Imperial Druggist, Apothecary or Pharmacy knife.

[Vit_213]

I am interested in any information about this knife (purpose, name, model number, dating, etc.)

 

[Codger_64]

That is an oddity I've never seen before! Neat unique knife! I do suspect it was produced at the Camillus factory though.

 

[Vit_213]

Despite the resemblance, this knife did not originate from the Mil-K-818 knife.
I have two military Demo knives (1960 and 2005) and I compared this knife with them.
Closed length military Demo knife - 3.76", this knife - 3.71"
Thickness military Demo knife - 0.48", this knife - 0.39"
The remaining differences are better seen in the pictures (sorry, I photographed this without lightbox and additional lighting).

 

[Vit_213]

Comparison with scout knives of different years of release gave more similar elements (only the red knife is Camillus made).

 

[Vit_213]

These pictures make me think that this knife and Imperial BSA Knife #1996 were made in the same time period (about 1958-1963).

 

[Codger_64]

I see what you are saying. Maybe contact Larry (lrv) and see if he can find the pattern in the scanned archives?

 

[Vit_213]

Yes, I will contact him for sure.
Some time ago, this knife was discussed at the other forum, but to no avail. However, there was this link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_globe
I was interested in the last phrase: "Through the 1950s, American Druggist urged pharmacists to bring back the show globe..."
The time period is similar. I don’t know what American Druggist is, but if it is a specialized magazine, could it be a SFO for him?

 

[Codger_64]

The trade magazine began in the eraly 1890's and onward. But our Smithsonian Museum seems to have some research on the Show Globe, and it's use in the U.S. IMHO, doing what you are doing to compare blades to known, possibly dated knives is the best route. Unless you are in touch with a former Schrade employee. Tom Chase is from a multigenerational Schrade cutlery family. He might have a hint or can ask a family member.

 

[jxr1197]

This is more guesswork than actual knowledge but I think this knife was from around the mid fifties and was probably sold on drug store counters. Drug stores in the US in that period were much more than a place to pick up your prescriptions. All manner of sundries and groceries were sold and most had lunch counters where people could sit down and have a burger, etc. The mom and pop drug stores and the national chains were big business for Imperial in those days. In 1956 Imperial rolled out their national advertising campaigns which was spread across 7 magazines. Among those magazines were trade rags for the hardware and tobacco industries but one of them was Drug Trade News. One of the seven - they allocated 14% of their print advertising budget trying to reach drug store owners and managers. In 1958 the jobbers were given questionnaires to use in the field to identify the customer and target their needs. There were only a few boxes they could choose from for type of customer and they included the obvious ones - Hardware, Tobacco, Florist...and Druggist. My thought here is they were stocking Americas drug store counters with cardboard displays hocking Imperial knives. Why wouldn't they make a drug store themed knife with an RX and a show globe on it? Hunting knives had ducks or deer on them, tobacco knives were branded with the company name and some drug store knives were dressed appropriately for their venue too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, the blade complement on that knife was standard fare on Kamp Kings going back to at least the early 50s. I've got two of these show globe knives. One was from ebay and the other was part of Imperial sample room collection in Providence.

 

[jxr1197]

I looked some more and noticed something that could help with dating all this. 1961 is the first year that there is no mention of drug stores at Imperial’s national sales meeting. The earliest meeting that paperwork is available for is 1956 and drug stores were on that agenda, and of course it’s possible that it was on their earlier meetings. It seems like this channel of business was important for at least the years of 1956-1960 and possibly earlier, but probably not later. This is all conjecture but it’s the only reference I know about on the subject.

 

[Peter Senich]

I am interested in any information about this knife (purpose, name, model number, dating, etc.)

I also have one of these knives that belonged to my deceased father, who was a druggist and owned a drug store. I believe it to be a gift for pharmacists from a drug company. This is speculation on my part. I would further speculate that it would be from the 1950's or early 1960's. I'm quite certain it wouldn't have been a knife for sale to the general public. I remember it being in my father's dresser drawer when I was a young child and I was born in 1957.

 

[Cattaraugus225]

I see what you are saying. Maybe contact Larry (lrv) and see if he can find the pattern in the scanned archives?

I was curious if you followed up on this? I have one as well, shown in another new thread. I was kindly referred back to this thread is why I have awakened it.