Just Picked Up A Craftsman Stockman

You're Welcome Matty, guys. I'm sorry that I cannot accurately date the knife. The Sears stock number is not a date indicator, many of their knives were instore sales items only and don't appear in catalogs, Craftsman tool collectors aren't interested and neither is Sears. Some Schrade to Sears numbers appear in the Schrade archives but mostly pre-1980's. There is no "Rosetta stone" for conversion. My "best guess" would be mid-1980's - late-1990's.

An accurate date is possible if you want to go to the trouble to contact Mr. Tom Williams (CAMCO), former historian of Camillus. He is in posession of the Camillus archives and a wonderful source of Camillus knowledge. Another resource is Phil Gibbs, former design and production engineer at Camillus. Both are great guys and very helpful, but please be succinct with your request and don't flood them with questions. Either gentleman may be contacted through BladeForums Camillus Collectors' subforum (Manufactirers>Collectors>Camillus).

Please do keep us informed if you find other information and I will do likewise.

Michael

Michael
 
Codger_64 said:
....Mr. Tom Williams (CAMCO), former historian of Camillus. He is in posession of the Camillus archives and a wonderful source of Camillus knowledge. Another resource is Phil Gibbs, former design and production engineer at Camillus....
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It would be great if they'd jointly co-author/published a reference. Can't believe they'd not make money on such an endeavor and rightly so. Finding the time would probably be their greatest challenge.
 
leghog said:
It would be great if they'd jointly co-author/published a reference. Can't believe they'd not make money on such an endeavor and rightly so. Finding the time would probably be their greatest challenge.
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Camillus history spans well over one hundred years (131 years). I've researched (with the help of collectors, Camco and others) a good deal of the history and posted it in the Camillus subforum where it is archived for you to search. Also, the forum itself contains years of Q&A on Camillus knife specific information. And Larry Vickery has established and maintained an online archive site for Camillus collectors parallel and complementary of the site he established for Imperial Schrade collectors. To my knowledge, these two archives contain more primary research resources than any book currently available. Few people get rich publishing knife specific books. It is a very narrow field of interest and usually only profitible in the guise of promotion of one's own business or products. Likewise such books are quickly outdated as new information surfaces all the time.

http://www.collectors-of-camillus.us/

http://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/
 
If you have a Craftsman knife and want more information, the Camillus and Schrade areas are your key. As Codger_64 has said a lot of research has been done and is in these areas. A search will get you what is available. Don't expect times and dates as this information was never saved. There are orders from Sears that were for years. The numbers on Craftsman knives were for department and location (inventory) not dates. I collect Craftsman 5" folders and most of those were made by Camillus with a few exceptions.
 
edbeau said:
If you have a Craftsman knife and want more information, the Camillus and Schrade areas are your key. As Codger_64 has said a lot of research has been done and is in these areas. A search will get you what is available. Don't expect times and dates as this information was never saved. There are orders from Sears that were for years. The numbers on Craftsman knives were for department and location (inventory) not dates. I collect Craftsman 5" folders and most of those were made by Camillus with a few exceptions.
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Agreed with a caveat. I also have Sears and Craftsman and Ted Williams and J. C. Higgins knives by other makers such as Colonial, Western, Buck and others. So knowing your manufacturers' base patterns is often key to knowing who was who in the zoo as far as Sears suppliers goes. Albert Baer, in his many cutlery company guises (Camillus, Ulster, Schrade Walden, Kingston, Schrade, Imperial etc.), had a near lock on the Sears cutlery business from the late 1920's on, using his charm and guile and business sense to woo the principal Sears management and hardware (cutlery) buyers. But they did on occasion buy from other suppliers.
 
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