"Foreign" stamping used on knives imported into the UK

B

Bartleby

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Oct 28, 2005
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Does anyone have an approximate timeline for the period in which knives imported into the UK were required to be stamped with the word "foreign"? Thanks!
 
Thanks Jack! I recently saw a Mercator style lock knife, unmarked save for a "foreign" tang stamp. It looked more like an early version of the Mercator, with the larger more rounded lock release than like the cheap Japanese copies I remember from my youth. Inter war sounds like it might be about right.
 
Bartleby said:
Thanks Jack! I recently saw a Mercator style lock knife, unmarked save for a "foreign" tang stamp. It looked more like an early version of the Mercator, with the larger more rounded lock release than like the cheap Japanese copies I remember from my youth. Inter war sounds like it might be about right.
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I come across quite a lot of old penknives like this Bart, and they are often very decent knives, just from a time when British folks would rather buy a knife which said 'Foreign' than 'German'.
 
Jack Black said:
I come across quite a lot of old penknives like this Bart, and they are often very decent knives, just from a time when British folks would rather buy a knife which said 'Foreign' than 'German'.
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Personally, I think it adds a bit of character in this particular case for just that reason. May try to get the one I saw.
 
bernard_levine said:
Several knife writers (romantic fiction variety) have claimed that these knives were German army issue, but I have seen no evidence to support this claim (such as documents, or knives with issue or RZ/M markings). They were certainly private purchase knives in Germany, and wherever sold (including England, where they were widely sold in the 1930s, and I can document this from wholesale catalogs). If you have seen evidence (as opposed to claims) that these were ever German issue, please post it here, or point me to it.
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Found this old post from Bernard Levine, also supporting a 1930's dating. I wonder if he ever posted scans of those catalog pages....
 
I bought a 10-inch-blade Bowie marked "foreign" in London in 1976. Left it with my history tutor as a token of my esteem.
 
I found a foreign Congress at a flea market recently. It reminded me of a German built folder, and I figured it came from around WW2... knowing the History is great, and like mentioned above I think it adds character:thumbsup:
 
I was able to do a little bit of research, and it seems that the word "foreign" was most widely applied to cutlery imported into the UK from Europe immediately after WW I, during the period when some former German territories were suddenly in newly formed countries. Prior to that time, starting in 1887, goods imported into the UK were marked with the name of the country of origin.

In the case of the Mercator and its copies, the marking "foreign" without the Mercator name would have been used by Kaufmann as well as other makers prior to the late 1920's when Kaufmann began using the word to differentiate their version of the "Kaiser Wilhelm Messer." Supplies of German made knives were of course ended with the start of WW II, hence Jack's dates are likely spot on.

As a side note, in looking for examples on the internet, I noticed that there are surprisingly few surviving examples of DRGM marked Mercator knives on the internet from the 1933-45 period. The post war marking of "Solingen Germany" appears to have started with the resumption of production by Kaufmann in 1953 (although it is amazing that several people on resale sites claim knives bearing the obvious post war marking are genuine WWII battlefield loot, once the paint wears off...).
 
Just a by and by the Brits had a strange habit of marking things that were not made in Britain.
My WW2 British Army Colt 1911. Part of the lend lease program.........can you spot the writing?

72ea3810-4160-42f6-8f2a-0f9f19912e6e_zpssmkljima.jpg
 
Steven65 said:
Just a by and by the Brits had a strange habit of marking things that were not made in Britain.
My WW2 British Army Colt 1911. Part of the lend lease program.........can you spot the writing?

72ea3810-4160-42f6-8f2a-0f9f19912e6e_zpssmkljima.jpg
Click to expand...

Interesting Steven, the words 'Sheffield Make' are sometimes seen on older Sheffield knives.
 
Bartleby said:
I was able to do a little bit of research, and it seems that the word "foreign" was most widely applied to cutlery imported into the UK from Europe immediately after WW I, during the period when some former German territories were suddenly in newly formed countries. Prior to that time, starting in 1887, goods imported into the UK were marked with the name of the country of origin.

In the case of the Mercator and its copies, the marking "foreign" without the Mercator name would have been used by Kaufmann as well as other makers prior to the late 1920's when Kaufmann began using the word to differentiate their version of the "Kaiser Wilhelm Messer." Supplies of German made knives were of course ended with the start of WW II, hence Jack's dates are likely spot on.

As a side note, in looking for examples on the internet, I noticed that there are surprisingly few surviving examples of DRGM marked Mercator knives on the internet from the 1933-45 period. The post war marking of "Solingen Germany" appears to have started with the resumption of production by Kaufmann in 1953 (although it is amazing that several people on resale sites claim knives bearing the obvious post war marking are genuine WWII battlefield loot, once the paint wears off...).
Click to expand...

Nice detective work Bart :thumbsup:
 
Jack Black said:
I come across quite a lot of old penknives like this Bart, and they are often very decent knives, just from a time when British folks would rather buy a knife which said 'Foreign' than 'German'.
Click to expand...

Here is a link to a fairly recent post in the General Discussion that shows a knife similar to the one I encountered:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/how-old-is-my-mercator.1575179/

As can be seen, this one was also marked "Foreign," similar to the one I encountered (which is not marked Mercator, but otherwise very similar perhaps a different unknown maker).
 
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