Tom Williams: about knives, about Camillus, about himself
- Thread starter Vit_213
- Start date
March 24, 2012
Vitaly,
Sorry for the delay in answering your email. I have been doing some research to be able to best answer your questions about Boy Scout knives. I discussed this matter with my mother the other day. She worked for Camillus for many years and she handled the Boy Scout account.
For many years Camillus was a knife supplier to the Boy Scouts of America. Companies such as Camillus, Imperial and Western Cutleries had contracts with the Boy Scouts to manufacture knives. These companies made the knives and sent them directly to the Boy Scouts in Irving, Texas. The Boy Scouts had a large warehouse there and they sold the knives, as well as other officially authorized Boy Scout equipment, to stores through out the United States that were official Boy Scout dealers. Only these stores that had an agreement with the Boy Scouts could sell the official Boy Scout equipment like knives. I remember one small city that we lived in during the 1960's had one store that was an official Boy Scout dealer. I purchased my Boy Scout items from that store when I was a Boy Scout.
My mother does not recall the year that Camillus was allowed by the Boy Scouts to offer official BSA knives to our customers. My mother's boss, Jim Furgal, called on the Boy Scouts and would have made this agreement with them. The next time she talks to Jim she is going to ask him about this matter. I will let you know about any additional information.
We had a drawer full of official Boy Scout knives at Camillus. When a company was awarded a contract to purchase a specific knife a sample was submitted to the Boy Scouts for approval. There was a tag attached to each sample knife and all knives produced by Camillus had to match that sample in terms of quality. That drawer also had Boy Scout knives made by other companies such as Imperial. At one time we even made some official Boy Scout knives for Imperial. This happened often because Imperial (also Schrade) was owned by the father of the two women that owned Camillus. Jim Furgal, who was president of Camillus, was married to the grand-daughter of the man that owned Imperial. Many family members of knife companies in the United Sates were related through either birth or marriage. The Platts familly that owned Western Cutlery was related to the Case family from Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Please feel free to contact me at any time. I enjoy hearing from you.
Is there a way that I could send you some Camillus catalogs and advertising material? Can I use the mail system? I would like to send you some items for your Camillus collection. If there is something that you want that is hard to find? Let me know if this can be done.
Thank you.
Tom
Vitaly,
Sorry for the delay in answering your email. I have been doing some research to be able to best answer your questions about Boy Scout knives. I discussed this matter with my mother the other day. She worked for Camillus for many years and she handled the Boy Scout account.
For many years Camillus was a knife supplier to the Boy Scouts of America. Companies such as Camillus, Imperial and Western Cutleries had contracts with the Boy Scouts to manufacture knives. These companies made the knives and sent them directly to the Boy Scouts in Irving, Texas. The Boy Scouts had a large warehouse there and they sold the knives, as well as other officially authorized Boy Scout equipment, to stores through out the United States that were official Boy Scout dealers. Only these stores that had an agreement with the Boy Scouts could sell the official Boy Scout equipment like knives. I remember one small city that we lived in during the 1960's had one store that was an official Boy Scout dealer. I purchased my Boy Scout items from that store when I was a Boy Scout.
My mother does not recall the year that Camillus was allowed by the Boy Scouts to offer official BSA knives to our customers. My mother's boss, Jim Furgal, called on the Boy Scouts and would have made this agreement with them. The next time she talks to Jim she is going to ask him about this matter. I will let you know about any additional information.
We had a drawer full of official Boy Scout knives at Camillus. When a company was awarded a contract to purchase a specific knife a sample was submitted to the Boy Scouts for approval. There was a tag attached to each sample knife and all knives produced by Camillus had to match that sample in terms of quality. That drawer also had Boy Scout knives made by other companies such as Imperial. At one time we even made some official Boy Scout knives for Imperial. This happened often because Imperial (also Schrade) was owned by the father of the two women that owned Camillus. Jim Furgal, who was president of Camillus, was married to the grand-daughter of the man that owned Imperial. Many family members of knife companies in the United Sates were related through either birth or marriage. The Platts familly that owned Western Cutlery was related to the Case family from Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Please feel free to contact me at any time. I enjoy hearing from you.
Is there a way that I could send you some Camillus catalogs and advertising material? Can I use the mail system? I would like to send you some items for your Camillus collection. If there is something that you want that is hard to find? Let me know if this can be done.
Thank you.
Tom
April 3, 2012
Vitaly,
I have a lot of Camillus advertising and I would like to send you some literature since you collect Camillus knives. I would guess that Camillus literature is difficult to get in Russia. My computer skills are limited so I would like to send you catalogs and advertising sheets through the mail. This way you can have the actual material and not a copy. Is this possible? If it is let me know what kind of knives that you like. I was impressed with the photos of your knives that you posted on BladeForums.
Any time you that you have a question I will be glad to help.
In your last email we discussed the Boy Scout knives, you asked me a question about Jim Furgal. I have not talked with Jim since Camillus closed, but my mother stays in contact with Jim. He has not found a new job, but he has been hired to act as an expert in several legal cases. Jim was my boss at Camillus and he was a pleasure to work for. He would give me an assignment and let me do my job.
Jim started to work for Camillus in 1979. He was in charge of sales and was promoted to Vice-President. In 1987 he became President after Nilo Miori retired after being President from 1964-1987. Mr. Miori hired me to work at Camillus in 1974. I knew him for my entire life and he was my mother's boss. My mother was a Vice-President and she started working at Camillus in 1947 and she retired in 2000. At one time most of my family worked at Camillus including my father, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins. Many families had several generations of family members working at Camillus.
Getting back to Jim Furgal, I felt that Jim did a good job but faced several obstacles when he took over running the company. In the 1980's Camillus lost a lot of business. Buck Knives was the largest customer and their annual purchases were at $2,000,000-$3,000,000 per year in the 1970's and in the 1980's their annual purchases dropped off dramatically. Kabar was also a large customer and their annual purchases also were reduced. Camillus, who was a major supplier to the U.S. Military, lost some of the contracts for the Pilot Survival knife (model #5733), U.S. Marine Corps knife (model #5684) and the MC-1 Paratrooper's knife. During 1981 and later (this lasted for several months) knife orders were down and the factory only worked every other week. The factory would work a week and the next week the factory was closed. I was working in the office then so I worked every week but had to take a reduction in pay. With the downturn in business Camillus acquired a significant amount of debt. With declining sales the company had to borrow money to pay expenses like wages, buy materials, insurance, electric, etc.
Jim did bring in some new customers like Remington and Moore-Maker that helped offset the loss in other business. After Camillus started making Remington knives in 1982 we used some of the same tooling to offer some new patterns in the Camillus line. We would make a knife for Remington and the next year we would offer the same pattern in the Camillus line. Many of the the Camillus Classic Cartridge knives were made on the same tooling as the Remington. Jim also signed agreements with several top knife designers like Darrell Ralph, Jerry Fisk and Bob Terzoula. We started making the Becker knives designed by Ethan Becker. CUDA knives were also introduced. During the 1990's and later Camillus offered many new knives and it was interestig to see all the new items being made.
Unfortunately cheaper knives were being imported from China and this really hurt Camillus sales. We stopped making lower priced knives because we could not compete with China's lower labor rates. Camillus started to import knives so we could offer knives to compete with the Chinese imports. You are probably familiar with the Heat, Blaze and Sizzle that were imported from Taiwan.
Jim tried his best but like many American knife companies fierce competition took a toll on American knife manufacturers. I would not be surprised to see more American knife companies go out of business in the future.
I greatly enjoyed working for Camillus and have many fond memories. The workers at Camillus really took pride in their work. Some of the former employees still get together to remember our days at Camillus. The factory was recently sold and some of the buildings will soon be demolished. That will be a sad time for us.
I am working on a book about Camillus so knife collectors can know the history of the company and the workers that made the world famous Camillus knives. It is time for a new book about Camillus since the last book about the company was written in 1944.
Let me know if I can mail you some Camillus literature. I will need your mailing address.
Tom W.
Vitaly,
I have a lot of Camillus advertising and I would like to send you some literature since you collect Camillus knives. I would guess that Camillus literature is difficult to get in Russia. My computer skills are limited so I would like to send you catalogs and advertising sheets through the mail. This way you can have the actual material and not a copy. Is this possible? If it is let me know what kind of knives that you like. I was impressed with the photos of your knives that you posted on BladeForums.
Any time you that you have a question I will be glad to help.
In your last email we discussed the Boy Scout knives, you asked me a question about Jim Furgal. I have not talked with Jim since Camillus closed, but my mother stays in contact with Jim. He has not found a new job, but he has been hired to act as an expert in several legal cases. Jim was my boss at Camillus and he was a pleasure to work for. He would give me an assignment and let me do my job.
Jim started to work for Camillus in 1979. He was in charge of sales and was promoted to Vice-President. In 1987 he became President after Nilo Miori retired after being President from 1964-1987. Mr. Miori hired me to work at Camillus in 1974. I knew him for my entire life and he was my mother's boss. My mother was a Vice-President and she started working at Camillus in 1947 and she retired in 2000. At one time most of my family worked at Camillus including my father, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins. Many families had several generations of family members working at Camillus.
Getting back to Jim Furgal, I felt that Jim did a good job but faced several obstacles when he took over running the company. In the 1980's Camillus lost a lot of business. Buck Knives was the largest customer and their annual purchases were at $2,000,000-$3,000,000 per year in the 1970's and in the 1980's their annual purchases dropped off dramatically. Kabar was also a large customer and their annual purchases also were reduced. Camillus, who was a major supplier to the U.S. Military, lost some of the contracts for the Pilot Survival knife (model #5733), U.S. Marine Corps knife (model #5684) and the MC-1 Paratrooper's knife. During 1981 and later (this lasted for several months) knife orders were down and the factory only worked every other week. The factory would work a week and the next week the factory was closed. I was working in the office then so I worked every week but had to take a reduction in pay. With the downturn in business Camillus acquired a significant amount of debt. With declining sales the company had to borrow money to pay expenses like wages, buy materials, insurance, electric, etc.
Jim did bring in some new customers like Remington and Moore-Maker that helped offset the loss in other business. After Camillus started making Remington knives in 1982 we used some of the same tooling to offer some new patterns in the Camillus line. We would make a knife for Remington and the next year we would offer the same pattern in the Camillus line. Many of the the Camillus Classic Cartridge knives were made on the same tooling as the Remington. Jim also signed agreements with several top knife designers like Darrell Ralph, Jerry Fisk and Bob Terzoula. We started making the Becker knives designed by Ethan Becker. CUDA knives were also introduced. During the 1990's and later Camillus offered many new knives and it was interestig to see all the new items being made.
Unfortunately cheaper knives were being imported from China and this really hurt Camillus sales. We stopped making lower priced knives because we could not compete with China's lower labor rates. Camillus started to import knives so we could offer knives to compete with the Chinese imports. You are probably familiar with the Heat, Blaze and Sizzle that were imported from Taiwan.
Jim tried his best but like many American knife companies fierce competition took a toll on American knife manufacturers. I would not be surprised to see more American knife companies go out of business in the future.
I greatly enjoyed working for Camillus and have many fond memories. The workers at Camillus really took pride in their work. Some of the former employees still get together to remember our days at Camillus. The factory was recently sold and some of the buildings will soon be demolished. That will be a sad time for us.
I am working on a book about Camillus so knife collectors can know the history of the company and the workers that made the world famous Camillus knives. It is time for a new book about Camillus since the last book about the company was written in 1944.
Let me know if I can mail you some Camillus literature. I will need your mailing address.
Tom W.
Question to Tom's friends who have contact with his family - Is it possible to publish these materials?
Vit, I too was fortunate to have received information over the years from Tom. Most of it has been posted on this forum in the past under a variety of threads. I will be watching this thread incase it turns out that I may have some information that can still be shared.
April 4, 2012
Vitaly,
Betsy Kauffman and Margery Irish owned Camillus Cutlery Co. Betsy's husband, John Kauffman never was the president of Camillus. John Kauffman was an engineer and never woorked for Camillus. Betsy and John had two children, Gail and Gilbert. Gail was married to Jim Furgal who served as Presiden of Camilus from May of 1987 through November of 2006. Jim left Camillus in November of 2006 and Gilbert Kauffman became President in November of 2006. After Gilbert Kauffman became Pesident of the Company I only saw him for one day at the Camillus factoy. In November for 2006 Gilbert servied as President for only a few days. The bank took over the management of the company and sent a manager to Camillus to run the company. Ray (I do not remember hi lst name) assumed the head position at Camillus. He managed the company from November until the company closed on February 28, 2007. Gilbert Kauffman server as President for one day and then left Camillus and returned to hif home in Florida. I never saw Gilbert at Camillus and I communicated with him in Florida by email. The manager from the bank decided what knives were made and shipped. Only customers that paid promtly and ordered knives that could be made from available materials were shipped. Jim Furgal and Gilbert Kauffman did not get along very well.
Tom Williams
Vitaly,
Betsy Kauffman and Margery Irish owned Camillus Cutlery Co. Betsy's husband, John Kauffman never was the president of Camillus. John Kauffman was an engineer and never woorked for Camillus. Betsy and John had two children, Gail and Gilbert. Gail was married to Jim Furgal who served as Presiden of Camilus from May of 1987 through November of 2006. Jim left Camillus in November of 2006 and Gilbert Kauffman became President in November of 2006. After Gilbert Kauffman became Pesident of the Company I only saw him for one day at the Camillus factoy. In November for 2006 Gilbert servied as President for only a few days. The bank took over the management of the company and sent a manager to Camillus to run the company. Ray (I do not remember hi lst name) assumed the head position at Camillus. He managed the company from November until the company closed on February 28, 2007. Gilbert Kauffman server as President for one day and then left Camillus and returned to hif home in Florida. I never saw Gilbert at Camillus and I communicated with him in Florida by email. The manager from the bank decided what knives were made and shipped. Only customers that paid promtly and ordered knives that could be made from available materials were shipped. Jim Furgal and Gilbert Kauffman did not get along very well.
Tom Williams
October 18, 2012
Vitaly,
***
I have more information that I will be sending to you. What information would you like? I have attached three pictures that may you find interesting. The first photo shows the anniversary pins that were given to Camillus employees for 10 years, 20 years, etc. for company service. The second photo shows two men that worked in the grinding room. Not the wooden shoes. The third photo is of a catalog sheet that shows the Yello-Jaket knife series.
My family reunion in August was a great success. We had more than 100 people attend from all over the United States. It was a considerable amount of work getting everything ready and it took myself and several of my cousins approximately 4 months to contact everyone, get my house ready and prepare all the food. Some of my relatives attended and I had not seen many of them in more than 20 years. The oldest family member in attendance was my mother who is 85 years old and the youngest was my cousin's grandson who was 6 weeks old. We had the reunion at my house because I have enough room to accomodate all the family members. We had people in the house, two tents and I have a large building in my back yard that was just completed in May of this year. I built a large storage building that is 60 feet x 28 feet and one end of the building is open with a 16 feet x 28 feet covered patio that over looks my fruit orchard.
Tom W.
Vitaly,
***
I have more information that I will be sending to you. What information would you like? I have attached three pictures that may you find interesting. The first photo shows the anniversary pins that were given to Camillus employees for 10 years, 20 years, etc. for company service. The second photo shows two men that worked in the grinding room. Not the wooden shoes. The third photo is of a catalog sheet that shows the Yello-Jaket knife series.
My family reunion in August was a great success. We had more than 100 people attend from all over the United States. It was a considerable amount of work getting everything ready and it took myself and several of my cousins approximately 4 months to contact everyone, get my house ready and prepare all the food. Some of my relatives attended and I had not seen many of them in more than 20 years. The oldest family member in attendance was my mother who is 85 years old and the youngest was my cousin's grandson who was 6 weeks old. We had the reunion at my house because I have enough room to accomodate all the family members. We had people in the house, two tents and I have a large building in my back yard that was just completed in May of this year. I built a large storage building that is 60 feet x 28 feet and one end of the building is open with a 16 feet x 28 feet covered patio that over looks my fruit orchard.
Tom W.
Last edited:
October 22, 2012
Vitaly,
The first photo shows a book written by Alfred Lief in 1944 and covers the history of the Kastors and Camillus Cutlery Co. You can sometimes find copies offered on Ebay. The next photo is of a party at Camillus some time during the late 1940's or ealy 1950's. My mother and my aunt are shown in the lower left corner of the photo. My mother is the woman in the dark dress holding a serving spoon. She is 85 years old now and worked at Camillus for 53 years. My father, brother, many aunts, uncles and cousins also worked at the Camillus factory. The next photo shows many knife patterns and blade designs. The last two photos show Camillus receiving the Army/Navy "E" Award during WWII for exceeding military knife production and quality. I have the Army/Navy "E" Award flags shown in the photo.
Tom
Vitaly,
The first photo shows a book written by Alfred Lief in 1944 and covers the history of the Kastors and Camillus Cutlery Co. You can sometimes find copies offered on Ebay. The next photo is of a party at Camillus some time during the late 1940's or ealy 1950's. My mother and my aunt are shown in the lower left corner of the photo. My mother is the woman in the dark dress holding a serving spoon. She is 85 years old now and worked at Camillus for 53 years. My father, brother, many aunts, uncles and cousins also worked at the Camillus factory. The next photo shows many knife patterns and blade designs. The last two photos show Camillus receiving the Army/Navy "E" Award during WWII for exceeding military knife production and quality. I have the Army/Navy "E" Award flags shown in the photo.
Tom
Last edited:
January 3, 2013
Vit,
Thank you for your email and I wish you a Happy New Year.
I have attached several photos for you to see. Image 302 shows an original Sherwood Cutlery knife from the 1890's with a picture of the early knife making factory in Camillus, New York. This building was at first Sherwood Cutlery then purchased by Adolph Kastor in 1902 and the name was changed to Camillus Cutlery Co. The Camillus Cutlery Co. buildings were sold to a new owner in July of 2012 and many of the early buildings are going to be demolished. The original 1894 Sherwood Cutlery building will be gone this year. When my mother started working at Camillus in the 1940's, she worked in the original Sherwood building. Many members of my family including my father, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins all worked at Camillus.
The image 080 is a stock certificate that was a document that indicated ownership in the company. These certificates are now worthless since the company went bankrupt.
Tom
Vit,
Thank you for your email and I wish you a Happy New Year.
I have attached several photos for you to see. Image 302 shows an original Sherwood Cutlery knife from the 1890's with a picture of the early knife making factory in Camillus, New York. This building was at first Sherwood Cutlery then purchased by Adolph Kastor in 1902 and the name was changed to Camillus Cutlery Co. The Camillus Cutlery Co. buildings were sold to a new owner in July of 2012 and many of the early buildings are going to be demolished. The original 1894 Sherwood Cutlery building will be gone this year. When my mother started working at Camillus in the 1940's, she worked in the original Sherwood building. Many members of my family including my father, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins all worked at Camillus.
The image 080 is a stock certificate that was a document that indicated ownership in the company. These certificates are now worthless since the company went bankrupt.
Tom
Last edited:
January 17, 2013
Hello Vit,
I am attaching some information about Camillus that I thought you would enjoy seeing. Image 301 is a Remington Baby Bullet knife with a see through plexiglass handle. We used knives like this at Camillus to see that there is proper clearance between the blade and the spring when the knife was closed.
***
Tom
Hello Vit,
I am attaching some information about Camillus that I thought you would enjoy seeing. Image 301 is a Remington Baby Bullet knife with a see through plexiglass handle. We used knives like this at Camillus to see that there is proper clearance between the blade and the spring when the knife was closed.
***
Tom
Last edited:
January 23, 2013
Hello Vit,
It is good to hear from you.
***
Camillus started making Remington knives in 1982 and we made many patterns for them. Camillus made and packaged the knives for Remington, but Remington printed thier own catalogs. I rarely ever saw a Remington catalog because all the advertising for Remington knives was done by thier company. I do have several Remington boxes and the brochures that were packed with each knife. I am attaching several photos of the Remington knife display cases, boxes and brochures that I do have. I bought several truck loads of knife boxes, catalogs, display cases and other material from a local dealer that bought these items at the first Camillus auction in September of 2007. I would take a Remington knife display case and fill it with knife boxes and brochures and sell it on Ebay. I sold several on Ebay and I have 2 or 3 more to sell in the future. I have attached several photos of one of the Remington assortments.
I have a large amount of information about the #14 and #5779 knife patterns. I have attached two photos of two #14 pattern knives. Image #372 shows a knife made for the U.S. Military during WWII and image #373 is a catalog page that is an illustration of a #14 pattern camp/utility knife It also shows other patterns and knife blades. When I started working for Camillus in 1974 many #14 pattern knives were still being made. After that time most camp/utility knives were changed to the #5779 pattern. I will send you more information on the #5779 pattern knives later. The two patterns are very similar.
***
What are the questions about Marlin Spike knives that you need information? Camillus was the main producer of Spike knives for most American knife companies. Spike knives were not a big seller (except for the military) and most companies had Camillus make these knives for them because of the high cost of tooling to manufacture this model. Camillus made this model for Case, Buck and Ka-Bar. Most of the Spike knives made by Camillus were purchased by the U.S. Military. When I worked in the shipping department in the 1970's I packed thousands of the Marlin Spike knives for the military orders. I would take a flat cardboard box and stencil the item number, quantity and shipping destination on each box and then assemble the box and pack 12 boxes containing the knives in a large master carton. I think each master carton held 144 knives. Each box would be sealed up and have two metal bands wrapped around each box and then the cartons were placed on a pallet and all the boves were banded together with steel strapping. The military Spike knife was the same model that we sold to civilians and was the model #697.
Camillus also made the model #695 and in later years we offered that knife with the textured black handles and a scalloped knife edge. I will look for the records for the Case, Buck and Ka-Bar Spike knives and I will send you copies.
Tom
Hello Vit,
It is good to hear from you.
***
Camillus started making Remington knives in 1982 and we made many patterns for them. Camillus made and packaged the knives for Remington, but Remington printed thier own catalogs. I rarely ever saw a Remington catalog because all the advertising for Remington knives was done by thier company. I do have several Remington boxes and the brochures that were packed with each knife. I am attaching several photos of the Remington knife display cases, boxes and brochures that I do have. I bought several truck loads of knife boxes, catalogs, display cases and other material from a local dealer that bought these items at the first Camillus auction in September of 2007. I would take a Remington knife display case and fill it with knife boxes and brochures and sell it on Ebay. I sold several on Ebay and I have 2 or 3 more to sell in the future. I have attached several photos of one of the Remington assortments.
I have a large amount of information about the #14 and #5779 knife patterns. I have attached two photos of two #14 pattern knives. Image #372 shows a knife made for the U.S. Military during WWII and image #373 is a catalog page that is an illustration of a #14 pattern camp/utility knife It also shows other patterns and knife blades. When I started working for Camillus in 1974 many #14 pattern knives were still being made. After that time most camp/utility knives were changed to the #5779 pattern. I will send you more information on the #5779 pattern knives later. The two patterns are very similar.
***
What are the questions about Marlin Spike knives that you need information? Camillus was the main producer of Spike knives for most American knife companies. Spike knives were not a big seller (except for the military) and most companies had Camillus make these knives for them because of the high cost of tooling to manufacture this model. Camillus made this model for Case, Buck and Ka-Bar. Most of the Spike knives made by Camillus were purchased by the U.S. Military. When I worked in the shipping department in the 1970's I packed thousands of the Marlin Spike knives for the military orders. I would take a flat cardboard box and stencil the item number, quantity and shipping destination on each box and then assemble the box and pack 12 boxes containing the knives in a large master carton. I think each master carton held 144 knives. Each box would be sealed up and have two metal bands wrapped around each box and then the cartons were placed on a pallet and all the boves were banded together with steel strapping. The military Spike knife was the same model that we sold to civilians and was the model #697.
Camillus also made the model #695 and in later years we offered that knife with the textured black handles and a scalloped knife edge. I will look for the records for the Case, Buck and Ka-Bar Spike knives and I will send you copies.
Tom
February 5, 2013
Vit,
Good to hear from you. I located some information about the Camillus Rigging (Marlin Spike) knife for you. The model #697 with the brown handles was made for the first time in 1967. Please see the list that I have sent to you and note entry S-2298. Camillus made this pattern with black handles in 1962. Camillus was the primary knife manufacturer of this pattern for all the American knife companies. Knives were manufactured for other companies including Buck, Case and Kabar. The Rigging knife was a big seller for Camillus, but was a smaller sales item for the other companies and it was more economical for one company to make the same knife for everyone. The cost for the tooling is very expensive so other companiies found it more advantageous to purchase this pattern from Camillus.
***
I have a Sony camera (Model #MVC-FD92) that I have had for many years. Approximately 15 or 20 years ago my father gave my me and my brother two of these cameras for Christmas. My brother got a new camera so he gave me his camera last year and now I have two Sony cameras. This year I had to buy a new battery and three memory sticks. They were hard to find because the cameras are so old. The local Staples Store was able to special order a battery for me and I located three memory sticks on EBay. The camera is easy to use and has performed very well. It is much bigger than the modern cameras because it can also use a floppy disc to store the photos. I originally used the floppy discs in the camera but I found the memory sticks can store many more photos. How could you tell what model camera I was using?
Tom
Vit,
Good to hear from you. I located some information about the Camillus Rigging (Marlin Spike) knife for you. The model #697 with the brown handles was made for the first time in 1967. Please see the list that I have sent to you and note entry S-2298. Camillus made this pattern with black handles in 1962. Camillus was the primary knife manufacturer of this pattern for all the American knife companies. Knives were manufactured for other companies including Buck, Case and Kabar. The Rigging knife was a big seller for Camillus, but was a smaller sales item for the other companies and it was more economical for one company to make the same knife for everyone. The cost for the tooling is very expensive so other companiies found it more advantageous to purchase this pattern from Camillus.
***
I have a Sony camera (Model #MVC-FD92) that I have had for many years. Approximately 15 or 20 years ago my father gave my me and my brother two of these cameras for Christmas. My brother got a new camera so he gave me his camera last year and now I have two Sony cameras. This year I had to buy a new battery and three memory sticks. They were hard to find because the cameras are so old. The local Staples Store was able to special order a battery for me and I located three memory sticks on EBay. The camera is easy to use and has performed very well. It is much bigger than the modern cameras because it can also use a floppy disc to store the photos. I originally used the floppy discs in the camera but I found the memory sticks can store many more photos. How could you tell what model camera I was using?
Tom
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2013
- Messages
- 6,139
Best I can do, Vit....
The following is the best interpretation of the handwriting that I can make. Please provide corrections to me if you reinterpret something I put in or if you know what something means, such as the cabone and cell. xx inserted for data I could not interpret.
Some shorthand word changes and interpretations ::
I tried to stay true to the upper case vs lower case in transposing, but I probably didnt comply 100%
I expanded BLK to BLACK
GSA and G.S.A. both mean General Services Administration
Anything in Bold/Italics - I could not interpret it completely and put the letters I could read along with ?s.
In the second line of entry S-2498, I put No 1. It probably should have read No. 1 meaning Number 1, but the original does not have a period behind the No.
Camillus S-card for model # 5734
S-2064 5734 Rigging Knife black cell handle has qual 3/xx/62
S-2298 5734 Rigging Knife Cabone Handle 5/20/67
GSA
S-2390 5734 Rigging Knife Saw Scored Black Delrin Handle 2/10/69
Buck Co.
S-2392 5734 Rigging knife black cabone Handles 2/20/69
No Brand SF Etch SF Blade Utica Cutlery Co
S-2350 5734 Rigging knife black cabone Handle 4/4/68
Ka-bar #1121
S-2498 5734 Spike Knife Br & stainless B/S (150) black S?????ed 10/7/71
Delrin handle with studs #122 shield No 1 qual Buck #315
S-2533 5734 spike knife Br & N/S (150) ST.R. Brown Delrin 4/16/72
Stag Handle w/ studs for G.S.A.
S-2583 5734 Spike knife Sf,+ spike Slan?Si? Bolsters (150) N.S. 11/23/73
Stainless pins #122 Buck Shield black scored handle Buck #315
S-2660 5734 Spike Knife Case Delrin Stag handle 2/6/80
#123 Case shield Stamped Case XX U.S.A.
Reverse 62462RSS
S-2706 5734 Assemble knife as #315 Buck 6/28/83
No covers.
S-2782 5734 SF Spike Black Delrin Shadow Handle 9/25/85
Buck 315-B.
The following is the best interpretation of the handwriting that I can make. Please provide corrections to me if you reinterpret something I put in or if you know what something means, such as the cabone and cell. xx inserted for data I could not interpret.
Some shorthand word changes and interpretations ::
I tried to stay true to the upper case vs lower case in transposing, but I probably didnt comply 100%
I expanded BLK to BLACK
GSA and G.S.A. both mean General Services Administration
Anything in Bold/Italics - I could not interpret it completely and put the letters I could read along with ?s.
In the second line of entry S-2498, I put No 1. It probably should have read No. 1 meaning Number 1, but the original does not have a period behind the No.
February 5, 2013
Camillus S-card for model # 5734
S-2064 5734 Rigging Knife black cell handle has qual 3/xx/62
S-2298 5734 Rigging Knife Cabone Handle 5/20/67
GSA
S-2390 5734 Rigging Knife Saw Scored Black Delrin Handle 2/10/69
Buck Co.
S-2392 5734 Rigging knife black cabone Handles 2/20/69
No Brand SF Etch SF Blade Utica Cutlery Co
S-2350 5734 Rigging knife black cabone Handle 4/4/68
Ka-bar #1121
S-2498 5734 Spike Knife Br & stainless B/S (150) black S?????ed 10/7/71
Delrin handle with studs #122 shield No 1 qual Buck #315
S-2533 5734 spike knife Br & N/S (150) ST.R. Brown Delrin 4/16/72
Stag Handle w/ studs for G.S.A.
S-2583 5734 Spike knife Sf,+ spike Slan?Si? Bolsters (150) N.S. 11/23/73
Stainless pins #122 Buck Shield black scored handle Buck #315
S-2660 5734 Spike Knife Case Delrin Stag handle 2/6/80
#123 Case shield Stamped Case XX U.S.A.
Reverse 62462RSS
S-2706 5734 Assemble knife as #315 Buck 6/28/83
No covers.
S-2782 5734 SF Spike Black Delrin Shadow Handle 9/25/85
Buck 315-B.
February 5, 2013
Vit,
I looked through my records and I found some information for you concerning the Camillus #14 and #5779 knife patterns. Both of these patterns are very similar.
I have attached two pages from a log book for the S-Cards that show the #5779 pattern was used for the first time in 1984. Before this this time the 4 blade camp and utility knives would have used the #14 pattern. The S-Cards were used up until 1988 then this system was no longer used and all records were computerized. Unfortunately, when the computerized records were no longer needed that information was deleted.
I located three drawings that show the component parts of the #14 pattern knives. Please note that a #14 pattern knife can have 1 or more blades.
I am going to find more information for you about these patterns. Perhaps Phil Gibbs would know the difference between these two patterns. I do know that many of the old #14 pattern knives were changed to the newer #5779 pattern during the 1980's.
Tom
Vit,
I looked through my records and I found some information for you concerning the Camillus #14 and #5779 knife patterns. Both of these patterns are very similar.
I have attached two pages from a log book for the S-Cards that show the #5779 pattern was used for the first time in 1984. Before this this time the 4 blade camp and utility knives would have used the #14 pattern. The S-Cards were used up until 1988 then this system was no longer used and all records were computerized. Unfortunately, when the computerized records were no longer needed that information was deleted.
I located three drawings that show the component parts of the #14 pattern knives. Please note that a #14 pattern knife can have 1 or more blades.
I am going to find more information for you about these patterns. Perhaps Phil Gibbs would know the difference between these two patterns. I do know that many of the old #14 pattern knives were changed to the newer #5779 pattern during the 1980's.
Tom