Help w/ GEO SCHRADE stamp Easy Open??.

[sunnyd]

Gentlemen,

Hello fellow Schrade buffs / collectors!. I was wondering if I count on the usual suspects here to assist me in gathering some further info on a knife I just acquired, other than what I have deduced from the look of it and the lot of items that came with it.

It came in a Girl Scout sort of mini mess kit, complete with a leather multiple utensil sheath/pouch and even a KUTMASTER scout knife with the GS seal under a clear coat and celluloid you see so many of on the secondary market.

The knife I am interested in seems to go right along with the kit. But, I was wondering if these are pretty common or what? I don't see a whole lot of these around being traded much. Did the Schrade company produce these for the Boy Scouts as well? Any other variations produced for the market in general? How long was the production run?. Any and all information you all have on these would be nice..

The reason I purchased the lot of items was for the following knife. For lack of a better term and for all intents and purposes I will describe it here as it appears to me as an Easy Open wire frame Jack slippy type at just north of 3 1/8 inches closed, complete with half stop on its single spear point blade. Bottle top opener engineered on the tang area, no need for a fingernail pull as it opens with just a pinch of a finger quite easily(like for a young GS gal). The tang is in four lines on the front:

GEO SCHRADE {over} PAT {over} 1-27-42 {over} B'PORT CONN.

Thanks to all,

Anthony

 

[Codger_64]

Glen Davis posted the best treatis I have seen on the George Schrade wire jacks. George (co-founder of Schrade Cutlery Co., but by then had left and formed his own company) patented them in 1926 and began making them himself in 1929. He apparently made some for Case, as their name can be seen on some examples with George's patent date. These knives first appeared in scout kits circa 1932. George died in 1940 and his son, George M. Schrade, continued to run the company. I believe he was the one who renewed the patented marks (1942) by adding the safety steel piece inside the handle which kept the knife from "guillotining" tiny fingers upon closing. There were knives, forks, and spoons in the sets. The family sold the company to Boker in 1956. Boker continued to make them along with George's automatics until 1958 when Congress banned switchblades, then Boker closed the plant.

This is a "condensed version" of Davis' research.

http://www.guycard.com/wirejack.htm

Michael

 

[know what i mean]

Sunnyd, First I see none, then I see two over the course of he summer( The first one ,of course, i now own). The wire jack turn's out to be a bit of a rarity. The one i came across is an earlier version, but I cherish it, it's simplicity but quality function, it's oddity but uniqueness at the same time. Keep it and use it, display and admire it, but if you do part with it, don't do it for next to nothing! I hope you read that refered article, very interesting piece of history! Keep the edge on! Dale H.

 

[sunnyd]

Well, first let me thank Codger for the Glen Davis article and website link. It has given me a real sense of the history and the folks involved with the production of this knife and so much great information to boot..

And thanks to kwim for your encouragement as well.

Best,

Anthony