A Camillus with a story...wish I knew what it was...

Absintheur

Absintheur

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Recently picked up this Camillus Jack, walks and talks like a bantum rooster even at the half stops, very slight shrinking of the scales, full blades with a wonderful long pull and swedge n the main, 4 line address. And a Department of Justice seal added into the front scale.

Somewhere there is a story behind this knife...I am hoping to hear from the previous owner but have no idea if they are the original owner or not. The raised eagle on the seal is fairly worn as if it served as a worry stone and had been rubbed with a thunb often over the years...

It feels right in my hand and the edge stropped right up. Perfect jean pocket size and just a good looking knife. I love the old spearpoint mains...they are hard for me to pass up. But I am sitting here looking at it and that seal is teasing me...telling me there is a story there but it can't, or won't tell me what it is.

doj2.jpg
 
Absintheur said:
... a Department of Justice seal added into the front scale.

...telling me there is a story there but it can't, or won't tell me what it is.

...
Click to expand...

If they told you, you might have to be "eliminated"... :p ;) :D

Nice knife though, I too would love to hear more about it.
 
really cool and a 4 line stamp, ww2 era possibly (little before or little after) if memory serves correct. Is their a number on the pile side or on the secondary blade?
I have a black handled EO 2 blade Jack that looks to be similiar to this, mine regretfully isnt as nice!
Beautiful knife from a company that i miss:(
ivan
 
No number I can see, struck me as odd there wouldn't be a model or pattern number on the knife but I am not real conversant with Camillus markings either.
 
So sad that a company of Camillus went away and there are no company historians that you can contact to research old knives. With an old S&W handgun you can normally find out quite a bit, when it was made, who it was originally sold to etc. But on many knife brands there just isn't a way to research older knives.

Was this knife owned by a Nazi Hunter? Did it belong to an agent who handled moles in Italy? Was it in the pocket of someone who had the questionable job of overseeing an Japanese American internment camp? Was the seal worn, worried by a nervous thumb constantly rubbing it when a contact was late to a meeting spot?

I know there is a story here...
 
Well I have been given the email of the owner once removed (that would be the seller who sold it to the person who sold it to me). Maybe some info will be forthcoming. I think this is a 535 pattern....maybe...
 
please do share any info ya might get, i'd be interested in it. I'm not sure when camillus started marking the pattern number on the blades?
either way ya got a good one there.
I like the fact that you touched up the edge, obviously you're not afraid to carry it:) which is what your supposed to do!
enjoy it
ivan
heres my less than perfect but a great buy at 4 bucks EO jack, i call that the dolly parton blade profile! a little top heavy
easy.jpg
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I am also framing a letter to send to the DOJ, hopefully they will have a historian who might know something about it as well. So far this is all I have...

HI WADE, I BOUGHT THE KNIFE TWO YEARS AGO FROM
E****** ON E BAY FOR ** DOLLARS . THE SEAL HAD TO
COME FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND CAMILUS
INSTALLED THEM ALOT OF DETAIL IN THE SHIELD. I JUST
COLLECT KNIVES IM TRYING TO UPGRADE MY COLLECTION .
THATS ALL I KNOW.....PAUL
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Dear Wade,
I remember the knife. As I recall, it was a nice one, that I bought at an estate sale somewhere in the greater San Francisco area. I do not believe I has any history about it, so I'm not much help. Maybe it was a gift to a person in the Dept Of Justice, a retirement thing, or in honor of years of service? Just guessing.

Ray
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I like the easy opener...that is a pattern I haven't added to my collection yet. I look at them when I see them up for sale but haven't found one that speaks to me yet.
 
ab, that knife was probably bought by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. and well, since i am a taxpayer, can i have my knife back ?:D
 
Sure....but I will need the proper government forms filled out, in triplicate of course, signed and notarized. Shouldn't take much more than 20 years to process.
 
Absintheur said:
I am also framing a letter to send to the DOJ, hopefully they will have a historian who might know something about it as well.
Click to expand...
FWIW, as best I can tell from your pic, the DOJ seal on the knife is the 1934 revision (described here), which at least shows the earliest possible manufacture date.
 
That sure is a neat little Camillus. The seal/shield makes it even more cool.

Abs..you should write a book about 10 knives and the stories that go with them, including the hunt for the information about them. I think it would be an interesting read. FWIW...I'll shoot the pix if you need some. :D
 
Absintheur said:
I like the easy opener...that is a pattern I haven't added to my collection yet. I look at them when I see them up for sale but haven't found one that speaks to me yet.
Click to expand...

thanks! it helps when you can find one thats neglected and 4 dollars:) i have quite a collection of "strays":)
some fool used a grinder on it at some point, i cleaned it up and sharpened it and it was my edc for a couple months a couple years back.
would love to get a purty one in the future
ivan
 
Actually the one you posted isn't that bad, if you look at mine you can see the blades tend to narrow towards the tang. Yours has a little scoop that is likely the results of repeated sharpening. Only easy opener I own is a Normark I modded to make it easier to open quickly.

Knife Head...would be a fun project but I wouldn't know where to begin and I am not that strong a writer...more of a job for Jackknife.
 
That is so cool! A real Hoover-era G-Man knife.
See that just shows that Feds don't have to just sport tacticool blades.

Definately wear a fedora when carrying that gem. :D
 
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I have a Camillus that appears to be exactly like this one only the inset is a for a "J. S. Crowell" apprentice and the shield is from Collier's magazine. The knife has the old four line stamping, just like this one.

In my experience the pre-WWII Camillus knives do not have pattern numbers stamped, at least, I haven't seen one.

Keep an eye on this knife, my knife's cracked ice handle really deteriorated leaving some serious discoloration and some pitting on the back of the master blade. The front side is still O.K.

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