lambertiana
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2000
- Messages
- 9,442
Today on the way home from Fresno my wife talked me into stopping at a big antique store. As usual, they were way overpriced on mostly junk items. My wife called me over to a display case that had a tray of knives, almost all junk. I spotted one just barely showing from the bottom of the pile, I could just see part of a bone handle, and that the blade had a long pull and cut swage. I asked to see it, and it turned out to be a 4.5" english jack, tang stamped QUEEN CITY, with winterbottom bone handle. Pen blade is broken, but main blade is in pretty good shape, and the only problem is a small piece of bone missing from one side. And to top it off, they were only asking $12.95. After seeing the hyperinflated prices most antique stores ask for junk knives, this was a real surprise.
They also had another one that I decided not to get - an Imperial teardrop jack, with celluloid handles that are best described as the pattern you see on a piece of large coral that has been cut across the individual coralites. It was cream-colored, with the boundaries between the "coralites" as well as the center starburst in each "coralite" being dark blue. The blade looked like someone had used it to short out a very high voltage line. They were only asking $7.95. The only reason I didn't get it was that the celluloid was obviously breaking down, and I don't need something like that in my knife drawer. Too bad, they were very interesting celluloid handles. This was one of the higher quality Imperials with regular bolsters and pinned handles, not a cheap shell-handle knife.
They also had another one that I decided not to get - an Imperial teardrop jack, with celluloid handles that are best described as the pattern you see on a piece of large coral that has been cut across the individual coralites. It was cream-colored, with the boundaries between the "coralites" as well as the center starburst in each "coralite" being dark blue. The blade looked like someone had used it to short out a very high voltage line. They were only asking $7.95. The only reason I didn't get it was that the celluloid was obviously breaking down, and I don't need something like that in my knife drawer. Too bad, they were very interesting celluloid handles. This was one of the higher quality Imperials with regular bolsters and pinned handles, not a cheap shell-handle knife.
