John Primble Knives

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Blade_1961

Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Messages
2
Hello,
I am new to the forum and was wondering if anyone had info on John Primble knives. I have a 12 knife set in a counter top display case from 1989 to 1990 and all with the Belknap stamp. I am not having much luck with my research into this. As with my Schrade set from that year, I can locate it in an old catalog issued to store owners advertising the display case for the stores counter-top. However, with John Primble I am having no such luck. I can only find post in here on Primble from 2015. Any info would be appreciated.

Best Regards,
 
Looks like they are still sold at some online retailers. What exact information are you looking for?
 
John Primble was a house name for knives sold in the old Belknap Hardware store in Louisville, Kentucky. They were made mostly by Schrade and a few other companies. Blue Grass Cutlery has owned the name for awhile, contracting knives from Queen and more recently China.
 
Like JD said, it was a hardware distributor brand made on contract by others, mostly Camillus/Schrade. My first quality folder was a two blade Primble jack I bought at a Western Auto store in Illinois around 61-62.
 
I have a 12 knife display set from a hardware countertop display from the mid 1980's i was trying to gain info on. but i cannot seem to post a picture of it.
 
Blade_1961 said:
Hello,
I am new to the forum and was wondering if anyone had info on John Primble knives. I have a 12 knife set in a counter top display case from 1989 to 1990 and all with the Belknap stamp. I am not having much luck with my research into this. As with my Schrade set from that year, I can locate it in an old catalog issued to store owners advertising the display case for the stores counter-top. However, with John Primble I am having no such luck. I can only find post in here on Primble from 2015. Any info would be appreciated.

Best Regards,
Click to expand...

The "John Primble" knife brand was owned by Belknap Hardware Company. The manufacturing was outsourced. I believe the early knives were made in Germany. Some of the later ones may have been supplied by Schrade.

The Belknap hardware company went bankrupt in 1986.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belknap_Hardware_and_Manufacturing_Company

The "Belknap" and "John Primble" names were sold as assets. The current owner of the names is "Blue Grass Cutlery". Blue Grass also holds the rights to make "Winchester" knives. The current knives are made in China. But I doubt that they were in 1990.

You might find this discussion of Blue Grass Cutlery of interest:
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_forum/viewtopic.php?t=20173
In particular, look for the post by AAPK member Knifeswapper. Mike is a member here and uses the same user name. He is a knife dealer and has been in business for many years. In other words, he is quite knowledgeable. Based on his post, your knives were likely made by Queen Cutlery, now also bankrupt.
 
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