats Beaver Falls PA.
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Those are neat, thanks for showing them!
Star Kills Rats is almost a palindrome! :D
 
scrteened porch said:
That Olsen is interesting to me. I had thought the "OK" was reserved for Howard City made knives because I've never seen it on Solingen Olsens. I had no idea there were Colonial Olsens.
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Hi Jer

I found it pretty interesting too. I didn't know much about Olsen other than seeing a few of his old hunting knives. Finding these and researching them was a lot of fun.

Here is a link to a webpage with a little information on the Olsen Knife Co if you are interested.


https://www.chuckhawks.com/olsen_hunting_knife.htm
 
Here are a few Colonials I bought recently. Both of these have the curved tang stamp used from the late 1920's to 1938.

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First is an old 2 blade bare head Jack with black plastic handles and brass liners. A drop point main and pen blade secondary.

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Next is a little white 2 blade Jack with fluted bolsters. A clip point main with long pull nail nick and a pen blade secondary.

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