Randall Lore #009 Stoddard's Sergeant's Model

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STODDARD'S SPECIAL: SERGEANT'S MODEL

The oldest cutlery shop in America is located in Boston. Stoddard's Inc., a full line cutlery store, has been in business since 1800! It was originally known as Bradford and Anthony, but has been owned and operated by the Marks family for 61 years. It seems only fitting that they would also be a Randall Knife dealer.

In 1991 Steve Weinograd, assistant manager of Stoddard's, and Tim Leival, also an employee, worked on the original design of the "Stoddard Special", which was submitted to Gary Randall. At the time, Tim was a reserve Lieutenant in the 11th Special Forces Group based at Fort Devons. It was their goal to come up with a design which would make a "carry" knife that would fill the needs of the noncommissioned officer in our armed forces. Besides actually providing a knife that would do the job, they also wanted to honor the personnel so vital to the continuing success of our military, the Non-Commissioned Officers Corps. This effort resulted in the knife, which has come to be known as Stoddard's Sergeant's Model.

The Randall Shop worked up the prototype on the basis of the #19-5" Bushmaster blade. This is a wide, heavy duty type blade designed to be a big game skinning knife. As the original design made its way through the prototype stage it evolved into a 5-1/2" blade with a 1-1/2" width of 1/4" 01 Swedish Tool Steel. The upper bevel was left unsharpened due to a section of the Massachusetts law concerning double edged knives. The resulting blade looks more like the #25 Trapper model than the Bushmaster due to the slightly clipped point and the large flat grind. To go along with the "useful tool" aspect of this model is the single hilt and the single finger grip handle.

Up to the present date, handle material is a choice of Desert Ironwood or Sunburst Briar, both of which are beautiful materials. The Sergeant's model is stamped "Stoddard's, Inc/Boston, MA-SN. #----" on the blade on the opposite side of the Randall logo. As of June, 1995, 118 of these knives have been produced. It seems only fitting for Randall Made Knives to 'oldest tool, the knife.

Stoddard's Inc., attn, S. Weinograd, Copley Pl., No. 25, Boston, MA 02116 ph. 617-536-8688

From Randall Knife society newsletter #27 June 1995 from article by Kent Harrison
 
We've been interested in the 'Stoddard' for some time now, and being that we've recently seen them in the stacked leather configuration of RMK's that we collect, our interest is piqued just that much more.

From what we've seen, the 'Stoddard' looks a bit like a robust version of a cross between the #23 'Gamemaster', and the #12-6 'Little Bear Bowie'. As such, it's sure to become a favorite with the RMK collector/user.

All the best,

Mel
 
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