Both of them look very 1950's or so to me.
I remember when I was a kid, the local five and dime had a stand up cardboard display up near the cash register. It was filled up with two verticle rows of cheap keychain penknives for like .50 cents or something like that. This was maybe the late 40's into the early 50's era. Sometimes the knives on the display were little fake pearl handle penknives, sometimes they were the "Eye-talion" sytle jobs with the little cross guards like that blue one. Later in the late 50's and early 60's, the knives became those all metal, folded sheet metal handle ones labeled 'Trim" or other, also being small keychain knives. Sometimes with a combo screwdriver-bottle opener blade as well as the single skinny sheepsfoot blade.
I think the idea of having the cardboard display right up there with the cash register was, if the customer was handed his change, and the cheap stuff was right there (keychain pocket knives, nail clippers, combs) very often the customer would buy something as an after thought, literaly with the pocket change. And everything on these cardboad displays were under a dollar. Combs were like 10 cents, pocket knives like 50 cents, nail clippers about the same. So if the clerk handed the customer a couple of quarters, there was a good chance of getting a sale right there as he was at he door. Kind of a last parting shot.
Carl.
