Well..... since it doesn't seem that "esteemed" member is going to post, this not very esteemed member has a related tale to tell:
On occasion I'll hit some local antique shops in San Jose, Ca. to see if they have anything sharp that's of interest. About 6 years I go into an antique co-op and browse my way back to the rear of the store where some guy has a few beat up old folders and fixed blade knives on display. I ask him if he has any other knives and he tells me he just picked one up at an estate sale that he hasn't put out yet. He disappears though a door and comes back with this:
Now I'm a Randall guy and don't know much else, but I DO know that Delaware Maid means Bob Loveless! My heart skips a couple of beats and I ask him how much he wants for it. Bottom line is that it comes home with me and I'm 40 bucks lighter!
I do some research (I hope my memory doesn't fail me here) and find out that after Bob made his first knife in ~1953, he was pretty pleased with it and his entrepreneurial spirit led him back to Abercrombie and Fitch in NY inquiring of their purchasing agent if they'd be interested in taking on his line. The guy looks at the knife and tells him he'll give give him a chance. Bob takes his P.O. home, makes up a batch and brings them in. They end up selling and Bob goes back to the guy for another P.O.. They guy tells him to just make the knives and he'll get another P.O. when he comes in with them. Bob makes the knives, goes back and finds out the purchasing agent has left A&F for another company. Bob attempts to get a P.O. from the guy's replacement and the guy tells Bob to go pound salt! Frustrated, Bob just puts the knives away, goes about his business and ends up in Riverside becoming successful as a knifemaker. Something like 10 years later he digs up those old Delaware Maid knives and sells them in Southern California. One apparantly found it's was up to San Jose. Back in NY he was serializing his knives. You can determine the history of one of these knives by it's serial number.
Well, I'm sitting on a great knife, but it sure doesn't fit into my Randall collection and I'm having a hard time scraping together enough money to buy a nice old Randall when one shows up. Only one thing to do! I'm not fond of e-bay, so I go to an old knife friend who's a reseller in Florida who's done me a ton of favors. He finds a home for it and I'm able to pay him back via his commission. No sooner do I get flush and another friend comes up with this knife:
A circa 1946 "one off" Hunter made by special request. The Loveless-Randall swap was consumated. Everyone is happy including the antique store dealer who received a large kickback from me a month later. Don't you love happy endings
Best,
