Imperials and Colonials are they the poormans' collectable?

One of the more interesting Imperials I have found. It looks pretty early to me, but I could be wrong. Nice little knife with the punch blade.
 
BladeCommander said:
One of the more interesting Imperials I have found. It looks pretty early to me, but I could be wrong. Nice little knife with the punch blade.
Click to expand...

Regardless of it's age, I'd be proud to own that one. Nice cel and I like the blade shapes.

VQgbfLXl.jpg


Here's a little Imperial Crownlifter Jack that I picked up today.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Bein' born in the early 60s a cheap affordable knife for a kid was a Colonial or an Imperial tin shell pocket knife, for a couple of bucks ya could own a medium 2 blade Barlow, Campknife with a can opener or even a Fishin' knife with a hook disgorger, (not exactly sure why ya wanna disgorge a hook) but there were plenty of variations of plastic coated tin shell scales to chose from, there were simulated pearl. simulated bone, even simulated stag.

They were perfect as advertisin' pieces, addin' even another aspect of collectabilty to these cheap knives, unfortunately the one thing that made them so available, (a cheap mass reproducible knife) has contributed to the fast extinction of these same knives.

Because they were so cheap people practiced what was called use to destruction, unlike more expensive knives that were taken better care of and even if the tip broke they would be more apt to modify the broken blade on a more expensive knife back to a sheepsfoot where as the Imperial would become a flatbread screwdriver contributing to even faster destruction.

Durin' the war years when a lot of knife companies went under these companies flourished because of the low cost of manufacturin', everyone had one and because of that reason I figured there would be tons of examples around because there were so many made.

Now in comparison to today's cheap Chinese knives these were a hundred times better in quality and comparatively priced in their day. If ya ever carried one of these you know what I mean, they were decent knives that actually held a decent edge and were pretty sturdy back in their hey day.

Now if you're like me and like all the old timers here you've had your fair share of Imperials too and realize that they were an adequate if not even better than average cheap knife.

Now since I've been collectin' I've noticed fewer good examples of these knives and the ones I have seen in mint or near mint condition are comin' fewer and farther apart.

I guess what I'm wonderin' is are these a good base if ya wanna get into collectin' on the traditional path, it used to give us the ability to try different patterns cheaply and learn about the knife us might wanna get before ya spent a lotta money on a pattern ya might not really like.

I'm gonna post some pics of my Colonials and my Imperials as soon as I get a chance, if ya got any old examples of either, in mint condition or otherwise please feel free to share and that goes for your thoughts about the future collectability of these knives either for historical or monetary value.

Keep this in mind, we've lost quite a few major manufacturers in the last ten years with that examples of the old original knives, (even the cheap ones) are disappearin' everyday.

This just my humble observation over the years.
Click to expand...

The Colonials and Imperials are great knives. You refer to these as "poor man's collectibles". (Is that bad)?
 
Captain O said:
The Colonials and Imperials are great knives. You refer to these as "poor man's collectibles". (Is that bad)?
Click to expand...

Only if being affordable is bad, I suppose. Yeah they cut corners, but the knives worked and they still do. That's what matters to me. They're fun to collect too because you don't have to cut deep into your knife budget to get a nice little user.
 
If you collect knives the way I do, always keeping an eye out at yard sales, thrift shops, flea markets, etc. for affordable, interesting knives, you can't help accumulating a collection of Imperials.

1936-1952



1946-1956

Chevy key knife

Platinum edge (with papers!)

and of course, the ubiquitous Barlow


They always seem to me like the kind of knife you don't "collect", you "accumulate", but that could be changing. Especially since they aren't making any more of them.

Thought I'd add this chart to the thread, in case anyone would find it helpful:
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Bein' born in the early 60s a cheap affordable knife for a kid was a Colonial or an Imperial tin shell pocket knife, for a couple of bucks ya could own a medium 2 blade Barlow, Campknife with a can opener or even a Fishin' knife with a hook disgorger, (not exactly sure why ya wanna disgorge a hook) but there were plenty of variations of plastic coated tin shell scales to chose from, there were simulated pearl. simulated bone, even simulated stag.

They were perfect as advertisin' pieces, addin' even another aspect of collectabilty to these cheap knives, unfortunately the one thing that made them so available, (a cheap mass reproducible knife) has contributed to the fast extinction of these same knives.

Because they were so cheap people practiced what was called use to destruction, unlike more expensive knives that were taken better care of and even if the tip broke they would be more apt to modify the broken blade on a more expensive knife back to a sheepsfoot where as the Imperial would become a flatbread screwdriver contributing to even faster destruction.

Durin' the war years when a lot of knife companies went under these companies flourished because of the low cost of manufacturin', everyone had one and because of that reason I figured there would be tons of examples around because there were so many made.

Now in comparison to today's cheap Chinese knives these were a hundred times better in quality and comparatively priced in their day. If ya ever carried one of these you know what I mean, they were decent knives that actually held a decent edge and were pretty sturdy back in their hey day.

Now if you're like me and like all the old timers here you've had your fair share of Imperials too and realize that they were an adequate if not even better than average cheap knife.

Now since I've been collectin' I've noticed fewer good examples of these knives and the ones I have seen in mint or near mint condition are comin' fewer and farther apart.

I guess what I'm wonderin' is are these a good base if ya wanna get into collectin' on the traditional path, it used to give us the ability to try different patterns cheaply and learn about the knife us might wanna get before ya spent a lotta money on a pattern ya might not really like.

I'm gonna post some pics of my Colonials and my Imperials as soon as I get a chance, if ya got any old examples of either, in mint condition or otherwise please feel free to share and that goes for your thoughts about the future collectability of these knives either for historical or monetary value.

Keep this in mind, we've lost quite a few major manufacturers in the last ten years with that examples of the old original knives, (even the cheap ones) are disappearin' everyday.

This just my humble observation over the years.
Click to expand...

Yes they are great Knifes.
 
Hiya. Lurking around and saw trick knives mentioned a page or two back. I have one of those but it only has two patent numbers; no other marks. Seller claimed it's Imperial from the '50s. No idea if that's true. I just liked the pattern on the scales (even though it's damaged on one corner) and the trick part. :o Apologies in advance if this little guy doesn't belong in this thread.

CA823BF2-EC92-41E5-B9D0-A63D2F854CF0_zps6p13gdhq.jpg


470DC622-6B14-44CD-8501-8948EABE6783_zpso4wh1ras.jpg


4F6A6273-2551-4D60-87FE-2C6993510D66_zpshc0uxwti.jpg
 
By all means it belongs, the trick/magic knives have always been one of my favorite Colonials and they're really decent knives. Used to get em for 25cents when I was a kid, $1-$3 as a teen and for me to pay more than $5 for one it would have to be in exceptional shape and have some unusual advertising on it.
 
Guess I've overlooked this thread! Some cool looking knives, really like Rey's green one above and Tomboy's trick knife.
I only have the one, but really looking more closely for more now!
 
r8shell said:
If you collect knives the way I do, always keeping an eye out at yard sales, thrift shops, flea markets, etc. for affordable, interesting knives, you can't help accumulating a collection of Imperials.

1936-1952



1946-1956

Chevy key knife

Platinum edge (with papers!)

and of course, the ubiquitous Barlow


They always seem to me like the kind of knife you don't "collect", you "accumulate", but that could be changing. Especially since they aren't making any more of them.

Thought I'd add this chart to the thread, in case anyone would find it helpful:
Click to expand...

That Barlow you sent me is still serving me extremely well, and is pretty much my favorite slipjoint. my imperial h6 is an awesome lightweight edc fixed blade, I just need to get around to making leather sheeth ( it currently has a 10min nylon truck strap sheeth ) my Sabre branded colonial sak copy happens to be a pretty sturdy knife, though the walk and talk is definitely on the lower side as far as the blade is concerned ( can't complain for 50c though )
Not sure if I've already said it in this thread, but these imperial and colonials are great user knife. Most aren't tank like, but the Steel is great and they have no blade play.
 
Hammer Brand (close enough to Imperial, I hope?) scout and Colonial what-have-you. I suppose these were emulating the German stilettos with a similar guard.
103016imps.JPG
 
Hickory n steel said:
That Barlow you sent me is still serving me extremely well, and is pretty much my favorite slipjoint. my imperial h6 is an awesome lightweight edc fixed blade, I just need to get around to making leather sheeth ( it currently has a 10min nylon truck strap sheeth ) my Sabre branded colonial sak copy happens to be a pretty sturdy knife, though the walk and talk is definitely on the lower side as far as the blade is concerned ( can't complain for 50c though )
Not sure if I've already said it in this thread, but these imperial and colonials are great user knife. Most aren't tank like, but the Steel is great and they have no blade play.
Click to expand...

I'm very pleased that you're enjoying that Barlow. :)

scrteened porch said:
Hammer Brand (close enough to Imperial, I hope?) scout and Colonial what-have-you. I suppose these were emulating the German stilettos with a similar guard.
103016imps.JPG
Click to expand...

That's some cool cell on the Hammer Brand! It looks like abalone.
I assume Hammer Brand is close enough to Imperial since they put it on the same tang stamp chart. :thumbup:
 
r8shell said:
I'm very pleased that you're enjoying that Barlow. :)



That's some cool cell on the Hammer Brand! It looks like abalone.
I assume Hammer Brand is close enough to Imperial since they put it on the same tang stamp chart. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Thanks. Definitely my prettiest scout.
Good point about the tang stamps.
 
A fine Imperial Electrician modified to a single blade with cocobolo covers and easy open notch by Daniel (Tilley Knives).


 
scrteened porch, what a beauty in blue!

Bob,
Wow! :eek:. That's in incredible shape! Great work on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top