Gold Rush - The Waldemars

[Codger_64]

Waldemars, also referred to as skeleton knives or fob knives, were a popular feature of men’s fashion for many years in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, during which time pocket watches were an essential part of a well groomed gentleman’s wardrobe. Most pocket watches were carried in a vest pocket, an attached chain (waldemar) preventing loss or theft.

These chains were sometimes quite decorative and ranged from base metal to gold or silver plate, or even gold-filled. There was a clasp at each end, one for attaching the watch and the other for attaching a fob.

Fobs could be a simple decorated metal plate, a cast fraternal emblem, a photo locket or something functional like a matching knife with a shackle. Chains could be one long chain, a “single Albert” (with the chain swagging from the right pocket to the left), or a double chain, a “double Albert” ( two swags), with a T-bar or clasp on the center chain for attachment thru a buttonhole on the gentleman’s vest. Some vests were even made with an extra buttonhole just for the waldemar attachment.

The use of a small ornate knife as a watch fob became very popular around the turn of the century. Several cutleries trace their beginnings to satisfying the market for skeleton knives used by the jewelry industry. The finished, unhandled knives were purchased by the jewelry manufacturers and their workers installed fancy covers on them, sometimes wrapping tooled gold sheets over nickel silver, brass, or sterling silver covers. Some of the less expensive ones were simply gold plated. A blank cartouch (shield) was often left bare on one side for custom engraving.

When wristwatches (first called “strap watches”) began to appear, around the early to mid 1920’s, pocketwatches began a slow decline out of fashion and with them, fob knives. By the 1950’s, pocket watches were relegated to nostalgia pieces.

According to author David A. Krauss in his history of Queen Cutlery, that company got it’s start making waldemars:

“The company (Schatt & Morgan) was further crippled by the 1922 firing of five of their most skilled workers, all supervising department heads. These were the men who in that same year would incorporate their own business: Queen City Cutlery Company. These department heads apparently had been making skeleton knives (knives without handle scales) on the sly since around 1918 and then wholesaling them out on their own. They were discovered in 1922 and promptly let go. The Schatt & Morgan work force subsequently dropped about thirty percent, or from about ninety to sixty workers that year, probably as a result of firing those supervisors.
Those men, incorporated as Queen City Cutlery, moved about a mile away and began manufacturing cutlery themselves. Ironically, as noted above, on August 21, 1933 Queen was able to purchase the business and all its contents at a sheriff's auction.”

In an interview with Felix Mirando found in “The Pocketknife Manual” By Blackie Collins in 1976, Collins gives us the start of Imperial Knife Company, likewise producing waldemar/skeleton knives for the jewelry industry.

Mirando: Our beginning was very humble and small. Up until, well, almost up until 1920 every pocketknife made in this country was still handmade. Drilled by hand, forged by hand and ground by hand. Naturally, our methods were exactly the same as those of every other factory. My brother and I worked by hand ourselves and then we started to bring in a boy or two. Within six months we must have had at least seven or eight employees.

Collins: And you were turning out how many knives?

Mirando: Oh, just a matter of maybe a hundred dozen a week. At that period, of course, we were not making the so-called complete knives or jack-knives. What we were making was a skeleton type of knife that was used by the jewelry industry. They bought the skeleton knives and then they finished the handles themselves. The knives were known as Waldemar knives and were used on the end of a watch chain.

Mirando: How did I deliver them? When the first gross of knives was completed for a concern in Attleboro-jewelry manufacturers-I got on the trolley car in Providence and went to Attleboro and delivered them.

Collins: And that was from over your uncle’s garage, wasn’t it?

Mirando: Yes. We moved and rented a small space in this building in June of 1917. All the buildings here were sublet to different companies. For instance, one little jewelry factory would rent 5,000 feet of floor space, a half floor, or one floor. In this building alone there might have been ten or fifteen different tenants. So, we came in as a tenant and rented a small space.

 

[Codger_64]

Waldemar is a jewelry industry term.
http://www.guyotbrothers.com/jewelry-findings-glossary.htm

Waldemar chain: Man’s watch chain, generally about 14 inches long,
usually worn across a vest front, with a swivel for the watch bow on
one end and a spring ring on the other for a charm, pocket knife etc.
Chains: A Separate Watch Accessory
Prior to later 20th century packaging, watch chains were purchased as a separate accessory from the pocket watch movement and case (or cased movement). There was an immense assortment of chains from which to choose throughout the era of American jeweled watch manufacturing.

The Basic Watch Chain

The basic watch chain is a length of chain having a swivel (see below) on the end that attaches to the watch bow and means of anchoring the chain at the other, typically a spring ring. This allows the chain to loop around a belt and be Latched Onto Itself with the spring ring. For rougher wear, a D-Ring Fastened to a Leather Belt Loop provides a more secure anchor. Watch chains were made for decades by the R.F. Simmons Co.. This firm was making watch chains right up into the post-WWII era, as seen in a 1946 and 1952 ads. There were other well-known manufacturers, such as W&S Blackinton Co.

T-Bar

The T-Bar Chain, one of the more common ones, has a bar that is intended to go through a vest button-hole. A section of chain, more than long enough to reach into the vest pocket, with a swivel on one end, is fastened to the T-Bar on the other. A later example appeared in the mid-1920s which uses a Screw Arrangement to secure the watch to the swivel. On a lot of T-Bar chains, there is a section of chain connected about one third the distance from the T-Bar. This holds a fob on the other end. R.F. Simmons Co. made chains like this in the 1920s and 1930s, designed to Match the Styling of the cased watches then being marketed by the watch companies. T-Bar chains may also be seen in the late-1920s Studebaker Catalog on Frank Kusumoto's excellent South Bend Website.

Fob Style Watch Chain

A Common Form of Watch Chain, referred to as a fob, has short lengths of either three or four chains, or a wide mesh band, fastened to connective end pieces. A clip, meant to go on the waistband of a pair of pants, near the watch pocket, is on the top end and a fob or drop (a decorative piece) on the other. A section of chain was attached to the top and had a swivel (see below) at the bottom to attach to watch bow. The examples show in the linked ad were made by Bates & Bacon - a watch case manufacturer.

Swivel
At the business end of chain, the part that holds the watch there most likely is a small fixture that clips onto the bow of the watch. It allows the watch to freely rotate through 360 degrees without causing the chain to twist. This small fixture is called a Swivel, a logical name, considering its function. The swivels were made in different sizes for use with different size watches.

There was also an Anti-Pickpocket Novelty Swivel, examples of which show up from time to time. The picture in the linked-to ad shows upside down from how it would rest in a pocket. When the chain to which its attached is pulled, the "spikes" come up and "grab" the inside of the pocket, preventing the watch from being pulled out by the pickpocket yanking on the chain. Of course the owner would have to be careful to lift the watch out by grasping the watch itself, not the chain.

Watch Fob

Many chains were designed for the addition of a fob, a lodge or Brotherhood Emblem, or just a decorative one. Like chains, the variety of fobs was almost infinite.

In my investigations I have found waldemars, fob knives, marked on the blades by many cutleries, both foreign and domestic, Imperial, Ulster Knife Co. (Dwight Devine), Schrade Cut. Co., Voos among them.

And that’s the facts. Now for the supposition based on the facts.

My research leads me to believe that my Schrade Cut Co bladed gold pencil fob knife, sold in 1926 by Lambert Brothers Jewelers of New York City, began life as a skeleton purchased by a custom jeweler for handling, then wholesaled to Lambert Brothers, if it was not assembled inhouse by that jeweler.

Likewise, it is also probable that the few examples of “perpetual calendar” knives with Schrade Cut Co blades also began as skeletons sold to a jeweler for custom handling and were never made inhouse by the Schrade brothers. By extension, it is also probable that those $100 gold knives which Albert advertised in Esquire magazine c.1946 (and which he claimed helped him pay for his purchase of the company) were either skeletons sent out for custom handling, or the finished handles were produced by a jeweler and shipped to Schrade Walden in Walden New York for final assembly.

Nowhere in my reading of records and memos do I find mention of jewelers (goldsmiths or silversmiths) working inside of the company.

 

[Codger_64]

 

[thawk]

Great informative write-up Codger. Sadly, I have no examples to post. Maybe some will show up.

 

[Codger_64]

If you decide to go mining for these, first learn a tad about the differences in jewelry markings and what they mean. With just a tad of knowledge, you can make out like a '49er. Gold toned, washed, plated, filled, rolled. 10k, 12k, 14k.

Bernard only had a brief mention of these in the issue of his "Guide to knives and their values" (I don't have the 4th edition and won't buy the 5th). He shows seven plates of styles from a 1925 catalog, and states that at that time there was little collector interest.

As we have seen with the added design functions of the calendar knife and the pencil knife, they can be interesting. You may even run across one with a blade that works as a winding key (early pocket watches were wound with a removable key thru the back of the case), or a blade meant to open the case. Most, however, follow the basic pen knife design with either two small pen blades or a pen and a manicure blade. It would be neat to have examples of all of the Schrade affiliate companies markings.

And the designs of the chains are near infinate.

 

[Larry303]

Superior super sleuthing by the best super sleuth in the business..well done Michael. Your knowledge is based on pragmatic facts you've gleaned, rather than mere guessing or hoping driven by sheer egotism by some.
Re the "Gentlemans knife of 1946" in the Fortune advert of 1946 it states "Luxuriously presented in casing of solid gold"...do you consider this is rolled, plated or filled gold or even something more? For the record as you are aware I have both the Calendar and the Gentlemans and I can give more precise weights from my digital gold scales if you wish however I believe the Calendar is substantially heavier again than the Gentlemans. Both are 14K. < I have to retrieve them from their sealed shipping container to weigh them.> Herman Williams tells me that Henry Baer referred to the Gentlemans knife as "The Fortune Knife" as he had the framed original advert on his office wall.It would be interesting to compare the weights of all three..i.e. Your Pencil knife,the Calendar,and the Gentlemans.
Do you believe that the same Jeweller made all known examples of the Calendar in the late 30's in various metals...nickel,sterling silver,and solid gold?..on the same basic skeletons as supplied by Schrade Cut Co.? Said Jeweller would inscribe whatever on the scales for their client? How good would it be to find an original patent for the Calendar knife scale design?
Were your Lambert Brothers still in the Jewellery business in the late 30's.
Thanks again for willingly sharing all your knowledge. Hoo Roo

 

[Codger_64]

This was a very prestigious jewelry store in N.Y. City. Lambert Brothers Jewelry was founded in 1877 by August V. Lambert and located on the southwest corner of Third Avenue and 58th Street. In 1930 they finished construction of a new store at the northeast corner of Lexington and 60th.

The most valuable and prestigious rodeo trophy of all was introduced in 1927, when the growing popularity of western films led Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) to commission Lambert Brothers Jewelers of New York to produce a $10,000 silver MGM Trophy. It honored the champion all-around cowgirl at the Madison Square Garden rodeo. It was a &#8220;tribute to the charm and courage of western womanhood.&#8221; Rules stipulated that when the same woman won it three years in succession, she retires the trophy. Today the original MGM Trophy, first won by Florence Hughes (Randolph), is displayed at the National Rodeo Hall of Fame at Oklahoma City, donated by three-time winner, Tad Lucas, who retired it in 1930.

This was followed by the Roosevelt Trophy in 1928. Sponsored by New York City's Roosevelt Hotel in honor of "Cowboy President" Theodore Roosevelt, this rare and coveted trophy was permanently retired by Bob Crosby after he captured three "World's Champion Cowboy" titles at both Cheyenne and Pendleton in 1925, 1927 and 1928--a rodeo record equivalent to three all-around championships in that era. Previous winners were Yakima Canutt in 1923, Paddy Ryan in 1924, and Norman Cowan in 1926.

The business thrived as the marriage boom and prosperity came at the end of the war in 1946.

In 1946, jewelry sales were at an all-time high of $1.5 billion, spurred by 2.3 million weddings that had been postponed during the war years and an overall pent-up demand for luxury goods.

Eight industry leaders decided to form a trade association called the Jewelry Industry Council to support the growth of the industry. They were Cecil Kaufmann of Kay Jewelers, Norman Morris of Omega Watch Co., Gus Neimeyer of Handy & Harman, William Walters Schwab of J.R. Wood, Charles Michaels of Michaels Jewelers, Victor Lambert of Lambert Bros., Pete Fahrendorf of Jewelers' Circular-Keystone and Harry Bromley of National Jeweler. To help set their course of action, they commissioned the Roper polling organization to study consumer attitudes and behavior regarding jewelry purchases.

In 1968 thru 1978, Lambert Brothers Jewelry was listed at 545 Madison Avenue at 55th Street. In c.1979 Victor sold the company to the Zale Corporation. Shortly thereafter, he made headlines by buying the $3 million 69.42 carat diamond that Richard Burton had given to Elizabeth Taylor.

I believe that, as I said, Lambert Brothers Jewelry either made, or commissioned a custom jeweler to make for them, the gold pencil fob knives using Schrade Cut Co skeletons.

And that it is very likely that they also did the same with the perpetual calendar knives and other, much simpler designs. Meeting the jewelry market demands for various priced gold jewelry, they likely made or had made their designs in various metals and various engravings and embelishments. Yes, one die could form precious metal sheets into rolled, stamped waldemar covers of various finish designs. The formed covers could be engraved by hand or roll engraved (pressed) by goldsmiths at the firm, or by a specialty jobber, such as the dozens working in the jewelry district in Providence, R.I.

The fact that they did special orders like those $10,000 trophies (in 1927), and the gold pencil knife waldemars in 1926, and sold pocketwatches costing up to $500, tells me that they had the resources and the market to make the accessories such as the chains and knives to match that pricepoint. John D. Rockefeller and F.W. Woolworth would have been customers.

One day we may actually find a Lambert Brothers ad for these very knives. It would not surprise me at all.

 

[ea42]

Awesome write-up Michael!! Nice example of the pen knife as well. I've only got one example with a chain, and honestly I'm not certain if it all came this way ( At the very least I'd say the boar was added), but here's the set-up as I received it. Appears to be the stock model #SS7099 I SHAC (pg 81). The felt jeweler's box is quite old, has an interesting pearl headed screw clasp:

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


Larry, I'm not sure that there ever was an approved patent for the calendar knife, at least on the part of Schrade or Ulster. I know there was an application made, I think around 1954, but it was dropped. The application also included a design for a perpetual calendar letter opener. The knife was more a basic equal end design rather than the squared off one, and there was no detail on the design of the calendar itself. Maybe an outside jeweler had developed the details on that? I have no idea.

Eric

 

[Bridgeman]

Michael,
Bravo Zulu! (good job!) :thumbup:
Nice research and article.

Greg

 

[Codger_64]

The Jewelers' circular, Volume 79, Issue 1 (1919, p.149, 197) lists the store of M. Jacoby at 326 Washington Streeet in Portland Oregon.

I have found that most of the waldemar pieces such as chains and fobs were produced by specialty jewelers (such as U.S. Chain Co. of N.Y.) who, like the cutleries which made skeletons, sold them to jewelry stores allowing customers to pick and choose the individual pieces themselves. Your boar fob and chain might well be original to the knife as retailed. Are the chain or fob marked?

 

[ea42]

Michael, thanks for the info on that box!! Definitely predates the knife methinks. No marks on either the fob or chain.

Here are a few shots of that gentleman's knife in the add:

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[Codger_64]

Michael, thanks for the info on that box!! Definitely predates the knife methinks. No marks on either the fob or chain....

Sweet knife! :thumbup:
I hope you don't mind if I borrow those photos. I may want to offer the knife as a contest prize here on the forum in the future. After I buy those 2OT's that were for sale so cheap!

Don't bet on the box predating the knife. Do some research on the jewelry company to see what the years of operation were/are. My results were just a brief cursory search.

 

[Codger_64]

Eric, Larry brings up a very good question, one that had not occurred to me. Yet...

Re the "Gentleman’s knife of 1946" in the Fortune advert of 1946 it states "Luxuriously presented in casing of solid gold"...do you consider this is rolled, plated or filled gold or even something more?

Have you had that Gentleman's knife examined by a competent jeweler to determine the gold content...i.e. plate, rolled, filled and karat? Are there any obscure markings other than the skeleton tang stamps? Is the gold shell wrapped around other metal liners?

As to the details on my pencil knife, the thin gold cover is indeed wrapped around steel liners of the skeleton. The cover is slightly "cupped" at it's edges so that the liners aren't seen except with very close examination. While the shackle itself holds one end of the covers to the liners, the other end is attached to the liners with one tab on each side folded inward over the liner ends.

The cover is marked on one end of the pencil tube "14K GOLD FILLED". The only other marking is the custom inscription down the length of the pencil tube "CORSET & BRASSERIERE M.A. Of U.S. 1926". This was the early ladies undergarment manufacturer's Association. This doesn't add any particular value or interest to the knife except as it clearly states the year of manufacture.

Unlike most of the gold mechanical pencils of this era I have examined, this one does not have any markings at all, though by style and designs, it is undoubtedly the original pencil for this knife. The shackle is also unmarked (though many were either inside or outside). Many are marked with gold content, but the rule, as I understand it, is that one such marking on any part of a finished assembly was sufficient.

I have not taken it to a jeweler yet to have it assayed.

I often find it surprising but enlightening just what I find while going down rabbit trails doing research. I wondered just how prevelant teh use of pocket watches was among the different classes of people during the early 1900's. And how many of them also carried a pocket knife. Reading wills and estate records is no good for such small items. So in my search, I ran across this from the New York Times dated April 16, 1912:

And this also dated April 16, 1912:

Wealthy Society Man and an Author and Inventor as Well
---
Col. John Jacob Astor, the American head of the Astor family, has held a prominent place in the life of this city for many years. Not alone has he been a conspicuous club member and leader of society, but he has engaged in vast business activities that gave him a place of rank apart from his immense fortune and social attainments.

Col. Astor put up and owned more hotels and skyscrapers than any other New Yorker. At one time he was a Director in twenty or more large corporations, including railways. His fortune has been estimated at from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000.

Which led me to this on Encyclopedia Titanica.org, a listing of personal posessions found on the bodies of victims of the sinking of the Titanic:

NO. 124 - MALE - ESTIMATED AGE 50 - LIGHT HAIR & MOUSTACHE

CLOTHING - Blue serge suit; blue handkerchief with "A.V."; belt with gold buckle; brown boots with red rubber soles; brown flannel shirt; "J.J.A." on back of collar.

EFFECTS - Gold watch; cuff links, gold with diamond; diamond ring with three stones; £225 in English notes; $2440 in notes; £5 in gold; 7s. in silver; 5 ten franc pieces; gold pencil; pocketbook.

FIRST CLASS NAME-J.J.ASTOR

Astor's body was recovered on Monday April 22 by the cable ship McKay-Bennett.

He was identified by the initials sewn on the label of his jacket. Among the items found on him was a gold pocket watch which his son, Vincent, claimed and wore the rest of his life.

I've not yet located a photo of John/Vincent Astor's watch, but did find several others from the event, most of which were stopped at the time their owners entered the water.

The list of effects and the general success at listing the bodies as either crew, first, second or third class along with the personal effects gives a glimpse at who carried pocketwatches of what type, as well as who carried knives.

 

[ea42]

Michael, very interesting, your research is certainly taking you on an adventure!

OK, I'll tell you one thing, my eyes aren't as good as they used to be!! The shackle is inscribed: 1/20 10K G.F. (and then some kind of shield symbol), so it looks like gold filled. It too is constructed with a gold cover over a shell, which looks like brass as it's kind of gold colored, but that may be from all the gold around it. It's constructed pretty much identically to your pencil knife. I needed a loupe to see the meeting of liner to gold cover. No other markings that I can make out. I'll put a scan up of the shackle tomorrow.

Eric

 

[ea42]

Here's another rather obscure skeleton, the key knife. This one has no markings whatsoever with regards to gold content, but it does have a nice Schrade Walden stamp in the key holder. It would be rather handy in the old vest pocket:

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Eric

 

[Codger_64]

I love that key knife, whatever it's construction! You just need to get it cut to fit the ignition of your....

1951 Hudson Hornet Hollywood!

Or is it blanked for the 1958 Packard Hawk?

 

[brady806]

:thumbup:really cool reading micheal, great job, thanks so much:thumbup:

heres my cut co i got back in 05 for very little if i remember right. i think it had 14k on the bail. this is the chain that came with it also, dont know if it was original with the knife or not. looks old to mesorry for the fuzzy pics, took them thru the glass on the display its in---------brady

 

[ea42]

Nice one Brady! That's a fine old Cut. Co., and chain:thumbup::thumbup:

Eric

 

[Codger_64]

Yes, very nice! I need to find myself some more gold knives! :thumbup:

 

[tongueriver]

Thanks for some great research, and great reading.
I found this:
Etymology of Waldemar: A male name, and:
Old High German waltan "power" + m&#257;ri "famous"; a cognate of Slavonic Vladimir, merged with Scandinavian Valdemar.

The chain must have been named for a specific fellow.