Here's how I look at the buying from a practical point of view: If it doesn't say "Made in USA", assume it isn't. If it doesn't say "pre-2004" or something to that effect, assume it isn't. If you follow that and still end up with a Taylor Schrade, there was an error in the listing.
Dave
Dave, your rule of thumb will very often poke you in the eye, as Mr. Levine is fond of saying. And rightly so. Not all genuine pre-October 2004 Schrades say "Made in the U.S.A.". But looking at the various markings (tang mark, etch, shielding) and construction reveals the truth of the origin. Sadly, the very fact that a casual collector would have to learn the intricacies of such often carefully hidden details in order to avoid inadvertantly buying a knife by another maker masquerading as a genuine Schrade is doing harm to the hobby. And a lot of sellers are ready and willing to take advantage of the relatively new popularity of Schrade knives on the collector and user market (especially among novice collectors and users) by making misleading statements and using deceptive pictures in order to purposely mislead buyers into believing they are buying original Schrades.
Here's how I look at the buying from a practical point of view: In spite of what some merchants and importers, casual collectors, eBay sellers, and even a few "experts" claim, the fact remains that "Schrade" is no longer a maker's mark. That ended in October 2004. At best it is now a
"Nostalgia Merchant's Mark".
There is no longer a "Schrade", as the maker
Imperial Schrade Corporation was popularly called. No one bought the company and continued to operate it. As has been explained countless times, it was not economically viable for any of the interested parties to do so. I certainly can't argue against that logic. And in spite of how his company is listed in the Thomas Register, Mr. Taylor's TBLLC is not, to my knowledge, a manufacturer. It is important to the viability (marketability) of his portfolio of brands (trademarks) that people are presented with the illusion that the company is, however an actual manufacturer of knives.
Plenty of people with a financial stake in the products which the TBLLC company merchandises for makers are quite willing to finess and protect the illusion. This includes other merchants who pay licensing fees to use the trademarks owned by TBLLC such as SMKW who used the limited license to have makers (in this case Bear & Son and Camillus Cutlery) produce
"nostalgia merchant marked" knives for them. In the case of SMKW knives, astute collectors have been able to match construction details to two known U.S. manufacturers.
Is no one curious as to why it is unknown at this time exactly who makes the knives for Taylor? I am yet to see one knife or piece of packaging, or article in a knife magazine identifying the actual maker. This is probably due to the part of the illusion that the knives are made by experienced traditional cutlers. But even if they were, say by Bear & Son or Great Eastern, the knives bearing the name Schrade, Schrade Walden etc., would remain
nostalgia merchant marked knives, not maker marked knives, whether made here or abroad. The same will be true of Camillus marked knives when Acme brings them to the market, whether made here or abroad. And I fully expect the same marketing tactics for those knives as well.
But then I am just an old
Codger
