Garage sales, flea markets & antique shops-what do i look for?

Eric H

Eric H

Joined
Jul 15, 1999
Messages
541
Another of my favorite hobbies/pastimes is hitting garage sales and antique/junk shops, and the season is starting up again.

Regarding traditionals, what things should I keep an eye out for? Specific tang stamps or patterns? I'm pretty picky when it comes to what I want for myself, but I wouldn't hesitate to pass finds that I'm not interested in on to folks here...
 
Old Remington knives are usually good, especially bullet knives. I find a lot of USA Schrade's out there. To tell you the truth, I find a lot of German named steel. I plan on going back and buying all of them, because they are dirt cheap, and fixing them up. Old Case knives are also good, depending on the age and or rarity.
 
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Well in the words of Bernard Levine, "read the knife." Yeah tang samps are the first thing you look at, but look at the knife as a whole. Sure it may be a Parker but if it has the nicest stag it would be worth it for that. I just bought a Robert Klaas kissing crane in almost unusable condition because the fit and finish of the ebony, shield, and bolsters was exceptional. Also because I didn't have a single ebony knife in my collection. Sometimes I go through fleabay and look for what's popular or common rather than looking for rare. Familiarize yourself with the common and the unique will start to be more noticable. I also ended up with a very nice pearl pen knife because I saw it was real MOP. I am not the best blood hound for old knives, but I try for everyday knives rather than that 1:1,000,000 knife.


-Xander
 
You just never know what you will find, so being educated as to what is of value will be your best strategy. I have found a few gems at Estate sales rather than garage sales. Go into the garage at the estate sales, and find the tool box with stuff in it. Look at the bottom, the man who passed on, probably has a 60's slipjoint or two in the bottom of that tool box. I bought a whole box once for 20. I just liked the tool box. Once I started seeing what was in there, I found some great tools, but also a Queen City Jack knife from the 40's. It had Queen City script, and although a tad pitted, it was worth a cleaning and then a Father's day present for dad. He thought it was cool. It made my older brother jealous. LOL. It was that durn knife that brought me to Blade Forums, as I googled Queen City Jack Knife and guess what showed up. I started reading this forum and bam! I was an instant knife nut. I always liked knifes, but nothing as compared as to what transpired once I actually educated myself on them. Enjoy, keep looking it takes about 10 antique store visits to find a knife worth buying IMO. However, I found some pretty cool ones in antique stores. BTW, if you shop estate sales, and bring up one item, you will be charged 10 dollars, if you bring up 5 items, you will probably be charged 15 dollars or maybe even just 10 dollars, so do not be overly choosy, pick up some screw drivers, some flat files, a hammer, and that pocket knife, then purchase them all together, and enjoy the value and the history of those tools.
 
Also, fleamarkets are THE best place to find knives. I've been to many, and there is always someone with the table full of old ones. I can always find the gem. Like I said, Schrade's are common around here. My best friend tagged along and he found an unused Schrade fruit tester for $15.00.
 
I've found a lot of Imperials, Colonials, Sabres and Parkers, all USA made, all old, at different flea markets, junk shops etc. A Remington straight line logo jack (Pal manufacture?), a Kabar, a few old Case. Most were in useable condition, and cheap. Like everyone else on this board, I'd love to stumble onto a collection of old Remingtons and Winchesters at a garage sale. With most things, the hunt is all part of the fun. I carried my old copy of the Blade Guide to Knives with me when I went on trips out to the mountains. Lots of old junk shops out there, with knives.
 
Anymore knowledge to be shared? I am going antique shopping this following week with my girlfriend and I thought I would look for some knives while I was there.

So far from what I can gather:
Old Remington
Old Remington bullet knives
USA Schrade
Older Case
Kabar
Sabre
Parker
Colonial
Imperial
Older Winchester

Anything else? What specific markings etc. would be useful to recognize? Thanks and I hope I am not asking too much.
 
Mate...ANY old pocket knife..honestly..the chances of you buying a fake for $5.00 are pretty slim, and if it is..what have you lost?
But you have got the gist from what I have see, but you havent got any older Solingen Pocket knives..these are just as good as any american made knife- I know this wont go down with a few people, but its fact...some of the German slippies are just fantastic, well made knives!
Carl Schlieper, Henckells . Puma , etc, what about some of those lovely Sheffield Pocket knives...English and german stand side by side with ANY knife made... Wostenholm, Joseph Rodgers, Crooks, Wade & Butcher, early William Rodgers folders, Wragg etc... Oh boy the list goes on!!
You must post us picks if you manage to pick something up my friend... its always so interesting to see what people find out there.
 
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Just about any old pocketknife is worth picking up if it's cheap. But just because something is old, that doesn't make it worth anything. Look on eBay and you'll see plenty of old pocketknives that aren't worth a damn. Especially Cases, but any brand is susceptible. That problem is that many are simply worn out. You've seen them. A congress where the master sheepsfoot blade more closely resembles a hawkbill because of the inward curve ground into it, but the tip is curved the opposite direction. Heck, you even see clip blades that are that far gone. You'll often see 50+ year old knives with exorbitant starting/asking prices, simply because of their age, but if there's no life left in them, then they're simply not worth anything. A '57 Chevy isn't worth anything if it's a pile of rust with a tree growing through the center of it.
 
Lots of nice users out there, not much that would scream collectible. I found a small bundle of old Remington knives, I need to go back and get the stockman I left up there.
 
There are quite a few antique shops and flea markets in my area, but I have had no real luck with them. The antique shops cater towards yuppie tourists and have a rather high opinion of their offerings, which are priced accordingly. The flea markets mostly have Chinese and Pakistani gas station ninja specials.

I should check out an estate sale sometime.
 
brandonc said:
Any old USA made knife will be good.
Click to expand...

I agree with Duncan about German and British knives, but to make is simpler...if it says made in the USA and it looks like a well made knife...well, I'd buy it.
 
Last summer I was out with the family Garage Sailing. The kids love to look over used toys, and stuffed animals. I tag along for the unlikely event that I'll find a good tool, or even rarer, a nice knife. I found one lady that had 2 3'x3' boards with Case knives strung up on them. I'd say easily 100 knives or more. She was asking $35 each. I'm sure I could have waved a $100 bill under her nose and gotten 4 of them. I just didn't know what they were worth.

That's actually the reason I ended up here on the Traditional Forum. I wanted to do some research. I showed up for the info, and stayed for the outstanding company.

Knowing what I do now, I would have picked up at least $200 worth, if I had had the extra cash.
 
You just have to turn those rocks over. I bought a well used Remington barlow on Christmas Eve, great little knife, the pen blade was sharpened down to a nubbin.
 
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