An odd one... YOU tell ME!!

[Codger_64]

Here is an odd knife. It is a Sears Craftsman #9494. My records identify it as an Ulster #63 Whittler's Knife.

9494 - Ulster 63 Whittler 3 bl. 3 5/8"(1959)

Not so odd you say? Wait... look at this:

No, it is the standard "swell center" #63 pattern. Here... look closer...

Yeah, the shield! It is neither the Craftsman underlined nor the Craftsman Crown.

A replacement? A mistake? The production shield would have Ulster in script. So what do I have here (besides out of focus eBay photos)?

Michael

 

[knifeaholic]

Codger;

My observation is that Imperial Schrade Corp made a lot of CRAFTSMAN marked knives in the early to mid 70's using the ULSTER tooling but with all CRAFTSMAN tang and shield marks. I have seen them in a number of patterns including the barlow (identical tooling to the Prince Albert OLD TIMER BARLOW).

I say this from observing many used examples at flea markets antique shows etc. over the years.

And a number of years ago (1990's) a guy came into our local knife show, he was a former employee of Imperial, he had a big box loaded with knives of that vintage including an intact SEARS store display circa mid 70's. He sold the whole lot for a song, but frankly at that time there was not much interest in knives like that, other than as users.

My take is that Imperial Schrade Corp had the capacity at that time to make three "grades" of knives, each at a different price point - Schrade (the best), Ulster (mid grade), and Imperial Jack Master (low end). So, for any outside contract work, they could use the tooling or "grade" that matched the price point required by the customer. This may have even varied from year to year or from one product run to another.

You can see this clearly in the older Belknap catalogs, where knives that appear to be made with the Ulster/Kington patterns and tooling are often shown on the same page with knives that appear to be made with Schrade patterns/tooling...and the Ulster/Kingstom examples are at lower price points.

I speculate that the Ulster or mid grade tooling was dropped at the time that the "Frontier" series was introduced and made by Camillus....that then became the "mid-grade" line between the Jackmaster and the Schrade/Old Timer/Uncle Henry.

Just my $.02 and speculation.

 

[Codger_64]

Yes, I agree completely with the Ulster pattern placement. However, Schrade was owned by Ulster, not the other way around. Yes, after 1958, all the knives of both brandings were made in the Ellenville Ulster factory prior to the move to the Channelmaster building.

But what I am seeing here is an Old Timer shield on an Ulster #63 SFO for Sears. Production records show this pattern shipped under this particular Sears number in 1959, though the pattern itself had been sold to Sears as early as 1941 as the #9529 (with pen and sloyd blade paired opposite the pocket blade). Previously, we have only seen the Old Timer shielding on very few Ulsters, namely the 114OT, 50OT, 10OT, 12OT, and 58OT. So do we have a 63OT, or a reshielded Ulster Craftsman? I guess I will have to wait and see when I hold it in my hand and examine it closeup and personal.

 

[knifeaholic]

Oh; my apology, I missed that since I did not look at that photo closely...yes that is odd...factory error?

 

[Codger_64]

Factory error? Could be I suppose. The shield shape is not common to the Old Timer line. It is the same shape as the 114OT Old Timer shield (and the production Ulster shields), but it wasn't made that early. The 1959 Sears 2OT was Craftsman shielded, but it did retain it's Old Timer rear cap stamp with a Craftsman lossenge shield added to the cover. It wasn't advertised and described by the seller as an Old Timer, and I did not give much for it, so if someone added the shield to make a fake, their time and effort was worthless.