I Guess EARL Had More Than One Pocket Knife :D

B

BrotherJim

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Just picked up this Sears/Craftsman trio today and should be here sometime in the coming week
Interestingly (or not LOL) the little penknife (Sears shield but doesn't say Craftsman) has a stylized "EARL" etched into both sides of the handle HA !!!
Not the same style as the previous EARL that was going around some time back. SOooo, it might have belonged to EARL's brother ... EARL :D

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BrotherJim said:
Just picked up this Sears/Craftsman trio today and should be here sometime in the coming week
Interestingly (or not LOL) the little penknife (Sears shield but doesn't say Craftsman) has a stylized "EARL" etched into both sides of the handle HA !!!
Not the same style as the previous EARL that was going around some time back. SOooo, it might have belonged to EARL's brother ... EARL :D

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Cool find.

So, kinda sorta maybe like "Hi I'm Larry, this is my brother Daryl, and my other brother Daryl"?

(I might deserve a Boo Hiss for using the wayback machine on that one...)
 
Nice find, B BrotherJim ! 😁:thumbsup:

OldHercDude said:
So, kinda sorta maybe like "Hi I'm Larry, this is my brother Daryl, and my other brother Daryl"?

(I might deserve a Boo Hiss for using the wayback machine on that one...)
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I thought about the same thing. 🤣 Newhart (at least the first few seasons) actually aired before I was born, but I watched a lot of Nick at Nite as a kid. 😉😁

I have to say, I think Earl’s other brother Earl has better handwriting. He must be the more sophisticated brother. 🤣
 
btb01 said:
Nice find, B BrotherJim ! 😁:thumbsup:



I thought about the same thing. 🤣 Newhart (at least the first few seasons) actually aired before I was born, but I watched a lot of Nick at Nite as a kid. 😉😁

I have to say, I think Earl’s other brother Earl has better handwriting. He must be the more sophisticated brother. 🤣
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I was on the road much of the time when it was running, and had to catch re-runs when I could. Larry, Daryl and Daryl crack me up. :)

I think about looking for older traditionals, then come to my senses when I remember the potential depth and breadth of that rabbit hole. So I'm glad when other people find these for their collections/ enjoyment.
 
Great little Camillus trio you've got there.

At least I think they're Camillus, the little serpentine pen sure looks like a Camillus #48.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Great little Camillus trio you've got there.

At least I think they're Camillus, the little serpentine pen sure looks like a Camillus #48.
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Hickory n steel Hickory n steel ... Steve Pfeiffer, author of the book Collecting Case knives - Identification and Price Guide has been collecting, buying, and selling CASE and other brands of vintage and modern pocket knives since 1973.
He is who I purchased from and according to him, these pocket knives are from the 70's to 80's era and made for Sears on contract with Imperial/Schrade.

The little knife in the middle of the three, "Dogleg Jack" or "Peanut", looks like something Case might produce ... same size apparently and all ... except it wasn't produced by Case of course.
And besides, the main and pen blades are reversed, mark side to pile side, from the configuration that Case makes their Peanut in.
Which allows for the pulls on both these blades to be on the same side, as opposing sides like Case does.
The main blade also has a long pull which is seldom used by Case on the Peanut, but I do have a Case Select Peanut 1998 in blue bone with a main long pull.

At the end of the day, I'd be happy with these three whether produced by Camillus or Imperial/Schrade.

OH ... and Mr Pfeiffer said the steel on these three is 1095 carbon steel and the knives have brass liners.

AND, it looks like EARL took pretty good care of the penknife for me :D ... the stock knife is going to require some "lovin'" ... just needs to be cleaned up a little.
All have strong snap, are tight with no wobble according to Steve.
 
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Arathol said:
Hmmmm, sure looks more like Camillus to me, especially with the single side blade grinds.....
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Similar but different I think. Maybe just some tweaks ordered by Sears (?) ... dunno
For one thing, all three of the Sears knives have a long pull on the main blade ... unlike the Camillus pictured.
Thing is, traditional patterns are well, traditional and so it doesn't surprise me when I see similarities from one cutler to another in the same or similar pattern.
 
I know he's super busy but I wonder if ea42 ea42 might chime in with thoughts whether Imperial/Schrade or Camillus? :)
 
Arathol said:
Yes similar patterns, but when I see a blade that is saber ground on one side and flat on the reverse, Camillus is the maker that comes to mind.....They made a lot like that.
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I'm just not seeing it that way on the Sears knives. To me, both sides look flat ground on the Sears. Maybe the swedge and long pull is throwing the perspective off or something(?)
 
Camillus #100, #881, and #48
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3 models from Camillus that are all slightly different, but all have enough in common with this Craftsman .

Schrade didn't tend to make any truly different exclusive patterns for anybody, and I don't think they had a small serpentine pen knife with square bolsters.
 
Hickory n steel Hickory n steel ... Now I've opened up google LOL and so far found about Sears knives in general ... Well, someone said it anyway ...

- Albert Baer owned Schrade and was soon to completely own Camillus at that time. He was very tight with Sears and had been for a long time. Both Schrade and Camillus furnished a lot of knives to Sears. Western in Colorado sold them some fixed blades for sure and perhaps others knives.
- "I think some Sears knives had parts from both Schrade and Camillus."
- Schrade Walden also made a bunch of fixed blades for Sears.
- Some Sears knives actually had Schrade tang marks. [these 3 don't. They have Sears or Craftsman tang marks]
- Camillus made the old actual bone handled Sears pocket knives.
- Saw a picture of one old Sears knife with an Ulster tang stamp.
- The rectangle Sears Craftsman shield [like the ones I have on the way] first showed up on knives in the Sears Catalogs in 1977.
- "I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination on Craftsman knives. What I have found is that you really have to look at a combination of things. The pattern style, the frame size, the frame design,the blade style, nail nicks, and pattern of the handles. There were many other manufacturers that made knives for the Sears / Craftsman name, including, Ulster, Colonial, Imperial and Utica to name a few. Most of them will have a a matching design by the company that made them along with a similar handle. But, there are some patterns that there are still discussions today as to who definitely made them."

So I may never know for 100% sure about these knives. As I said, at the end of the day ... I'm happy with Camillus or Schrade ... maybe both are represented in this trio. Dunno ... they're SEARS.
... all I really want to know is Who is EARL? :D
 
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EARL's yellow (off white) handled Sears 95301 penknife ... can't find another picture of one ... even without EARL on it LOL
Found a picture of a 95201 penknife but it's wood handled ... and it wasn't EARL's

EDIT: Found one on WorthPoint but there was no speculation as to who made it
 
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BrotherJim said:
I'm just not seeing it that way on the Sears knives. To me, both sides look flat ground on the Sears. Maybe the swedge and long pull is throwing the perspective off or something(?)
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Its not that they are "flat ground". The thing is the Camillus blades are only ground on one side, whether it be a swedge or a saber grind or both. That 2 blade with Earl on the handle and the peanut both have a swedge on only one side of the blade, the other side is just flat.
 
Those are pretty neat. Thanks for sharing. I too think they are Camillus made, but I didn’t know that Camillus and schrade were owned by the same person at one point or that schrade made any of the Sears knives.

But I can tell the pen knife shown has flat grinds in both sides.


A flat grind on one side and a saber grind on the other is just wrong.
 
JM2 said:
But I can tell the pen knife shown has flat grinds in both sides.
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Which knife are you referring to? Again, the blades are not "flat ground" as in a single bevel right to the edge. They are ground on one side only, the other side is just a finished flat surface.
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So now if we're just going by companies that had a swedge on ONLY ONE SIDE of the main blade AND with long pulls ...

FROM THE TOP:
Schrade ... for Boy Scouts of America
Ulster [Schrade] ... for R.J. Reynolds Prince Albert/Old Timer campaign in 60's
Kutmaster
Northwoods ... made by Queen

These are just ones I have and a quick look. There may be others. Camillus isn't the only one with swedge on only one side.
The pile side of these is flat. Maybe should have posted a pic of that too LOL.
AND ... I don't consider a swedge as part of a sabre grind. Few do. That penknife is flat ground on both sides

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That Earl knife, is what I was referring. It is flat ground is it not? The swedge is separate from the type of grind it has. Having a single sided ground swedge doesn’t change that the blade itself is flat ground.
 
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