We've been publishing in-depth material like this in Knife World and its successor KNIFE Magazine since 1977. Come and check us out at www.knifemagazine.com
Looking forward to more videos like this! As a maker and collector, learning the history of all types of knives is very important to myself and I'm sure many others. Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it! More videos coming. We'll keep doing videos on different types of knives and knife related stuff, and see what interests everyone. Next up, a review of our September issue which was delayed at the printers.
I'm a big knife collector but I don't know anything about knives like this. This was an excellent quick history lesson on early American folding cutlery.
Thank you John! There is a wide range of collectible cutlery out there and I have always been drawn to the old and obscure. We try to cover a little of everything in KNIFE Magazine but (naturally) more time is spent on things that the average collector is likely to encounter.
Thanks for the positive energy cnyAirsoft -- the REAL place for this sort of material is in the pages of Knife Magazine and our predecessor Knife World, but we are going to continue to poke around with UA-cam and see if we can't highlight some of what we do over here. I will try to provide some more material on antique pocketknives and on custom/handmade knives in the future. Thanks again!
I just discovered your channel. I’m an older, retired guy that only collected and used Schrade and Camillus knives. This is a fascinating history lesson for me. Been to a few Atlanta Blade shows ( last ten years on and off) and concentrated on the history on Schrade and Camillus. Using blade forums as a resource and listening to willing venders (share their connections and stories) . It’s really crazy and interesting how much these companies are related or connected someway or another . … more so than any other business, that I know of. Thanks for bringing this to UA-cam!!!!
I have a lot of these older knives when I bought them I thought they were sheffield lineage an some are but now I know more thanks , I have a few hundred pocket knives an sheith knives hatchets swords with pocket knife types mostly Cattaraugus case k bar winchester remington puma queen norfield marbles an many more I would love to invite you to visit an see them
Thank you for your comment Raymond. There are a lot of individuals like us who appreciate these old knives and the history behind them. Check out our website and magazine at knifemagazine.com, we've been doing this since 1975!
Thanks Travis! It is interesting to compare and contrast the production of different types of cutlery in 19th century America. The situation with bowie knives and all of the small shops that turned them out was (generally speaking) much different than the pocketknife manufacturers, which were very reflective of the industrial revolution. Maybe this is something we can explore further in future articles and or videos.
I should add that the lockbacks in this video are the American versions of the English folding dirk. They are never ornate, that wasn't the American approach -- but they served the same purpose and the first American examples came in the 1840s. Absolutely the bowie knife era!
Thank you, Ghost. A bunch of these are beat up and broken, but there are some exceptionally rare and (I think) historically significant knives here -- significant to anyone interested in the development of the American cutlery industry, at least. As I was telling a friend recently, these knives are so rare that the most common brand in this group (not counting Northfield and Waterville) is probably Beaver Falls -- and those are extremely desirable and hard to get!
Thanks for watching Nick! Video is still a very new format to us, and it's not natural for me to think 'Hey, we should shoot some video before these knives are gone and we'll never see them again.' But if people watch, and like, and follow, I'll probably do a better job of thinking about it!
Hello Mark and thank you for making this fabulous video! I was doing more research on the early history of Beaver Falls cutlery and Google sent me here. Very informative and well researched, thank you! One note of correction,.. JBF Champlin's correct name is 'John Brown FRANCIS Champlin'. His middle name as 'Franklin' came from the book 'Genealogical and Family History of Western New York' published by Cutter in 1912. This book has a number of glaring mistakes regarding Champlin genealogy. Besides getting his name wrong, it gives JBF the wrong grandparrents. Best
Thanks Derek, I appreciate it! There is a ton of misinformation out there on Case and related companies like Cattaraugus, and I know your research is solid.
Nothing wrong with that! One of the great things about collecting antique and vintage knives is that there are knives at every budget, and you can learn the ropes on Imperials and Sabres before moving up to other brands if you so desire. You can focus your collecting or just buy knives that come your way or that appeal to you for whatever reason. There are no rigid rules, just do as you please!
Are you a collector of Brantford cutlery? I bought a swell end jack 2 blade jigged bone and the person I got it from said it was well over 100 years old. I've tried to find more about it with little luck. I got it because the blades look like it's never been sharpened. And I thought it was rare to be over 100years old. You know cutlery any info would be appreciated. Thanks
The best resource for makers and markings is the book Goins Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings, I highly recommend it. It is currently being developed by us as a web-based resource. Brantford is one of probably hundreds of uncommon markings that are associated with early 20th century America.
As someone who has been collecting for more than 50 yrs, I think we need more really in-depth articles like this. Very cool and fascinating. Thanks
We've been publishing in-depth material like this in Knife World and its successor KNIFE Magazine since 1977. Come and check us out at www.knifemagazine.com
Looking forward to more videos like this! As a maker and collector, learning the history of all types of knives is very important to myself and I'm sure many others. Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it! More videos coming. We'll keep doing videos on different types of knives and knife related stuff, and see what interests everyone. Next up, a review of our September issue which was delayed at the printers.
I'm a big knife collector but I don't know anything about knives like this. This was an excellent quick history lesson on early American folding cutlery.
Thank you John! There is a wide range of collectible cutlery out there and I have always been drawn to the old and obscure. We try to cover a little of everything in KNIFE Magazine but (naturally) more time is spent on things that the average collector is likely to encounter.
This was a great video! I've been looking for content like this!!
Thanks for the positive energy cnyAirsoft -- the REAL place for this sort of material is in the pages of Knife Magazine and our predecessor Knife World, but we are going to continue to poke around with UA-cam and see if we can't highlight some of what we do over here. I will try to provide some more material on antique pocketknives and on custom/handmade knives in the future. Thanks again!
I agree.
I love the way old knives were made with rounded bolsters and scales instead of flat like what CASE has put out for the past 40 years.
Thanks for the history lesson. Surprisingly hard to readily come by this type of information.
I just discovered your channel. I’m an older, retired guy that only collected and used Schrade and Camillus knives. This is a fascinating history lesson for me.
Been to a few Atlanta Blade shows ( last ten years on and off) and concentrated on the history on Schrade and Camillus. Using blade forums as a resource and listening to willing venders (share their connections and stories) .
It’s really crazy and interesting how much these companies are related or connected someway or another . … more so than any other business, that I know of.
Thanks for bringing this to UA-cam!!!!
Thanks Jim! I suggest that you check out KNIFE Magazine, we publish material like this every month!
Wow, great video! Very informative… you learn something new every day!
Glad you enjoyed it! If you liked the info presented here, you'd love the articles in KNIFE Magazine!
Just found your channel! Super happy I found it. GREAT content! Thank you!
Thanks AllStar -- we've got more coming. Have been real busy since Blade Show and a bunch of videos have been recorded but aren't finished yet.
I have a lot of these older knives when I bought them I thought they were sheffield lineage an some are but now I know more thanks , I have a few hundred pocket knives an sheith knives hatchets swords with pocket knife types mostly Cattaraugus case k bar winchester remington puma queen norfield marbles an many more I would love to invite you to visit an see them
Thank you for your comment Raymond. There are a lot of individuals like us who appreciate these old knives and the history behind them. Check out our website and magazine at knifemagazine.com, we've been doing this since 1975!
Excellent, thank you.
Very cool! And informative! I just learned something......and I like it!
Thanks Travis! It is interesting to compare and contrast the production of different types of cutlery in 19th century America. The situation with bowie knives and all of the small shops that turned them out was (generally speaking) much different than the pocketknife manufacturers, which were very reflective of the industrial revolution. Maybe this is something we can explore further in future articles and or videos.
I should add that the lockbacks in this video are the American versions of the English folding dirk. They are never ornate, that wasn't the American approach -- but they served the same purpose and the first American examples came in the 1840s. Absolutely the bowie knife era!
I have one of those mason & sons pruners! I've been looking for more information on the company for so long
Awesome collection of old slippys!!
Thank you, Ghost. A bunch of these are beat up and broken, but there are some exceptionally rare and (I think) historically significant knives here -- significant to anyone interested in the development of the American cutlery industry, at least. As I was telling a friend recently, these knives are so rare that the most common brand in this group (not counting Northfield and Waterville) is probably Beaver Falls -- and those are extremely desirable and hard to get!
Great vid. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for watching Nick! Video is still a very new format to us, and it's not natural for me to think 'Hey, we should shoot some video before these knives are gone and we'll never see them again.' But if people watch, and like, and follow, I'll probably do a better job of thinking about it!
Hello Mark and thank you for making this fabulous video!
I was doing more research on the early history of Beaver Falls cutlery and Google sent me here.
Very informative and well researched, thank you!
One note of correction,.. JBF Champlin's correct name is 'John Brown FRANCIS Champlin'.
His middle name as 'Franklin' came from the book 'Genealogical and Family History of Western New York' published by Cutter in 1912.
This book has a number of glaring mistakes regarding Champlin genealogy. Besides getting his name wrong, it gives JBF the wrong
grandparrents.
Best
Thanks Derek, I appreciate it! There is a ton of misinformation out there on Case and related companies like Cattaraugus, and I know your research is solid.
I collect from 1960 to about 1988 you know that means mostly imperial and sabre lol I just like them
Nothing wrong with that! One of the great things about collecting antique and vintage knives is that there are knives at every budget, and you can learn the ropes on Imperials and Sabres before moving up to other brands if you so desire. You can focus your collecting or just buy knives that come your way or that appeal to you for whatever reason. There are no rigid rules, just do as you please!
That lockback was cool bud
Thanks for watching, glad you liked it Terry!
Are you a collector of Brantford cutlery? I bought a swell end jack 2 blade jigged bone and the person I got it from said it was well over 100 years old. I've tried to find more about it with little luck. I got it because the blades look like it's never been sharpened. And I thought it was rare to be over 100years old. You know cutlery any info would be appreciated. Thanks
The best resource for makers and markings is the book Goins Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings, I highly recommend it. It is currently being developed by us as a web-based resource. Brantford is one of probably hundreds of uncommon markings that are associated with early 20th century America.