I need your help gents, (and ladies)!

[BenHarris]

I have a penknife marked L.F.&C. . I cant find anything about the company, so I'm turning here. What do y'all know about this company?

 

[Paul Davidson]

Landers, Frary, and Clark more than likely.

Paul

 

[5K Qs]

Ben,

I ran across this article when I was trying to research LF & C one time:
http://www.toaster.org/landers.html

- GT

 

[BenHarris]

I found that one, too. I would really like to find some info specifically about their knives.

 

[supratentorial]

LF&C made pocket knives from 1912 to 1950. When discussing the history/authenticity of old knives, it is necessary to show a photo for many reasons.

 

[BenHarris]

Pictures like these?

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[knarfeng]

In 1900, Landers, Frary, & Clark owned the largest cutlery factory in the world.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-F-amp-C-pocket-knife?p=11135835#post11135835

They started with kitchen cutlery and moved into pocket knives later in the century. They were known to have good quality on most items.

Here is a nice post from Primble on LF&C company history:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...chen-knives-See-photo?p=14024013#post14024013

 

[supratentorial]

The covers are celluloid. LF&C described it as "pearloid" in catalogs. I only have a few catalogs and they do have similar knives but I think that your knife is newer than my catalog examples. I suspect your knife is probably made near the end of the date range in my post above. What else would you like to know? Looks like it is well preserved. Be careful not to store the knife with others because of the celluloid.

 

[BenHarris]

That's about all I can think to ask about it! I've heard some nasty stuff about Celluloid, so I was contemplating getting it rehandled in ebony. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Ernie1980]

Nice looking example of a pen knife! I would commend getting it recovered in ebony like you are thinking about, it would look terrific!

 

[supratentorial]

The knife looks fine to use or collect as is. One thing to keep in mind is that once it is reworked any historical value is gone. The utility is still there though...maybe more so because of the handle upgrade. Also, keep in mind that it was an inexpensive knife in its day and today. If you do rehaft the knife, it's best to mark the knife. Inside the liners is a good place. Your intiials and date are good enough.

 

[meako]

As much as I love the ebony idea
it looks to be in vg condish
after all this time might the cel be ok? I have a Schrade with butter and molasses scales that are as good as the day they were extruded from the toxic celluloid machine.