You know, in the early '70s......

Did you notice the handles.I thought the Meershaum went extinct a long time before that.Where did they get that many bones for the handles.Arnold
 
Codger,did all of the knives of that age with a guard have that guard snap strap then later change to the handle strap on the sheath.Arnold
 
Not a heck of a lot of difference between one of those and a Randall, in terms of materials, construction, and quality I'll bet.
 
It is interesting that they called it Meerschaum. Meerschaum is hydroginious (sp) magnesium silicate. It is also known as diatomaceous earth. In it's purest form it is found in Turkey and is used for carving the fancy white Meerschaum pipes. Basically it is fossilized (very small) prehistoric sea creatures.

What I find so interesting is that Meerschaum is pretty fragile, yet they refer to is as "unbreakable Meerschaum bone handles."

I guess that sounded better than plastic.

Dale
 
Since you're advertising them,I'll take 20.
Click to expand...
The Schrade sure held its value a heck of a lot better than the $22.00 did!
Click to expand...
Yes, devaluation of currency is a fact of life. If these knives were sold new today, the price would approach $100 each, if not a bit more. Consider that the first Golden spikes listed for $30 in the latter half of 1973, and by 2004 had increased to $70.00. You cannot buy gas at 2004 prices any more. Those 20 knives would set you back $2,000.00 now. And really, you can still buy them occasionaly in mint condition for about that amount still, so they are not outragously priced, especially for a knife discontinued fifteen years ago.

...did all of the knives of that age with a guard have that guard snap strap then later change to the handle strap on the sheath..
Click to expand...
The first ones used that sheath. Many of the illustrations were reused for years, both by Schrade themselves, and by the vendors like Belknap (this illustration came from my 1974 Belknap catalog). Schrade changed the illustration in their own catalogs in 1972, but I believe the sheath changed much earlier than that. Earlier serialed NIB examples seem to bear this out.

...It is interesting that they called it Meerschaum....I guess that sounded better than plastic...
Click to expand...
Henry and Albert Baer were quite inventive with names, as a search of their trademarks shows. They made good use of unique descriptions and trade names for the materials used in their knives. A good marketing tool. The Genuine Saw Cut Delrin, as we have come to know it, had several descriptive names over the years. First I think it was called Staglon(sometimes seen as Stagalon). Then the name was used for "stagged" Delrin handles. In 1964, it was Bone Meerschaum. In 1965 it was Meerschaum Unbreakable Plastic. In 1966 it was Genuine Staglon. In 1970, Genuine Saw Cut Staglon. In 1993, they became Sawcut Staglon. Not until 1996 did they become Sawcut Delrin. 1998 they were Unbreakable Sawcut Handles. Unbreakable Sawcut Delrin was used in 1999. These are from catalog listings, so in advertising and inserts, etc., you may see different time frames for the name uses. The 1997 What Makes A Great Knife booklet says that Delrin and Staglon handles differ only in appearance. At least they didn't call it D-Horn!

Codger
 
Codger,
I checked my income records and found that I probably couldn't have afforded to lay out $400 for those 20 knives.
$400 would have represented about 2 weeks work(after taxes),and I couldn't have justified that puchase.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator
http://146.142.4.24/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl
says $20 would be equal to $102.22 in 2006 dollars.
However,we must keep in mind that this index was corrupted back in the 80's when the government decided to remove taxes from the cost-of-living index because it was skewing it to the high side.
Thanks for the ad picture and 165 info.
Ron
 
I own a few real Meerschaum pipes, it is fragile, note the chip in that big Calabash (my Fox Terrier did that).

Luis


Click to enlarge
 
Don Luis,
I always preferred Briar pipes and only have a few Meerschaum. I do have one small Meerschaum, circa, late 1800's with an amber stem and of course a fitted leather case. The problem is that the bone screw is loose and is probably too brittle to have it replaced with a modern plastic fitment.

I do have a couple Meerschaums that I smoked a bit, and a calabash. Still have about 70 pipes in my collection, but recently have been trading them to a collector who owns used tool (and sometimes knives) store. Since I quit smoking about 6 years ago I consider the trades to be a win-win situation.

Dale

A few favorite GBD pipes.
[URL=http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/GBD1.jpg][/URL]
 
Don Luis said:
I own a few real Meerschaum pipes, it is fragile, note the chip in that big Calabash (my Fox Terrier did that).

Luis


Click to enlarge
Click to expand...

You really shouldn't allow him to smoke. :D
 
He he, I had that Wire Fox Terrier back in the late 70's, he would sometimes jump to the street from the first floor balcony, he would jump over the dinner table to steal food, he was a spoiled little rascal alright. The pipe chipped when he jumped over the coffee table and knocked it over.

The pipe in the right bottom corner in the picture is a GBD calcinated Meerschaum, and a good one too.

My favorite pipes are my briar Peterson's standard system, I still smoke a pipe every now and then, I smoke a cigar every day.

Luis
 
Don Luis said:
The pipe in the right bottom corner in the picture is a GBD calcinated Meerschaum, and a good one too.

My favorite pipes are my briar Peterson's standard system, I still smoke a pipe every now and then, I smoke a cigar every day.

Luis
Click to expand...

The GBD Meerschaum is pretty are. I expect it was probably made in the 1950's, possibly the 1960's. They haven't been around for a long time and they didn't make a lot of them.

Dale
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top