Drugstore knife brands of the 50's and 60's

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olddogrib

Joined
Apr 18, 2011
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139
Okay, one for the old geezers. If you grew up in the50's and 60's you remember every self-respecting drugstore and gas station had a knife display. Most brands were pure junk, even though some were USA made and dull as crap out of the box. The one thing they all had in common were "your choice..$$$$(dirt cheap). Size, style, # of blades didn't matter, they all sold for the same price. I remember 'Sabre' (Japan made) , 'Imperial', 'Colonial' and one called 'IXL' or something like that. Which "drugstore brands" do you recall? The real deal cutlery of the time that I can remember was W.R. Case & Sons, Schrade Walden, and later on I saw some Camillus, Queen, Western, Tree Brand (Boker), etc., but they were usually in real hardware stores and at a whole different price point...begging mother for one of those was a sure way to get laughed out of the house after I'd broken so many of the el cheapos!
 
My first knife was a Sabre like this one that I bought at the Katz Drug Store, I think I was about 9. Almost 50 years after I traded it to a friend, I found this one on the Bay to replace it.

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olddogrib said:
The real deal cutlery of the time that I can remember was W.R. Case & Sons, Schrade Walden, and later on I saw some Camillus, Queen, Western, Tree Brand (Boker), etc., but they were usually in real hardware stores
Click to expand...
and Buck
Imperial, is the only drug store knife I can remember. I know there were others, but it was some time ago.
 
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They had cheap knives at the feed store too. I recall Imperial. The main feature that set them apart from the higher quality knives was the hollow, crimped on handles. Some of the stamped sheet metal handles had texturing to resemble jigged bone. Almost all were painted to look like some natural material. The cardboard displays were located by the cash register, and the selling price was usually 49 cents. The Imperial fishing knife in this picture is a little newer and more expensive, but you can see the edge of the plastic film where it meets the "bolsters". The film is wrapped under the stampings to keep it in place.View attachment 1600014
 
I still have my grandpa's old carbon steel japan made Sabre Barlow. I can't speak to the quality of it, but it does overall have a pretty substantial lateral curve to it.

I've sharpened it, oiled it, and kept it in a safe. I can't bear to tear up or lose something that belonged to someone who passed on when I was 6 months old. It's more of a treasure than a tool to me, regardless of its market value.
 
My dad said when he was a kid my grandma used to take him with her shopping and a dollar type store had a display of Japanese Sabre folders. They were all a buck each and he would save his coins to buy one each trip. It wasn't long before the older folks started pointing out, the hollow bolsters, plastic handles and crappy steel. So, after a brief lusting after those pretty, yet lacking knives he moved on to the Case, John Primble, Buck and other brands.
 
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