Contract Knives???

orvet

orvet

Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,771
I found these knives yesterday while out & about, poking around in pawn shops, used tool stores, etc. The Craftsman I got when picking up a local ebay buy. The guy had several other knives and I bought the Craftsman as well as the Schrade 899 I won in the auction.
The Power Craft was made for Montgomery Wards back in the day. I am not sure what the handle is, it may be celluloid, but has a grain pattern like horn.

Does anyone know if either of these knives were made by Schrade? They are obviously not in great shape but for $5 each they are worth that for research value.

[URL=http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/PowerCraftCraftsman.jpg][/URL]
[URL=http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/PowerCrafttang.jpg][/URL]
[URL=http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/Craftsmantang.jpg][/URL]

Thanks for the help,
Dale
 
I believe the stockman might have been. Schrade was quite well known for its contract knives and made them for so many people that I doubt anyone really knows just exactly who all of them were. Alot of these companies I am sure many people interested in knives recognize and are familiar with. SEARS, Montgomery Ward ect. I am including pics of knives that they ( Schrade) made for well known companies which for one reason or another ( went out of business or whatever ) that Schrade produced contract knives for. Granted these are older knives in real jigged bone or cell dating back to the fiftys however the point is that just because a company goes out of business or chooses to contract its name out does not mean an inferior product MUST be produced in its stead. I find all of these knives to be of excellant quality and quite pleasing to look at. These are from left to right a Belnap, 2 John Primbles one with primble shield one with a federal shield, The next four are Keen Kutters and while usually marked with a Keen Kutter tang the first one( large stockman is marked Schrade Walden. the next 5 are Shapleigh diamond edge 3 are marked Schrade Walden two Tanged Shapleigh diamond edge all with Shapleigh diamond shields.

The last two knives I put in for another reason the one on the right is an LB-1 that was rehandled in genuine mother of pearl. I had mentioned in another thread that I would post it if it popped up. ( They did not come from the factory with this material as handles ). The knife to its left is curious for its handle material it is genuine Jade ( spider jade I guess for the lines in it. ) I (probably) like everyone else love weird handle material and knives with genuine gold blades which I will have to dig out some day for posting. I hope you enjoy the pics of what contract knives used to look like. LT PS most of these a new inused old stock the spots on some of them are light reflections.
 
Thanks LT & thanks for the pictures of the contract knives.

Dale
 
I believe the 9470 was on the list from the '70s that you gave us some time back LT. Schrade did some fine work for a lot of retailers with varying degrees of private labeling. On the Sears knives I've seen a simple private etch, full private tangstamp, shielding, and full custom details like on the knives I have posted here.

I feel like Sears was replaced in importance as an outlet by Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart, just as Sears own fortunes were affected by them. I never did keep up well enough with the hardware store market, it just seemed like Western Auto and Otasco were the only game in town around where I grew up. Those are few and far between now, with Tractor Supply Company, Ace, Tru-Value and Do-It Center being the small town stores, Each county has it's own Farmer's Co-Op, and of course the "mega" stores Lowe's and Home Depot in the larger cities. Small town independent stores who were serviced by Belknap and Keen Kutter are still out there if you look hard enough, and usually owned by decendents of the original owners. They are hanging on barely.

Marketing has taken some large changes in the past twenty years. Dang, I left out J.C. Penny as a Schrade SFO customer. Anyone seen a Schrade custom stamped or shielded for them? I was told that the blue SGS- gift sets were for them, though other than the color of the tray, I see no real differences in them and the burgandy sets. Maybe I have those colors backwards. Anyway, all the special factory order knives make for interesting collecting, and some real bargains can be found with the more obscure badging.

Codger
 
I got another knife yesterday that may be made by Schrade. From the research I did, Schrade made most of their knives in the later years.
The knife is a Maher & Grosh. Real nice carbon steel. I think it has Derlin handles, I don't think it is bone.

[URL=http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/MaherGrosh2.jpg][/URL]

[URL=http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/orvet/MaherGroshtang2.jpg][/URL]

It is a well made knife with great walk & talk. The spey blade looks full, but someone used the clip blade a lot.

Dale
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top