Kent NY City. What a nice little $8 knife

R

robertj298

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Mar 7, 2014
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Found this knife in an antique store and am pretty impressed. Very smooth medium pull with great snap at half stop and open. No blade wobble. From what I've read these knives were made for Woolworths by Camillus from 1930 to 1956. This one looks like it may have never been used The blade looks like it's never been sharpened
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I had a few nice old Kents in ages past. Made good inexpensive users. Nice find.
Rich
 
I wonder if Woolworth's Five and Dime charged more than a dime for it when new.
The Woolworth's in the "city" I (allegedly) "grew up" in, had a very few items that cost more than a dime, in the 1960's. AMT/Revel 1:24 and 1:25 scale model car kits were 2 bucks (everywhere that sold them). Even the tenderloin sandwiches, with onion rings or french fries on the side, (the deep fried breaded pork tenderloin was twice the size of a normal hamburger bun. Over-hung the bun by at least a inch, all the way around. Wish I could find tenderloin sandwiches like now-a-days. :) ) banana splits, malts, and shakes at the soda fountain were a buck or a little more. A 9 transistor AM pocket radio was a buck anna half, with a Ray-O-Vac 9 volt battery, new canvas tenny sneakers was 3 to 5 bucks, depending on brand .... I think mum paid 15 or 20 cents for her L&M's (single packs) .... I think I paid 30 or 40 cents for a box of 50 Federal .22 LR. ... (the YMCA across the street from Woolworth's had a 20 or 30 yard range in the basement.)
 
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I have to admit after examining this knife ,I believe other than the plastic scales it is as nice as any of the newer
case knives I have and it's a lot older
 
afishhunter said:
I wonder if Woolworth's Five and Dime charged more than a dime for it when new.
The Woolworth's in the "city" I (allegedly) "grew up" in, had a very few items that cost more than a dime, in the 1960's. AMT/Revel 1:24 and 1:25 scale model car kits were 2 bucks (everywhere that sold them). Even the tenderloin sandwiches, with onion rings or french fries on the side, (the deep fried breaded pork tenderloin was twice the size of a normal hamburger bun. Over-hung the bun by at least a inch, all the way around. Wish I could find tenderloin sandwiches like now-a-days. :) ) banana splits, malts, and shakes at the soda fountain were a buck or a little more. A 9 transistor AM pocket radio was a buck anna half, with a Ray-O-Vac 9 volt battery, new canvas tenny sneakers was 3 to 5 bucks, depending on brand .... I think mum paid 15 or 20 cents for her L&M's (single packs) .... I think I paid 30 or 40 cents for a box of 50 Federal .22 LR. ... (the YMCA across the street from Woolworth's had a 20 or 30 yard range in the basement.)
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It’s been a while, but good memories.
 
Not sure if they were everywhere, but in the U.P. of Michigan we had "Ben Franklin" dime stores... I wish I had picked up a new pocket knife back then when I was a young lad. All my first knives were hand me down cheap barlows :rolleyes:
 
P
afishhunter said:
I wonder if Woolworth's Five and Dime charged more than a dime for it when new.
The Woolworth's in the "city" I (allegedly) "grew up" in, had a very few items that cost more than a dime, in the 1960's. AMT/Revel 1:24 and 1:25 scale model car kits were 2 bucks (everywhere that sold them). Even the tenderloin sandwiches, with onion rings or french fries on the side, (the deep fried breaded pork tenderloin was twice the size of a normal hamburger bun. Over-hung the bun by at least a inch, all the way around. Wish I could find tenderloin sandwiches like now-a-days. :) ) banana splits, malts, and shakes at the soda fountain were a buck or a little more. A 9 transistor AM pocket radio was a buck anna half, with a Ray-O-Vac 9 volt battery, new canvas tenny sneakers was 3 to 5 bucks, depending on brand .... I think mum paid 15 or 20 cents for her L&M's (single packs) .... I think I paid 30 or 40 cents for a box of 50 Federal .22 LR. ... (the YMCA across the street from Woolworth's had a 20 or 30 yard range in the basement.)

Polancic’s in Ottawa, Illinois sells tenderloins like you describe. I get one in a hot plate(open face sandwich) with mashed potatoes and gravy from Illini Lounge in Marseilles, Illinois all the time.
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Where I grew up we had "Cristo's Five and Dime", and they had lots of stuff for 10 cents or less, but they had stuff that cost a lot more, too. Probably right on up to $10 or more, way back in the early-to-mid-1960s. We used to ride our bikes up there all the time, if you could get hold of 25 cents somehow, you had LOTS of choices! Barlow knives in the cardboard cutout stands for a buck (or less, I remember they were still a buck a few years after this, they might have been even less in 1965?)
 
Search "Albert Baer and Woolworth's", and you will find a BF Thread on Baer leaving Camillus to start Ulster in 1940. Many Camillus customers, including Woolworth's went with him.
Seems to be an authentic history.
 
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