It seems anything by George L Herter was around plenty when I was kid. Being raised in Wisconsin - traveling, fishing, hunting often with relatives in Minnesota and Michigan - the Herter's Catalog could be found in most barber shops, the occasional doctor's office and waiting rooms, businesses, sporting goods stores, a restaurant or two, and any mail box owned by anyone that had ordered anything associated with sporting goods in the past.
George was also an author, sportsman, passed himself off as a historian, scientist, family & marriage counselor, psychologist, camp cook, boater, on and on. Really a colorful character who was always very entertaining to read. A better salesman...there never was.
A little more information on George L Herter, for those who are interested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/Collins-t.html,
http://thedossiers.net/george-leonard-herter/
How to Buy an Outdoor Knife by George Leonard Herter
An outdoor knife must be made for service--not show. Your life may depend on it. Real outdoor people realize that so-called sportsmen or outdoor knives have long been made for sale, not for use. The movies and television show their characters wearing fancy sheath knives. Knife makers advertised them and drugstore outdoorsmen bought them. Nothing marks a man to be a tenderfoot more than these showy useless knives.
Here are some of the duties a true woodsman knife must perform:
1. The knife must stay sharp for long periods of time without shapening. The steel should combine the best characteristics of electric furnace quality high carbon 1095 steel and high carbon 440 B stainless steel. The blade hardness, known among steel experts as 56 Rockwell C, should not be affected by atmospheric moisture, salt spray, fruit acids or blood. It should withstand extreme temperatures without becoming brittle, no matter how cold it may be. A good steel knife blade will "blue" or darken itself with use, making it pratically rustproof. If knife blade steel is really good, it will cut through nails without bending over the edge.
2. The knife must be shaped so it is ideal for cleaning and skinning game of all kinds, from rabbits to moose. The best shape for this is the improved Bowie.
3. The knife must have a handle long enough so that it fits a man's hand so pressure can be put on the blade when desired. On nearly all outdoor knives the handles are much too short. The handle of the knife must be made to last a lifetime. Leather handles rot and mildew, stag handles crack, plastic handles crack and are highly inflammable. African mineral-type woods are best, and they will stand all kinds of weather for a lifetime and more.
4. The blade of the knife must not be hollow ground. Hollow grinding weakens a blade so that the edge will bend or break under heavy usage. A wedge edge is the strongest and most durable ever designed.
5. The blade of the knife must be hand forged in order to give the steel maximum strength and hardness.
6. The blade of the knife must not have a blood groove. A blood groove is strictly advertising and badly weakens the blade. Professional butchers do not use them.
7. The knife must be easy to carry and light in weight. The blade length must be 4 inches long. Four inches is the length established for a woodsman knife by over 200 years of experience. Blades shorter are all right for Boy Scouts, but not for serious woodsmen, Longer than 4 inches is unnecessary and adds weight.
8. The knife should have no hilt as it only adds weight. If the knife blade is properly designed, that is slightly indented, you cannot cut your finger no matter how hard you thrust. You need only thrust in a hand to hand combat with a man or a wounded animal.
9. The knife must be capable of slicing bacon and cutting bread. It must be a comfortable knife for eating and cutting cooked meat.
As memory poorly serves me; the Improved Bowie did change over the years with a variety of handle and blade shapes, yet it remained basically the same knife.
