Grandma, can we stop at the five-and-dime? I like Kent knives from Woolworth's!

[Codger_64]

Something not too often seen and talked about are the knives sold at and branded for the original five-and-dime store, Woolworths... or as refered to in the UK, "Woolies". They were cheap as you might imagine. Inexpensively made and inexpensively sold. And being cheap, hard used when new, surviving today mostly in poor condition and drawing little attention from serious collectors. But being an old Codger I like them. And I like the story behind them revealed by a little research. To kick this off I am going to start with a post quote by Ivankerley which contains a very good photo example of one construction sold by them, though only briefly circa 1937-1940 or so.

heres my old Kent (camillus) sold by woolworths from the 30's to the mid 50's, ugly scales and mine also has the appearance of back pocket carry as it has a gentle curve to it also, which resulted in the crack in the scale, all in all not a bad knife though...
gene

This unique cover material has tended to crack and shrink with age, resulting in few surviving pristine examples. I found through experimentation years ago on a relic knife that the material is a form of pyroline, nitrocellulose. Pressed and formed cell, not flattened into a thin sheet as we are used to seeing, but thickly pressed into a mold, textured and dyed to make a crude facimile of stag. It was not used long not only because of it's propensity to crack and shrink, but because it's acidic offgassing caused steel to rust badly and... it was quite pyrotechnic. As I found out with my experiments. One can only guess the reaction of major Camillus customers like F. W. Woolworth's buyers George Graff and P. G. Franz and Sears Col. Tom Dunlap when this was realized as they held these in inventory. And as incidents were reported from customers.

 

[Codger_64]

Another post brought foreward again because of the very good photography of a member's heirloom knife, this one with the Sears "Dunlap" branding, but the same patterns and construction as the aforementioned Kents.

Just for fun, I thought I'd share a couple of pix of my grandfather's Dunlap pocket knife. It's not extremely old, maybe 50 to 60 years, and probably not that rare, but it is special to me because of it's heritage.

The following is quoted from Bernard Levine:

"Col. Tom Dunlap was the hardware and cutlery buyer for Sears in the 1910s-40s period. He created the CRAFTSMAN brand of tools sold by Sears, though this brand was not used on knives until during WWII. He also created the Sears "National Hardware Week" promotion. I learned about him from the late Albert M. Baer, who sold Sears all of its knives from 1922 into the 1980s.

In the 1930s, Dunlap asked Baer to create three knife brands for Sears, at three price points. All three were manufactured by Camillus. The brands were STA-SHARP (best), DUNLAP (middle), KWIK-KUT (budget)."

It's good old made in the U.S.A. carbon steel, and I keep it clean and sharp. It is 3.5" closed with nice rounded-egde nickel silver bolsters & brass liners. The scales are a synthetic "faux stag". The knife has half stops and excellent snap. I like the patina. Hope you enjoy the view.

 

[Codger_64]

I have no period resources from Woolworths to see how they marketed these knives, but in the Sears 1941 catalog the handle material was called, "Unbreakable Buckhorn Type". So evidently when new it had some impact resistance.

A cut from my 1941-42 Sears catalog

 

[Codger_64]

Now for a quick change of pace, Camillus also made some sheath knives for Woolworths with the Kent branding. Here is a Kent Sportsman Kromeplate with etch and nice grooved bone handle covers.

That one was identified by Tom Williams as being a new pattern in 1939, and ordered up from inventory when America got involved in the war as there was a general derth of sheath knives available and it was a pattern they could produce quickly while more durable and specific military patterns were being developed.

Here is an earlier one circa 1931. Much plainer and definately lower pricepoint.

 

[JPD1998]

Back in the mid 1970's me and a few friends went to a local carnival that had set up in a mall parking lot.
They had those claw machines set up and inside one of them was pocket knives ( can you imagine doing that today).
We won a bunch of them and most of them were Kent and Colonial branded knives.
One of the Kent knives I got was a really nice celluloid pearl , multi blade. I've been trying to find it amongst my junk for years ....

 

[Codger_64]

The cell Kents are a real smorgasborg for those who like a variety of cell patterns. They were the first patterns that Baer sold to Graff when he finally landed the account circa 1928. And Camillus continued supplying them for years. They sold in such quantities that quite a few examples survive today, many in unbelievably good condition, particularly considering their original market pricepoint.

 

[ron_m80]

Nitrocellulose, So does that mean the knife teaches you a lesson when you drop it?

EDIT: Thank you Codger.

 

[Codger_64]

Nitrocellulose, So does that mean the knife teaches you a lesson when you drop it?

EDIT: Thank you Codger.

Heh! No, it means that if you expose it to fire, it will burn hot and quick! And is quite difficult to extinguish. Thus variations of "pyro" in some tradenames for the material. Cutleries stored the material in special outbuildings away from the factory itself because of it's flammability. They were usually constructed like powder magazines with roofs designed to blow straight up rather than out.

 

[JK Knives]

This brought back memories. My very first knife was a Kent given to me by my grandfather when I was 6 or 7 years old (I`m 60 now). The main blade was already broken off when I got it, and it`s a little knife, but when I carried it I thought I was Tarzan or something! Still have it, one of my greatest treasures, partly because my grandfather passed away one year later. He was one of my childhood heroes, a police chief in our town, who always had time for my silly questions.

 

[Gevonovich]

Fantastic thread, Codger!! Woolies....I like it. I have one Woolie and it's made quite nicely and one of my favorites. I really appreciate you sharing all your knowledge with us Codger...just wanted to thank you!!

 

[Codger_64]

This brought back memories. My very first knife was a Kent given to me by my grandfather when I was 6 or 7 years old (I`m 60 now). The main blade was already broken off when I got it, and it`s a little knife, but when I carried it I thought I was Tarzan or something! Still have it, one of my greatest treasures, partly because my grandfather passed away one year later. He was one of my childhood heroes, a police chief in our town, who always had time for my silly questions.

Very nice! All of my earliest knives have gone the way of cap pistols, badges, Tonka toys and pressed tin windup toys from that same Woolworths, the Land Of Lost Toys.

Fantastic thread, Codger!! Woolies....I like it. I have one Woolie and it's made quite nicely and one of my favorites. I really appreciate you sharing all your knowledge with us Codger...just wanted to thank you!!

You're welcome. Nice old Kent there too. Unless I miss my guess it is the same material as earlier shown, but dyed black. You have to love the swedge on those old Camillus clip blades!

 

[JK Knives]

Very nice! All of my earliest knives have gone the way of cap pistols, badges, Tonka toys and pressed tin windup toys from that same Woolworths, the Land Of Lost Toys.

I`ve still got quite a few Tonka trucks, wood yoyo, Matchbox Tools (anyone remember those?), and even have my Shootin Shell Derringer. Woolworths and the old Ben Franklin stores were great places to go.

 

[blademan 13]

Awesome intro into these brands and their history. Thanks!

 

[Codger_64]

Begging your pardon in advance, here is a fuzzy "eBay quality" photo of some of my Dunlaps I just took. I'll try to get a better picture to replace it soon.

 

[ron_m80]

That Dunlap scout is very very cool. I have never seen a low mounted bail before.

 

[Codger_64]

That Dunlap scout is very very cool. I have never seen a low mounted bail before.

Yep, below the pivot pin.

Back to web-find pics for clarity of the feature, albeit with a different shield.

...and an old scan of my knife with the 1939 Sears cut...

 

[scruffuk]

Good thread Codger. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[Mack]

How did that style can opener work?
I think I've used most styles but that one has eluded me.

 

[leghog]

That Dunlap scout is very very cool. I have never seen a low mounted bail before.

 

[pa knifeguy]

Thanks Codger. I have a small serpentine jack that was my grandfathers with imitation stag that looks like yours.
Didn't know where Kent was from. makes sense now. My grandpa was a working man and there was a Woolworths in his home town. The knife is well pocketworn and sharpened but not damaged . Pa took care of his things.
Thanks for sparking a great memory of my Garndpa.