Camillus the Great!

waynorth

waynorth

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Nov 19, 2005
Messages
32,711
Camillus made some wonderful traditionally styled knives, in days gone by. Some of you may have seen them listed a couple of weeks ago. I managed to snag these three, by putting my credit card at serious risk! All are marked (inked) salesman samples, from a retired Camillus salesman!
Please enjoy, and any of you old pros out there, please tell us what you know. They are a relatively new breed for me.
Camillus3.jpg
 
They look nice!

I'm a fan of the now extinct Yello Jaket line, good knives but not up to CASE quality in my view.
 
I tend to agree with you, willgoy, on the Case vs Camillus quality. The fitting is not quite up to the equivalent Case knives I have from the 40s to the 70s. That brings up the question of time frames; can anyone date these for me??
The serpentine Jack #578G has the crossed sword stamp, the "teardrop" #M144 has a four-line stamp (there is a U.S.A. under the bolster), and the Stockman #63994 has a three line arched-Camillus stamp.
Camillus3Tangs.jpg
 
Having lived there, I will say with some authority;

ka-mill-us!:)
 
Any idea what the vintage on these were?. If not have you sent a similar thread to BRL yet? THEY ARE GORGEOUS!!
 
waynorth said:
Having lived there, I will say with some authority;
ka-mill-us!:)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Waynorth. How embarrassing to discover I have been saying it wrong all these years. Next you are going to be telling me Case is not pronounced cass-e ;)
 
The jackknife in the middle is sweet! The spear point main blade really gives it an old-timey, someone's grand daddy carried one just like kind of look. I have two artifacts from my maternal grandfather (whom I never met). One is an old adjustable "monkey" wrench, and the other is a pocket knife that is so worn it's hard to tell what brand it might have been. It's an old jackknife, perhaps smaller than the one in the middle, but I think the main blade was originally a spear point. I like to think that it looked like that one day when he was peeling apples in a spiral so the whole peel was in one piece (from my mom's stories).
 
WOW!!
all nice

The one on the right is a particular stunner, are those all long blades? three backsprings? That arched tang stamp is the oldest marking as far as I know, i think it pre-dates the 4-line stamp. I have only seen it on other Camillus knives as the stamp on a secondary blade not the master.

some more exact dating may be possible if there was a date documented that the Sword Brand tradematk was registered.
 
waynorth,could you please post picture of the stockman pattern with the blades open thanks.
 
The one on the right looks like it has hammered pins. If it does that makes it older for me.
 
I'm not a Camillus expert, so I'm going totally by Goins here: the arched 3 line mark on the main blade is dated 1902-1915 (sometimes seen a little later on only the smaller blades). The four line mark (when marked on all blades) is from about 1919-1941 (when marked on only one blade, about 1941-1946 -- he notes that the mark is also sometimes seen on the back of the tang with Sword Brand stamped on the front). Sword Brand was one of their marks from early on - since 1906 or so - as a tang stamp, he doesn't give any more detail than the comment about the four line stamp on the back.
 
Yes, hammered pins, and three backsprings (that's why I can open all three blades partway), with long blades.
No foolin' this crowd:eek:! I bet if I show the corner of a knife handle, they will tell me how sharp the blade is, and what kind of steel it's made of!
Camillus3springStockPile.jpg

Camillus3springStockPileTangs.jpg
 
beautiful knives! Congrats on your purchase
now put a bow on the jack in the center and send it my way :D
I remember seeing some on ebay that the seller claimed were saleman samples, did ya pick 'em up on ebay? I have a few old camillus but none quite this pristine, i'm definitely a lil jealous! Awesome find!
Merry Christmas All!
ivan
 
Yes, Ivan, from the Bay. Glad you like them, and Merry Christmas to you too!
 
waynorth said:
Yes, hammered pins, and three backsprings (that's why I can open all three blades partway), with long blades.
Click to expand...

That stockman is awesome! I've never seen one with long spey and sheepsfoot blades before. What is the length of the knife closed?
 
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