Carl Elsener III of Victorinox, the person most responsible for the unprecedented success of the world’s most recognizable knife, is the latest inductee into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame©.
Officially enshrined June 11 during the BLADE Magazine Awards Banquet of the 2011 BLADE Show, Mr. Elsener was unable to attend. However, his son Charles Elsener Jr., Victorinox CEO, accepted on his father’s behalf.
The inductee joined the company in Ibach, Switzerland, an area the Swiss government has officially designated the “Swiss Knife Valley,” in 1939 when he was only 16. In 1950, he was thrust into the leadership role when his father died. At the time, Victorinox employed 230. During World War II, scores of American soldiers stationed in Europe “discovered” the little red-handled knife. They bought them in droves in the post-war years.
By 1984, on the company’s 100th anniversary, Victorinox employed 810. Despite airlines banning knives — most of which were SAKs — from carry-on after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, employment in Switzerland alone grew to more than 900. In 2005, Victorinox acquired its main SAK competitor, Wenger. On the 125th anniversary of Victorinox in 2009, the company employed more than 1,700 worldwide, including those at the North American headquarters and official distribution center of in Connecticut.
Today, Carl Elsener lives close to the factory and, until age 86, rode his bicycle to the office every day. Even now, approaching 90, he comes to work three or four times a week.
“Despite his success, my father has stayed grounded,” Charles Elsener said. “The most important values in his life have always been mutual respect and trust, courage, gratitude and humility. I have also learned from my father that the company who wants to stay successful in the long-term basically needs to concentrate on three things: the people, the customers and the products. He embraced [that concept] very nicely."
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