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While going through a filing cabinet recently, I came across a small engineer’s notebook I had overlooked. The brown leather cover is imprinted with the name...
A. B. Hourin
Schrade Walden Cutlery
Walden, N.Y.
Most of the notes date from the mid 1950's and talk about formulas for etches, marking inks, and list descriptions, dies and processes for quite a few knives. Of interest here are the pages describing the Walden fixed blades, often an enigma of handle and blade combinations particularly the smaller “bird and trout” patterns, as we tend to call them these days.
I've always liked the old classic leather washer handled fixed blade hunting knives, and I have owned several over the years before I settled down with the sawcut Delrin Old Timers as my hunting knives. I never really paid too much attention to the patterns of those blades, or understood their role in the ancestry of the more modern Uncle Henry and Old Timer knives, until fairly recently. Information on them is not easy to find, as it seems they just don't have the pizazz of the fancier plastic and brass knives, and are seldom seen with glistening blades, partly because they were made to be used by an earlier generation of outdoorsmen who did just that, then handed them down to sons and grandsons.
Many companies made them, so I would be hesitant to say that Schrade made them first, or that George Schrade numbered them among his patented inventions. I do know that George Schrade Knife Company of Providence, RI. was one of the earlier makers of a complete line of them, and that Schrade Cutlery Company, and then Schrade-Walden and Imperial, and finally Schrade Cutlery did as well. Many of the blade patterns of the early George Schrade knives were carried over to Schrade Walden, and eventually added to and modernized with different guards, handle materials, and eventually, new patterns.
The George Schrade Knife Company produced the line of knives under the tang name "Stagbrand", and "Schradebrand". At this time, they did not have stamped model numbers or names, but were listed in their literature as "#1", "#2", etc. There were five knives in the leather handled hunting knife line with blade sizes from the tiny flatground #1 "bird and trout" pattern 3 1/4", up to the 5" heavy guage saber ground #5. All had matching flat nickle silver guards and pinned aluminum birds head pommels. Spacers of alternating colors white, red and black were added fore and aft of the laqured stacked leather washer grip. I am not sure when the stamps changed from Stagbrand to Schradebrand (or visa versa), but each of the knives in the series may be seen with either stamp. Three plastic faux stag handled knives were made with these blade patterns as well, the material referred to as “Styrene”.
Schrade Walden continued the same patterns and expanded them, using identical handles and spacers. One must see the tangstamps in order to tell the difference unless you memorize the different spacer color sequences. Schrade Walden did number, and eventually name the patterns, most likely at the insistance of Henry Baer, who joined his brother Albert as the owners of Schrade Walden Cutlery Corp. in 1946, formerly Schrade Cutlery Company, and it became a division of Imperial Knife Associated Companies Group, which included Ulster and Imperial.
The early fifties and sixties saw an expansion of patterns, handle materials and names added. Innovative " Everlast Edge" Tungsten Carbide blades, "Wonda-Edge" serrated blades, “StrataWood”and "Wonda-Wood" handles appeared on several patterns, and eventually “Genuine Unbreakable Staglon”.
The patterns offered in the mid fifties were the 137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, and 148. As previously mentioned, I am going to concentrate on the smaller bladed knives here.
The #140, as a whimsical decoration, used a bear's head shape pommel (seen in 1953,’54), a play on the owner's names, Baer. It had an overall length of 8 1/4", and a stainless hollow ground blade of 4 inches. It had a grooved "Stratawood" handle, aluminum alloy guard, and black and white spacers. The pattern without the bear's head is listed in 1955-‘57. It is not listed in 1959.
Hourin’s Notes:
#140
4 ½" Fixed Blade Hunter with Bear’s Head
__________________________________
13 Ga. SS Hollow Ground Blade
Aluminum Guards .091" x 1 7/16" x .96"
Fibre Washers
Grooved Strata Wood Handles
with 3 Black and 2 White Fibre Washers on ea. end
#140 Sheath - Gold Embossed
imprinted in Gold: “S-W”
11/30/56
#140A - SR9534
__________________________________
Same as above except Grooved
Strata Wood Handle with 3 Red
& 2 White Fibre Washers on ea. end
The 141 Tall Tale (or 141L) first appeared in the 1957 catalog, and remained in 1959 were I first see it illustrated with the birdshead pommel. In the1961 catalog, it acquired the bear head pommel, and the name “tall tale”. It is described there as 8 ½" overall length, 4 1/4" sabre ground carbon steel blade, and a leather washered handle with decorative discs on each end. The retail price is given in 1962 of $3.95, and it is illustrated with the bear head pommel for the last time in 1965. In the 1966 catalog, the birdshead aluminum pommel returned, and the listed price is $4.75. The 141L is last seen listed in the 1973 Schrade Walden catalog priced at $6.00. By midyear, it was no longer listed, it’s place having been taken by the short-lived 41OT Maverick (1971-73).
Hourin’s Notes:
#141L
4 1/4" Fixed Blade Hunter with
Plain Aluminum Butt
__________________________________
13 Ga. Saber Ground Blade
Aluminum Guard
Handle: 16 Leather Wash. P. Kn.
4 Thick Bl. Plas. Wash
4 Thin Fibre Washers
2 Thick Brown Washers
The #142 Mighty Mite (or 142L) is first listed in 1961 with an overall length of 6 1/4" , a plain ground carbon steel 3 1/4" blade, and leather washered handle with decorative discs on each end, an aluminum birdshead pommel. Priced in 1962 at $2.95, it is gone by the 1963 catalog. Hourin had no notes on this one.
The #143 is listed in 1955 and in 1957, but not described or illustrated.
Hourin’s Notes:
#143
3 ½ " Fixed Blade Hunter with
Plain Aluminum Butt
__________________________________
13 Ga. SS Hollow Ground Blades
Used .095" x 2 1/4" SS
Aluminum Guards
Fibre Lock Washers
Handles: 2 Toned Stratawood
Not Grooved with
6 Black & 4 White Fibre
Washers per knife
143L (For Sears Ass’t)
13 Ga. Carbon Saber Ground Blade
Handles: 15 Leather Washers p. Kn.
4 Thick Bl. Plas.
4 Thin White Washers
2 Thick Brown
The #145 was the same pattern and handle material as the 140, but without handle grooves in the Stratawood, and with a plainer birdshead pommel. First seen in 1953, it had a 8 1/4" overall length, a 4" hollow ground stainless blade, and aluminum alloy guard and pommel. It listed in 1955 for $4.95, was listed in 1957 as the 145, 145L, and 145WE (Wonda-Edge serrated blade), but gone by 1959.
Hourin’s Notes:
#145
4 1/4" Fixed Blade Hunter with
Plain Aluminum Butt
__________________________________
13 Ga. SS Hollow Ground Blade
Fibre Lock Washers
Strata Wood Handles - Not
Grooved with 3 Black and 2 White
Fibre Washers on ea. end
#145L
4 1/4" Fixed Blade Hunter with
Plain Aluminum Butt
__________________________________
13 Ga. SS Hollow Ground Blade
Aluminum Guards
Handles: 16 Leather Washers p. Kn.
4 Thick Bl. Plas.
4 Thin White Washers
2 Thick Brown
The #146 was the same pattern, but with grooved Stratawood handles (like the #140) and the birdshead pommel. First seen in 1953, it had an 8 1/4" overall length, hollow ground stainless steel 4" blade, aluminum alloy guard and birdshead pommel. It listed in 1955 for $4.95, appeared in 1957, but was gone by 1959.
Hourin’s Notes:
#146
4 1/4" Fixed Blade Hunter
with Plain Aluminum Butt
__________________________________
13 Ga. SS Hollow Ground Blade
Aluminum Guards
Fibre Lock Washers
Grooved Strata Wood Handles with
6 Black Fibre Washers per Knife
4 White Fibre Washers per Knife
While the discovery of Hourin’s notes do not nearly answer all of our questions on these knives, they do add just a bit more insight. I’ll try to add more information on other patterns as time allows.
Codger
