I found another box... wanna see?

[CJZ]

I like those old Camillus MLK's!

 

[Codger_64]

I like those old Camillus MLK's!

The one with the most worn pocketblade is an Imperial 1964. The other is a Camillus 1984. There are a few minor detail differences. The bottle opener/screwdriver blade on the Imperial has the stainless peg sticking out of the mark side, Camillus does not. Nail nicks are slightly different between them, Imperial generally larger.

Somewhere I have or had a Schrade and a Kingston. And a Sears. Sears was, to the best of my knowledge, the first seller of these to the civilian retail market. It shouldn't surprise anyone to know that compared with the others side by side, the Sears knife was made by Kingston, a sub brand of IKAC. And the Schrade was made for them by Camillus in 1982. I never heard the ful lstory behind that, but there you go.

1947 IKAC/Kingston catalog showing the MIL-k818 and it's civilian cousin... another one to watch for.

This is the first civilian ad I see, 1945 winter catalog Sears.

 

[Codger_64]

Good Lord Codger!!



Is that a Polish "Nookie Knife"??

You bet your bippie it is! "Syracuse Knife Co." marking on the pocket blade, pen blade marked, "357 Product Of Poland". Care to fill us in on it's history? I understand that Baer made a brief forray behind the lines of the Iron Curtain?

 

[Phil Gibbs]

You bet your bippie it is! "Syracuse Knife Co." marking on the pocket blade, pen blade marked, "357 Product Of Poland". Care to fill us in on it's history? I understand that Baer made a brief forray behind the lines of the Iron Curtain?

Too funny!
Much as I hate to spread rumors that may besmirch the image of a Titan of Industry……………………….

Those knives just showed up one day! (Followed of course, by an invoice!)
No orders!?
Rumor has it Albert had a girlfriend in Poland & needed to be doing business there to get repeated visas.

Or, of course, it could have been that they were great knives?

By the way, are the springs intact?
I used to walk by the skids of Nookie Knives & you could literally hear the springs breaking like popcorn in the cases!!

 

[Codger_64]

Weeeee don need no stinking springs!

Pocket, pen blade, Phillips driver and scissor springs have excellent snap. Did the can opener, bottle opener and punch originally have springs? Flacid is how I would describe them. What can I say but that it was an a mark example I acquired cheap about a decade ago. Ballpark date of "appearance"?

 

[Phil Gibbs]

Weeeee don need no stinking springs!

Pocket, pen blade, Phillips driver and scissor springs have excellent snap. Did the can opener, bottle opener and punch originally have springs? Flacid is how I would describe them. What can I say but that it was an a mark example I acquired cheap about a decade ago. Ballpark date of "appearance"?

Early 90's is my best guess.
At least one of your springs still works!
That is probably rare in itself!

 

[Codger_64]

Early 90's is my best guess.
At least one of your springs still works!
That is probably rare in itself!

And I could tell you some stories about Albert, in his own words no less, that would likely make you blush (maybe not though). And much of his language would have to be redacted here. IMHO, the reason his memoirs were never published (on advice of his friends). There is no besmerch. He was a shrewd man. A few took advantage of him. ONCE, never twice. And he usually got paybacks in spades.

His "war stories" are a great read. How he took contracts he had no way of filling, then subcontracted the work to multiple competetors (supposedly none known to each other, codenames used inhouse), all work funneled back through him for "inspection and sharpening" before being sent on to the War Department OOQMG. Oh... and to this day I've not figured out under which shell Vulcan was hiding. Orange?

I like to speculate, sometimes on a grand scale. Indulge me? IF Albert Baer had a son/sons who were tutored at his knee and had his business accumen, BOTH Imperial Schrade and Camillus would still be in business today. IMHO, James and Wally tried but they were running against the wind. Neither had the power to issue comandments.