Codger_64
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- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
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Here is another Kent branded Camillus knife I recently came across.
Shielded "SCOUT KNIFE", this shielding on the camp/utility pattern was almost certainly discontinued post 1947 when Camillus gained the rights to use the Imperial improved can opener. Further, it was not made after 1944 when the Federal Trade Comission ruled for the B.S.A. against Camillus in their use of words and emblems suggesting knives were official B.S.A. knives when only other companies held the license from them to make official knives (Adolph Kastor & Bros. v. Federal Trade Commission, 2 Cir., 1943, 138 F.2d 824, 825).
Archived illustrations from the Camillus factory show evidence of the ruling in the cutting out of the offending words and emblems:
Camp/utility knives made for Woolworths and others afterward used a different shielding, at least until Camillus did eventually gain license to produce official knives for Boy Scouts Of America circa 1946.
Since the knife uses the earlier one piece style of can opener, and uses the "Scout Knife" shield, and since it is brass lined, and has the small triangular crimps inside the liners to secure the handle covers, the knife is almost certainly pre-WWII.
I would like to hear from Tom Williams (CAMCO), or any collector here if they believe my information and conclusions are correct or indeed flawed.
Codger
Shielded "SCOUT KNIFE", this shielding on the camp/utility pattern was almost certainly discontinued post 1947 when Camillus gained the rights to use the Imperial improved can opener. Further, it was not made after 1944 when the Federal Trade Comission ruled for the B.S.A. against Camillus in their use of words and emblems suggesting knives were official B.S.A. knives when only other companies held the license from them to make official knives (Adolph Kastor & Bros. v. Federal Trade Commission, 2 Cir., 1943, 138 F.2d 824, 825).
Archived illustrations from the Camillus factory show evidence of the ruling in the cutting out of the offending words and emblems:
Camp/utility knives made for Woolworths and others afterward used a different shielding, at least until Camillus did eventually gain license to produce official knives for Boy Scouts Of America circa 1946.
Since the knife uses the earlier one piece style of can opener, and uses the "Scout Knife" shield, and since it is brass lined, and has the small triangular crimps inside the liners to secure the handle covers, the knife is almost certainly pre-WWII.
I would like to hear from Tom Williams (CAMCO), or any collector here if they believe my information and conclusions are correct or indeed flawed.
Codger