Christy sliding knife variations?

[this_is_nascar]

I've had mine on my keyring for months, but I think I'll be retiring it. Too many times, I've found the blade partially deployed and I damn near cut myself.

 

[nozyk]

It's not just the international shipping charges that are high. I went on the website this morning and was going to order one until I saw the domestic shipping charge. I decided to pass.

I'm in Northern New Jersey and the shipping rate was more than 1/2 the cost of the knife!
I still carry my dads and my grandfather always had one with him. I have two I picked up at a local flea market for under ten bucks. Reading this, made me look into getting a shiny new one, seeing that rate,made me think again.

 

[Bartleby]

There do seem to be a lot of them that are in good shape in flea markets and on-line for resale for around half the cost of a new one. This may make the cost for those buying new a bit less of an issue. The used ones are actually more of interest to figuring out how the changes occurred over time.

Just to get back on topic a bit, the oldest ones have a bail, to hold on the key chain, made of a length of wire inserted through small holes in the handle and bent, then soldered in place. The resulting bail has a wire loop attached to it wide enough for a bead chain pass through it. This is the type of attachment seen in the patent drawing. A large number of these have survived intact, judging from the images of those for resale on-line, so it is not likely that the change to the sheet steel attachment was made due to breakage. My guess is that the change was made at some point to save time (and cost) in assembly. The sheet metal attachment would also be materially larger and would have the added benefit of being stronger than the wire attachment.

 

[Bartleby]

Nascar, my grand dad's knife did not quite lock up in the fully closed position when I received it, but I found that it had a build up of gunk in the last locking hole. I cleaned this out with a toothpick, and disassembled the knife for a good cleaning with an old toothbrush. Wiped it down with a drop of oil and it worked like new.

 

[jackknife]

Nascar, my grand dad's knife did not quite lock up in the fully closed position when I received it, but I found that it had a build up of gunk in the last locking hole. I cleaned this out with a toothpick, and disassembled the knife for a good cleaning with an old toothbrush. Wiped it down with a drop of oil and it worked like new.

This^:thumbup::thumbup:

I find that with a lot of pocket carry, I have to take a needle or pin, and clean out the holes that collect lint and debris. Fold over a paper towel and push it down in the frames grooves to keep them clean helps as well.

 

[Bartleby]

Jackknife, Thanks for your info and posting great photos! I am limited to my phone for pictures, so taking shots of the little Christy is a blurry mess! Your comments on the Stanley knife blade are well taken. I think that the Christy knife may be seen as the grandfather of the Stanley (I believe that the Stanley retractable knife dates from the early 60's, and the patent refers to the Christy patent which by then had expired).

Have you seen the little Screwpop Utility knife? It is kind of a cross breed of Stanley and Christy. It uses a pivoting arm (and a magnet!) to hold the blade in position. They come with a four position utility blade (all of which are fairly short). A kind of crude sheet steel boxcutter, but the blade does go out the front and locks in more than one position. I tried one out for a bit, but it was disappointing as a pocket knife, but I could see the influence of the Christy.

 

[Bartleby]

A little guesswork-

Based on a little research and the examples I have in front of me:

-The current Companion model has a stainless steel blade, beveled on both sides. The frame is nickel plated steel. There is a key ring instead of a key chain mounted through a sheet steel tab, which is about the same thickness as the blade. The lock button has two steps. The blade holder is marked "Christy" with a stylized "C" the tail of which contains the words "trade mark." The lock button partially covers an arrow stamping which shows the direction to slide the button. No patent number listed. On the non- button side, the holder is marked "made in the U.S.A by the Christy Co., Fremont Ohio, 43420"

-An earlier version, seen on-line in an ad from December, 1976 in "The Rotarian" magazine and the ones that jack knife has posted photos of, is similar to the current version, but has deeper stampings, with the patent number under the letter "C"s tail on the button side, the arrow is not obscured by the button, and no zip code on the non-button side. Some have carbon steel blades, some stainless.

-An even earlier version with the wire bail, carbon steel blades. The lock button is concave, there is no arrow. On the version I have this one is marked "Clauss USA, Fremont.O." on the button side. No markings on the non-button side.

-A still earlier version with the Christy markings in smaller letters, with the top of the "h" forming a completed loop. The frame appears to be chrome rather than nickel. This one has a carbon steel blade with an edge beveled on one side only, which I assume would be earlier than double beveled.

-There should be an even earlier version with a brass frame and chrome finish, which is referred to in the ads from the late thirties in "Popular Science," but I have not encountered one of these.

There are currently two finish options "The Executive" in dark nickel with gold plated lock button and screws, and the "Traveler" in brushed nickel. There is also a commemorative version currently.

I hope to get more info on dates when I hear from Mr. Christy, and to figure out when the "Companion" would be the "Standard" or the "Sport" model in order to call them something other than "current, early, earlier, earliest" as I am doing right now.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Thanks. I'll take a look, however, I don't expect this to be my issue. My keyring where the knife is attached in never in a pocket to gather lint/dust/etc. I hangs from my keyring, that's clipped to my pocket. Another issue that I've found recently that's disappointing is the fact that the handle portion has become rusted/tarnished. I just assumed (shame on me for doing that) that it would be some type of stainless, that wouldn't get messed up like that.

I've tried taking a few pics to show you, but it's not really showing up.

 

[Bartleby]

Sorry I couldn't be of help. They have always been plated, like an old school safety razor. This makes them a bit more resistant to scratching when carried in a pocket with keys and coins than a stainless handle (which are usually left soft when used as a handle), but they will darken over time.

 

[Bartleby]

I found a reference on page 219 in the 1997 3rd edition of Ritchie and Stewart's "The Standard Knife Collector's Guide" that states "The Christy Knife Company ceased production in 1971, but was reactivated in 1974 by Earl B. Christy, a grandson of Russ Christy. This is perhaps when the patent number was dropped and the zip code was added. Jackknife, do you have any recollection of what year you purchased your own Christy? Perhaps you might recall about the time your dad started carrying his (that you noticed), both have the sheet metal key chain attachment with the patent number, so it might help to narrow down its years of production. Thanks sir!

 

[jackknife]

I found a reference on page 219 in the 1997 3rd edition of Ritchie and Stewart's "The Standard Knife Collector's Guide" that states "The Christy Knife Company ceased production in 1971, but was reactivated in 1974 by Earl B. Christy, a grandson of Russ Christy. This is perhaps when the patent number was dropped and the zip code was added. Jackknife, do you have any recollection of what year you purchased your own Christy? Perhaps you might recall about the time your dad started carrying his (that you noticed), both have the sheet metal key chain attachment with the patent number, so it might help to narrow down its years of production. Thanks sir!

Dad passed away from Hodgkins disease in 1981. He'd been carrying that little Christy since about the mid to early '70's . He had a lot of them over he years, and he passed them out to family and friends like lollypops att he doctors office. Aftr he and mom where both gone, my sister Anne was cleaning out and going through some old papers, and found a letter from Christy from back in the 1950's, thanking dad for the purchase of 50 of them to be passed out to the personal in his office section.

Mine that I have now was from about the late 70's. I had a some uncles that carried Christy's, but they are all gone now, but I can check with a few cousins to see if they were among the effects that still may be in some drawer someplace. I know my cousin Dave still has some of Uncle Charlies stuff, I'll give him a call. Be neat toy find an old wire bail model.!

 

[Bartleby]

Much appreciated! The wire bail one that I have with the single bevel blade probably belonged to my grandfather. He worked for Republic Aircraft during the war installing the canopies in P47s. Before that, he was a worker in a glass company, got through the Depression by being winter caretaker for summer houses on Long Island for the men he caddied for in the summers. He probably chose the Christy because it was good quality but unexpensive. It would be nice to figure out when the one he carried was made, give or take a few years, just to have an idea how long it was in use. The blade that was in it was little used, I suspect a replacement purchased with the knife long ago.

The sheet steel version that I have inherited belonged either to my Dad or my brother in-law. Dad passed in 2001, his working life was from 1948-1988. Brother-in-law passed from ALS a couple of years ago, worked from 1974-2008. My sister passed the box with the knives to me after discovering it in their garage.

 

[shecky]

I've had mine on my keyring for months, but I think I'll be retiring it. Too many times, I've found the blade partially deployed and I damn near cut myself.

This made me remember that I have a knife somewhere that I think is a Christy knock off. Unfortunately, I don't remember where it is. However, it looked, and functioned identically to a Christy. However, it had two rather than three open positions. And your post made me remember that the locking mechanism was broken. The pin that inserts into the holes in the frame had sheared off at some point before I got it. So the blade was prone to sliding around unencumbered. Though the knife seems pretty much identical to a Christy, it is an advertising knife, IIRC, and has no maker identification. So I think it's a knock off. I'll have to see if I can find it.

 

[Bartleby]

I have noticed that there are a few used ones out there being sold with missing or broken parts. I think of the pin more as a blade stop than a locking mechanism, but I'd wager a fair number have been abused over the past 70 years!

 

[this_is_nascar]

This made me remember that I have a knife somewhere that I think is a Christy knock off. Unfortunately, I don't remember where it is. However, it looked, and functioned identically to a Christy. However, it had two rather than three open positions. And your post made me remember that the locking mechanism was broken. The pin that inserts into the holes in the frame had sheared off at some point before I got it. So the blade was prone to sliding around unencumbered. Though the knife seems pretty much identical to a Christy, it is an advertising knife, IIRC, and has no maker identification. So I think it's a knock off. I'll have to see if I can find it.

Thanks. Mine is definitely genuine, as I got it directly from their site.

 

[Bartleby]

Dad passed away from Hodgkins disease in 1981. He'd been carrying that little Christy since about the mid to early '70's . He had a lot of them over he years, and he passed them out to family and friends like lollypops att he doctors office. Aftr he and mom where both gone, my sister Anne was cleaning out and going through some old papers, and found a letter from Christy from back in the 1950's, thanking dad for the purchase of 50 of them to be passed out to the personal in his office section.

Mine that I have now was from about the late 70's. I had a some uncles that carried Christy's, but they are all gone now, but I can check with a few cousins to see if they were among the effects that still may be in some drawer someplace. I know my cousin Dave still has some of Uncle Charlies stuff, I'll give him a call. Be neat toy find an old wire bail model.!

I took a look at the text and illustration for the original patent, #2074640, and noticed that both the drawing and the text show a sheet steel bail rather than the wire design. I wonder why they did the wire bail design? It seems to be more complicated to assemble (I can't imaging getting the wire into the tiny holes!), and not as strong. Judging from the number of images with the wire bail, they were done in pretty large numbers.

 

[Bartleby]

I heard from Mr. Christy today, he was able to confirm that the single bevel blades are the earliest versions, my grandfather would have been the owner of that one. The change to the sheet metal bail occurred in 1960. The removal of the patent number occurred in 2008. He was not sure when the ZIP code was added.

So, here are a few generalizations that may help you date a Christy knife:

For the sake of clarity I will refer to the versions with the sheet metal bail as the Companion mode (but please correct me if there is better terminology)l. The current version of the Companion dates from 2008-present. It has no patent date under the Christy name, but has a ZIP code on the non button side.

The earlier version of the Companion model was made from about 1960-2008, with an interruption in the early 70's (about 1971-1974?). This is the one I described above with the patent date but no ZIP code.

The versions with the wire bail and concave lock button I will refer to as the Standard model (although these are also called the Sport Knife, I can't figure out what the difference is between them). These have stainless or chrome frames. The earliest ones have single bevel blades, according to Mr. Christy. These are roughly from the period 1939-1959

The print ads I have seen for the Knife in Popular Science and Life magazines from 1936-38 describe the Standard/Sports model as having a chrome plated brass frame, but I have not encountered this in a current image. These would be from 1935 (patent date)-roughly 1940, giving some overlap.

 

[Bartleby]

The Clauss knife would be an early contract /advertiser produced sometime between 1939 and 1950. I believe that it is not likely that contract/ advertising knives were made during WWII, as the Christy Company was kept busy making scalpel blades as well as the sliding knife, I need to figure out the approximate date of some of the versions made with etched blade advertisements to get any closer than that.

 

[Canoeal]

I recently came into ownership of an older (wirebail Christy) Any way to correctly date it? Stainless body, brass screws, wire bail, concave button, Christy trade mark and patent number on the button side.The other side reads Made in USA, The Christy Co, Fremont, Ohio
I believe my father in Law picked it up during his service at the end of WWII. Does that sound right?

 

[Jolipapa]

Received this one from a friend who found a NOS pack. No idea of her age. Could this be a copy?