Old west folders

I wonder if one hundred years from now a Cold Steel catalogue with Lynn will be posted in the catalogue thread.

Just kidding old catalogues sound interesting. Did they ever include technical info in their advertising such as type of steel and forging techniques ?
 
greater said:
I wonder if one hundred years from now a Cold Steel catalogue with Lynn will be posted in the catalogue thread.

Just kidding old catalogues sound interesting. Did they ever include technical info in their advertising such as type of steel and forging techniques ?
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I hope not (as to the first part).

I've seen old catalogs that give steel, heat treat and sharpening info. Don't know how many did though.
 
I metal detected in an old, old, farmhouse yard a few years back and dug up several extremely rusty barlow type knives.
 
lambertiana said:
I would love to be able to get in a time machine and visit a well-stocked hardware store.
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The Steamboat Arabia Museum is about as close as you can get.
Welcome to 1856:
2s9emnb.jpg

:)
 
I love the pics from the Arabia. Not only does it give a glimpse of patterns of the day, but it also is probably an indication of what patterns were popular at whatever destination they were headed to. Anyone know where this cargo was going?
 
Berkley said:
The Steamboat Arabia Museum is about as close as you can get.
Welcome to 1856:
2s9emnb.jpg

:)
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Everytime I see this photo, I am so awed by the fact that after a century and a half, some of those knives look like they would still be usable. Aittle steel wool, some 3-In-1 oil, and a little TLC, and you'd have a really neat pocket knife. Were they packed in some kind of water resistant case or something?

It looks like a great cross section of knives. A nice swayback, a sheepsfoot looking possable sailors knife, the congress, barlows. :thumbup:

So much for the "carbon steel will rust away on you if it's damp" crowd.
 
jackknife said:
So much for the "carbon steel will rust away on you if it's damp" crowd.
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I was thinking the same thing as I looked at those knives.
lambertiana said:
I Anyone know where this cargo was going?
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FROM The St. Louis, Missouri Republican. August 30, 1856:
“Captain Terrill will leave for all points on the Missouri between St. Joseph and Sioux City today at 4 o'clock PM. Mr. Boyd is clerk on the Arabia. Passengers will find everything to their liking on board.”
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She made her first stop at Kansas City, but did not drop off any more cargo for the next 132 years.
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Another thing that strikes me about those old knives is the fit of the stag - all bark right up to the bolsters and liners, no white showing. And those were just everyday hardware store knives, not fancy customs.
 
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The knives were packed in barrels (as were a lot of other types of items) -- so they had a measure of protection initially. The Missouri River back then was almost more silt than water -- the Arabia went down very quickly and what wasn't recovered was quickly silted in, creating a very low oxygen environment - many things can last a long time in fresh water if the oxygen content is low. Plus, in not too many years, the River was no longer there -- with its constantly shifting its course, filling in the old course with sediment, what was a river soon became a field.
 
billinvegas said:
I'll take a dozen of each the following Maher and Grosh congress knives...
Bone
Pearl
Ivory
Stag
should come to about $96 or so...
:D
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I'll take just one, if it has the "Toledo, O." stamp. I'm a native Toledoan, and my sole M&G is a worn-out old pen, no Toledo stamp.
 
The Barlow on the bottom looks like the one I had. It was a Samual Barlow from the late 1700's early 1800's Razor blade, integral iron bolsters/liners. Wow. To have that knife back in my hands now.
 
zerogee said:
The knives were packed in barrels (as were a lot of other types of items) -- so they had a measure of protection initially. The Missouri River back then was almost more silt than water -- the Arabia went down very quickly and what wasn't recovered was quickly silted in, creating a very low oxygen environment - many things can last a long time in fresh water if the oxygen content is low. Plus, in not too many years, the River was no longer there -- with its constantly shifting its course, filling in the old course with sediment, what was a river soon became a field.
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Thanks. I always wondered why some wreckes there's just some faint rust left from swords and such and other wreckes have nearly perfect condition swords knives and such. :thumbup:
 
navihawk said:
The Barlow on the bottom looks like the one I had. It was a Samual Barlow from the late 1700's early 1800's Razor blade, integral iron bolsters/liners. Wow. To have that knife back in my hands now.
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I was a little surprised to see that the barlows from the Arabia looked exactly like the original ones. For some reason I expected them to have fit and finish like the other knives shown there -- which was kinda dumb, since the original barlows were never made rough and ready due to any lack of skill or finesse (they had that in plenty in the 1700's also) -- they were made that way to minimize labor and construction cost and maximize functional folding knife for the money (while still being a big step up from the old friction folders). There was just as much need for that on the Western frontier as there had ever been a hundred years earlier back East.

Here's a somewhat more humongous and detailed version of the Arabia knives image: http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/vv263/dwightwh/SteamboatArabiaknives1856.jpg so you can look at them in more detail.
 
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zerogee said:
I was a little surprised to see that the barlows from the Arabia looked exactly like the original ones. For some reason I expected them to have fit and finish like the other knives shown there -- which was kinda dumb, since the original barlows were never made rough and ready due to any lack of skill or finesse (they had that in plenty in the 1700's also) -- they were made that way to minimize labor and construction cost and maximize functional folding knife for the money (while still being a big step up from the old friction folders). There was just as much need for that on the Western frontier as there had ever been a hundred years earlier back East.
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Mine had lines in the blade where it looks like old Samuel folded it over and reshaped it.
 
navihawk said:
Mine had lines in the blade where it looks like old Samuel folded it over and reshaped it.
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Wouldn't be surprised if they had - they wouldn't want to waste any good knife blade steel after all -- though you might have been seeing shear steel, which will often have lines and grains that make it look somewhat like it was folded -- or even a bit like wootz or damascus at times. The grain will become more pronounced with any acidic "etching" or light corrosion along the way.
 
It's interesting that even though anything upriver from Kansas City in 1856 was either small farm town or frontier settlement, the knife selection heading there looks to be decent quality. Good blade grinds, nice stag, etc. I wonder how much of it was destined for St Joseph, which was for a time a jumping off point for the three trails headed west - Oregon, California, and Mormon. A lot of westward-bound emigrants outfitted in St Joseph or nearby.
 
Was told this old Germania Cutlery Works is likely from that time period. Can't swear, but I think the shield is pewter?? I picked it up here in the "hill country" of Texas, in an area that has a strong German history.

23li3i0.jpg
 
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