Info on My Grandfather's Old KA-BAR? Pics Attached

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Jan 7, 2018
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One of the couple of knives I inherited from my grandfather when he passed away in 2005 (he lived from 1910-2005) was this old KA-BAR.

I'm looking for a little help on dating it and any other relevant info anyone might like to pass along on it.

I didn't do that great a job capturing the imprinting on camera tonight, so here's how I interpret it:

KA-BAR
REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.

UNION CUT. CO.
OLEAN, N.Y.

Overall length is right at 7-5/8 inches and blade length looks to be 4-1/8 inches (maybe 4-1/16 inches).

I've seen a few examples of this knife around on eBay and such but never saw much info about its history. It's one of two knives my granddad used frequently for hunting and fishing.

Here are some pics. First pic also shows my granddad's Western knife, but of which he owned and used for much longer than the 61 years I've been around. The Western seems to go back to roughly 1930-33 or thereabouts, thanks to info from zzyzzogeton zzyzzogeton .

The Western is being discussed in this thread:

Knife History? Western Boulder Colorado, Pat. Appl'd For

Thanks in advance for anything you all might care to pass along on this KA-BAR.

Al

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What I can say is that it’s a made in America KaBar from your grandpa; what could be better than that? :thumbsup:
 
What I can say is that it’s a made in America KaBar from your grandpa; what could be better than that? :thumbsup:

What might be better would be if I could have kept his old firearms. Oh, wait -- I've got those, too! :p

Actually, what would be better is if I could spend another day fishing with him...and asking him questions about the actual history behind this stuff...all those questions I didn't think to ask while he was still with us. So much lost family history...much of that loss my own fault for not asking enough questions when I was younger and had the chance.
 
my vote is 1927-1945 based on the tang stamp

The closest I could come (with very limited knowledge and research) was more like sometime between 1920 and 1950...so your vote at least shaves a few years off my wide-ranging guess. ;)

I suspect my grandfather got both knives sometime in the earlier part of his life (maybe the 1930s or early 40s). He was always an avid hunter and fisherman, and his part of the family goes back to German immigrant farmers and ranchers in mid-1850s Texas. Hunting was part of the lifestyle for several generations, going back to my grandfather's grandfather. These might have even been knives he got from his own father at some point.

The only two hunting knives I ever remember seeing at my grandparents' house were these two (the KA-BAR and the Western), but my memories go back only as far as the early 1960s. These two were always there in their sheaths in his knife drawer...at least when I was there visiting.
 
We’ve all made the exact same mistake. it’s a vicious little cycle.

Just from what you’ve shared, your gramps sounded like a cool guy. :thumbsup:
 
We’ve all made the exact same mistake. it’s a vicious little cycle.

Just from what you’ve shared, your gramps sounded like a cool guy. :thumbsup:

A pretty cool guy, indeed. Texas Highway Patrol officer (motorcycle cop) in his younger days, Chief of Police in Corpus Christi for a few years before he went on to head up their public transportation system ("The Bus Company," as everyone used to call it).

Taught me how to fish when I was "knee high to a grasshopper" as he used to say. ;)

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Here he is front and center with a group of fellow officers...all on Indians, I think.
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And with my grandmother (and her mother looking on from the stairs) back in the mid-1930s near Austin, Texas.
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Back in his rookie days, as far as I can estimate (officer to the right). The Colt Bisley he's wearing is with me today. Photo from around 1930.
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The earliest it could be is 1923 as that is when Union Cutlery first started using KABAR as a line of it's knives. I am probably wrong here, but I think that sheath stamp style (all caps KABAR by itself) is from just before WW2. Gunsil will set us straight.:D
 
Examining the pictures more closely, I note several interesting details -

I never knew that the Texas Highway Patrol (forerunner to the DPS) uniform included bowties.
I've never seen any diamond shaped badges before, either.

How the heck did they keep those hats on going down the highway? Chin straps?

Which department was he with on the horse? Looks like he has a pearl handled "something" on his hip. Revolver or a 1911?
 
Examining the pictures more closely, I note several interesting details -

I never knew that the Texas Highway Patrol (forerunner to the DPS) uniform included bowties.
I've never seen any diamond shaped badges before, either.

How the heck did they keep those hats on going down the highway? Chin straps?

Which department was he with on the horse? Looks like he has a pearl handled "something" on his hip. Revolver or a 1911?

I suspect they were able to cinch their caps down tight so they wouldn't fly off while riding. I might be wrong, though.

In the photo where he is on horseback, I believe that might have been in a ceremonial capacity as Chief of Police during one of the Buccaneer Days Parades in Corpus Christi (photo likely from the late 1940s). I do believe that is a 1911 in the holster, but it's not one that I ever remember seeing in person. I think it might have been police issue, belonging to the department and turned in when he eventually retired from the police force.
 
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Yes so many questions have cropped up since my fathers passing in 2014. And because i was a Air Force brat i never saw my Grandfather or Uncle (both ww2 veterans) and both died before i even thought of asking questions. So anyone out there if you still can sit down and get that history before its too late.
Nice old pictures by the way Var!
 
Very fun thread, veruscelli -

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on having such a significant grandfather!

I love antique motorcycles so I am drooling at this thread from three directions (motorcycles, knives and guns....)

best

mqqn
 
Well...this is going to stray way off my original posting, but since I think it would be appreciated here I'll post a couple more past pics -- ancestry and heritage type images.

Here is a pic of my great great grandmother's brother taken during the Civil War (photo from sometime between 1861 and 1865). He lived in Texas, so served in the Confederacy for something like a year's time (maybe more, I'm not sure at the moment). In his hands is an 1851 Colt Navy.

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Below is a photo of what I believe to be the same 1851 Colt Navy, passed along from my great grandfather to my grandfather to my mother and then to me. I believe that my great grandfather was given this Colt Navy by his uncle (my great great grandmother's brother, above) after his own father passed away shortly after the Civil War. Since my great grandfather was only about 4 years old when his father passed away, I believe that his uncle (his mother's brother, pictured) may have become sort of a surrogate father figure for him. Actually, both my great great grandfather and his brother in law (his wife's brother, in the first photo) served in the Civil War in Texas.

This is the oldest family heirloom I have in my possession. Its serial number history traces it to a manufacture date of 1853 in London, where a number of 1851 Colt Navies were produced for Samuel Colt. This one eventually made its way to Texas and to my family, either sometime in the 1850s or 1860s Civil War time. Unfortunately, the Colt is now not in very good condition, having sat for many years without proper care...but I am giving it the best home I can before it eventually gets passed to my daughter from me. I have done a lot to remove old rust and corrosion, but am not attempting to "restore" it except in minimally invasive fashion.

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