counterfeit Queen?

[jkulysses]

That is a cool piece of history about the lunch box knives. Kind of a "One Piece at a Time" type of thing. Very interesting. How did Queen put a stop to that? Start checking lunch boxes on the way out?

I hope John comes back and posts pictures. I'd like to see what he's talking about.

I worked for a manufacturing company that did exactly that. At the end of your shift you would stand in line and the security guards would look through everybody's lunch boxes before you were allowed to leave.

 

[Planterz]

The workers took knife parts home in their lunch boxes. They then assembled the parts at home and sold the knives where ever they could to supplement their meager income. The knives varied from very rough to not too bad. This became quite problem at Queen and they finally put a stop to it in the 40's or 50's. That's the story I've hear anyhow.

I hadn't heard that story (reminds me of a certain Johnny Cash song). In light of this, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the OP's knife was one of those. At that price, I honestly wouldn't mind if it were a lunchbox knife, just for the story behind it.

 

[rma100]

From what I heard it was exactly like the Johnny Cash song, One Piece at a Time. They had a couple rounds of firings and then started checking lunch boxes. And that was that.

 

[richard thurman]

Is this the knife?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Queen-Steel...047?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item3cd439e257

No, it's not counterfeit. I've never heard of a counterfeit Queen. If this auction is the one you won, it seems pretty obvious in the pictures that there's damage to the blade. If you can't return it for a refund, at least you're only out a few bucks.

do they have a life time Warranty against manufacture defects?? if so then just email or call them to send it in so they can fix it.

 

[brownshoe]

I've seen some pretty poorly made queens from the later periods than 40 and 50s. At some shows in the midwest, you could find plenty of crappily made queens. One dealer claimed they were factory seconds. "Lunch box knives" has more panache, but probably not much truth. Why make a crappy product if you are personally going to sell it?

I've heard "lunch box knives" used to explain expensive Case vintage knives where the blades or handle are mismatched for the pattern. I heard this at one show where two tables down I can buy zip lock bags of old blades, handles and frames and build my own "vintage knife". Personally I believe the knives are made by people hoping for a good score from an ignorant collector.