OKC & KA-BAR coincidences in history?...

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

When one takes a look into the history of both the Ontario Knife Company and that of the KA-BAR firm, one can see some pretty neat coincidences... Or, are they more than just coincidences, with maybe there being some early history ties?
The basic foundation starting points for both seem to be at/around 1889. The location for the majority of KA-BAR's history was in Olean NY. The Location of most of Ontario's history has been in Franklinville NY, (which itself was formed and later founded from the Olean NY town). Ontario had moved to Franklinville NY from Naples NY, (which is located in Ontario County NY). Currently, Ontario remains in Franklinville NY, and KA-BAR has been back in Olean NY for more than two decades, (since being purchased by it's parent company, Cutco). The Union Cutlery company, (which later changed it's name to their most famous in house brand, KA-BAR), began selling their USMC fighting/utility knives to the US military during WW2.
Ontario started selling their machete to the US military during WW2, and have done so since then, (not to mention being THE go to contractor for most, if not all, of our current military edged weapon needs).
It could be a coincidence that these two companies just popped up at around the same time, have had most of their history in the same area of NY (Franklinville and Olean), and that both became major US military contractors for military edged tools during WW2... Or, maybe there are some ties to these two firms, beyond what seems like just coincidences... ties that maybe have been lost in time.
I know that KA-BAR's founding had some family ties to the Case Cutlery firm, and that the KA-BAR history is quite a bit easier to follow, (with it's history being better documented), but... I would almost bet that the history of the Ontario Knife Company would show some early connection(s) to KA-BAR (Union Razor/Union Cutlery), if OKC's history documentation were not so blurry (read: lost in time). Anyhow, it's just something to ponder
As for the more recent history of these two firms and their products, the similarities are certainly not coincidences. Why is that?... Well, because Mr. Tsujimoto, an Engineer that has worked for both the Ontario & KA-BAR firms, has had some influence, (in very positive ways), with both companies. Of course some similarities are likely because of Mr. Tsujimoto, (better known here as Toooj), and his having been associated with both of these firms. He is currently employed by OKC.
Btw, I own products made by both of these companies. I am a fan of both firms, and I'm proud to know that both make most of their products right here in the USA.

 

[Toooj]

PKJ,

While there is a close physical proximity of Franklinville to Olean (30 mins apart), there is no family connection between the two companies.
There have been people who have worked at both places: most notably Dick Hillegas (VP of Sales-Ontario/former president-KA-BAR), Mike Kessler (Purchasing-Ontario/Business Unit Manager-Cutco), and myself.
The SW New York/NW Penn area was the cutlery hub of the US at the turn of the 1900s. The famous "Magic Circle" (50 mile radius around Little Valley, NY) has been well documented.
Now the US cutlery industry is spread across the country but there are still knife companies in the "circle". Cutco/KA-BAR, Case, Microtech, Ontario...
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company

 

[sac troop]

Now instead of looking specifically to these two companies, look into the history of the other American cutlery companies, most of which are gone. The coincidences are everywhere because of the evolution of the industry. Sometimes it seems like everyone there is in someway related to someone with the last name Case or Platts too. Sometimes both.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

Yeah... All pretty knotted up, in one way or another.
Take this Tidioute PA example... Schatt & Morgan fires a few employees. Those fired employees start up a nearby firm (of Queen City/Queen Cutlery fame). Schatt & Morgan later goes out of business. Queen then buys the S&M facility and the rights to that brand, (and then they continue the Queen company operation inside their former employer's facility). Fast forward to the past decade or so, when a former Queen employee finds a partner and they start up their own firm within the same area, (Great Eastern Cutlery). GEC, as it's often called, then becomes a major competitor for Queen. Then, one of the GEC partners decides to sell his stake in the GEC operation, giving sole GEC ownership to the former Queen employee. After the partner sells his stake in GEC, he soon goes and buys Queen Cutlery. This then makes these two former partners, direct competitors to each other. A few years into Queen's new ownership, it goes bankrupt and out of business... And that's only the surface scratched of these few firms I mentioned.
You see, I enjoy learning the history of the products I own... It's part of the reason I enjoy my hobby so much
Of course I didn't want to start discussing other knife firms that don't seem to have any relation to the subject I was asking about. My ponderings were about the Ontario & Ka-bar similarities that I felt to be so highly coincidental (and I gotta make sure the subject matter includes Ontario, this being their forum and all). But, even though Toooj has placed those coincidences as being just that, coincidences... It was still cool to have gained a little bit of new insight from Toooj about some of the more recent sharings of OKC and Ka-bar... Them having shared some key people as being employees for both firms at one time or another
Btw, even with my example above concerning Schatt & Morgan/Queen/GEC, there is some conection to the Ontario Knife Company... What is that?... Well, the GEC partner that purchased Queen a few years back, did so from Servotronics, which not only was the parent company of Queen, but was, (and still is), the parent company of the Ontario Knife Company

Toooj,
Thanks, Toooj, for the insight you shared. It may not be anywhere as dramatic as the S&M/Queen/GEC saga... But, I still find the KA-BAR/OKC employee interchanging, pretty interesting. I think it has likely made both firms better, not worse. Sort'a like a friendly competition thing