In search of "Happy Jack" knife collectors.

Where are Happy Jack knives made?? Never heard of them!
 
waynorth said:
Where are Happy Jack knives made?? Never heard of them!
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Apparently they were made by a guy named Chuck Garlits in North Carolina back in the late 80's, I guess he was a custom maker but the Happy Jack brand line may have been made for a Hardware store.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Apparently they were made by a guy named Chuck Garlits in North Carolina back in the late 80's, I guess he was a custom maker but the Happy Jack brand line may have been made for a Hardware store.
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Thank you!!
 
A close-up of one of the tang markings would be helpful. Don't use a flash when taking the pic.
 
Happy Jack was a regional line of dog food and dog products based out of Snow Hill NC. Wonder if these knives were promotional items for Happy Jack dog food? Pure WAG on my part. OH
 
Answered my own question with help from a search engine. Happy Jack knives are custom built and unrelated to Happy Jack dog food and dog meds, unrelated companies. OH
 
Hickory n steel said:
Apparently they were made by a guy named Chuck Garlits in North Carolina back in the late 80's, I guess he was a custom maker but the Happy Jack brand line may have been made for a Hardware store.
Click to expand...
When I saw the maker's name, what immediately popped into my head was Big Daddy Don Garlits, famous drag racer from 1960s and 1970s at least. The subsequent photos of tang stamps and blade etches indicates there's some kind of connection. What a small world! 🤓 :thumbsup::thumbsup:

- GT
 
5K Qs said:
When I saw the maker's name, what immediately popped into my head was Big Daddy Don Garlits, famous drag racer from 1960s and 1970s at least. The subsequent photos of tang stamps and blade etches indicates there's some kind of connection. What a small world! 🤓 :thumbsup::thumbsup:

- GT
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I read that he was Big Don's brother.
 
Also wondered about the Garlits name, upon seeing this post. My first awareness of pro drag racing came about when I was maybe 7-10 years old in the late '60s - early '70s, when it was all about Don Garlits vs Don Prudhomme, and then later Shirley Muldowney. I was always interested in watching drag racing coverage on TV on the weekends, when those three were in the lineup. That's pretty cool. :thumbsup:
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Also wondered about the Garlits name, upon seeing this post. My first awareness of pro drag racing came about when I was maybe 7-10 years old in the late '60s - early '70s, when it was all about Don Garlits vs Don Prudhomme, and then later Shirley Muldowney. I was always interested in watching drag racing coverage on TV on the weekends, when those three were in the lineup. That's pretty cool. :thumbsup:
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That brought back a lot of memories. I was about the same age. Remember also watching those. Maybe some were on Wide World of Sports?
The one pattern on the bottom second row from left reminds me a a Bill Cargill pattern.
 
pmek5 said:
That brought back a lot of memories. I was about the same age. Remember also watching those. Maybe some were on Wide World of Sports?
The one pattern on the bottom second row from left reminds me a a Bill Cargill pattern.
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I also wondered if that coverage was via ABC's Wide World of Sports or another network/program, but I don't remember for sure. Loved watching that program in general back then. Pretty cool that my early interest in that would somehow connect to my interest in knives now, 50+ years later.
 
5K Qs said:
When I saw the maker's name, what immediately popped into my head was Big Daddy Don Garlits, famous drag racer from 1960s and 1970s at least. The subsequent photos of tang stamps and blade etches indicates there's some kind of connection. What a small world! 🤓 :thumbsup::thumbsup:

- GT
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Hickory n steel said:
I read that he was Big Don's brother.
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I've read that he was Don's brother and I've also read that they were cousins 🤷‍♂️

321Bandaid said:
mbkr mbkr Looking for any of these?
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Not especially. I have three including the one you gave me, plus I'm on a little knife buying hiatus.
OTOH... 🤔
Thanks for the shout out. I had missed this thread.
Enabler 😛

There is not much info out there about Happy Jacks. I have the impression that Chuck Garlits was a small/one man type of shop, ala Bob Cargill, Eric Albers, etc. I've read that his favored blade steel was 440c. The three I have are nicely made knives - quality on par with Cargill Cripple Creeks, GEC, Canal Street, etc. I quite like his jigging. This one was an SFO for Hughes Hardware in Highland, Indiana and was a gift from Chris 321Bandaid 321Bandaid 🙂👍
 
So have we figured out who actually made these and were. And what is the quality like.
 
I’m no knife maker, but those plunge grinds look like something that would bug me, and the primary grinds look thick, so big wide bevels, in addition one of the blades looks like a good portion of the blade was ground off at the edge, over zealous with a belt sander perhaps.
I can’t speak to the action or really anything other than what catches my eye in the pics.
Reminds me of bear and sons.

The last one posted above looks better, maybe a later build with more experience.

Only my limited opinion of course, but since the quality was inquired about, maybe my two cents is welcome.
The jigging does look nice.
 
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