Queen knives what have you got,whats your thoughts.

Rookie82 said:
Others commented on age. But that was commonly known as the Queen medium size stockman pattern. Tang stamp shows it has D2 steel blade (usually Queen used the same material for both spring and blades on a release). That was one of Queen's most common knives made over the years. The first started making that pattern in 1947, and kept making it all the way until they closed in 2018. Often, once DFC became owner of Queen, they used the new DFC-D2 stamp from 2013-2018. So good chance yours is from 2002-2012 range, but no guarantees.

Can you tell if that is jig bone, or jig Delrin material? If Delrin, it is likely the "Jigged Black Cherry" color handle.

A brief history of Queen. Schatt & Morgan moved from NY to Titusville, PA in 1902, setting up in a new factory that the town built for them. Around 1922, 5 of the department heads started collaborating on making specialty knives after hours and on weekends. When the S&M owners found out, all 5 supervisors were fired. Those 5 guys started Queen City Cutlery Co. (as Titusville was known then as the "Queen City" of Pennsylvania"). Without their knowledge and leadership, S&M fell on hard times, and by 1933 they went bankrupt. Those 5 ex-employees bought out S&M at the bankruptcy sale, and moved back in to the very building they were fired from. Around 1974, the last descendants of the original 5 men sold ownership of the factory to Servotronics, who also owned Ontario Knives (among others). Queen was one of the first knife companies to use Stainless Steel (Queen Steel) blades, and had a full time metallurgist who worked with Cyclops Steel on tweaking alloys to get the best results. In 2012 Servotronics was struggling with the old factory and old equipment, and sold the Queen factory to DFC, who ran it for 6 more years before all operation ceased in 2018. Cooper Cutlery bought the rights to the name, which he then sold to Smoky Mountain Knife Works, who is now having knives made under that name in either China or by Bear & Son in Alabama.


Queen was one of the biggest contract knife makers there has been in the US. Over 100 knife companies have been identified as having knives made for them by Queen, not including Knife Clubs and special groups (Ducks Unlimited, NRA, etc.) All together, probably 60%+ of Queen's work was done under other brands.


Not sure what area of the US you grew up in. Queen sold a huge majority of their knives to the Gulf states, especially southern farming communities. In order to get away from competing with Case, Schrade, Cattaraugus, Camillus. I live in northwest PA only 30 minutes from the factory, and never saw a Queen knife for sale in a hardware store around here my entire life. My grandfather worked at the Queen plant in the 70's and 80's, and said the company motto was "Build them up north, ship them down south".
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Great writeup, Carl!!..... Thank you 😊
 
Picked this up from eBay. It is a fantastic toothpick. Little over 5" closed. Cool bone that really isn't matched well but looks neat anyways. The back cover almost looks translucent.

Tang stamp puts it late 50's if I'm reading things correctly.

IMG_20251107_231319825_AE~2.jpgIMG_20251107_231328831_AE~2.jpgIMG_20251107_231347667_AE~2.jpg
 
RickHuf RickHuf Big Toothpick there, looks like Winterbottom Bone to me, something Queen was excellent at. Mark side more bleached- possibly been in a window in the sun for some time? Display model maybe? Nice find :thumbsup:
 
Will Power said:
RickHuf RickHuf Big Toothpick there, looks like Winterbottom Bone to me, something Queen was excellent at. Mark side more bleached- possibly been in a window in the sun for some time? Display model maybe? Nice find :thumbsup:
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That is certainly a good explanation. I have some fake winterbottom bone and it's very similar but this is much nicer! Thanks!
 
Thought I'd pull this thread back up as I recently acquired a couple of stag stockman beauties.

Robeson Pocket Eze branded 4" in D2 (09 pattern)
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NKCA 1982 4.3" club knife in 440C (49 pattern)
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Rookie82 said:
A brief history of Queen. Schatt & Morgan moved from NY to Titusville, PA in 1902, setting up in a new factory that the town built for them. Around 1922, 5 of the department heads started collaborating on making specialty knives after hours and on weekends. When the S&M owners found out, all 5 supervisors were fired. Those 5 guys started Queen City Cutlery Co. (as Titusville was known then as the "Queen City" of Pennsylvania"). Without their knowledge and leadership, S&M fell on hard times, and by 1933 they went bankrupt. Those 5 ex-employees bought out S&M at the bankruptcy sale, and moved back in to the very building they were fired from. Around 1974, the last descendants of the original 5 men sold ownership of the factory to Servotronics, who also owned Ontario Knives (among others). Queen was one of the first knife companies to use Stainless Steel (Queen Steel) blades, and had a full time metallurgist who worked with Cyclops Steel on tweaking alloys to get the best results. In 2012 Servotronics was struggling with the old factory and old equipment, and sold the Queen factory to DFC, who ran it for 6 more years before all operation ceased in 2018. Cooper Cutlery bought the rights to the name, which he then sold to Smoky Mountain Knife Works, who is now having knives made under that name in either China or by Bear & Son in Alabama.


Queen was one of the biggest contract knife makers there has been in the US. Over 100 knife companies have been identified as having knives made for them by Queen, not including Knife Clubs and special groups (Ducks Unlimited, NRA, etc.) All together, probably 60%+ of Queen's work was done under other brands.


Not sure what area of the US you grew up in. Queen sold a huge majority of their knives to the Gulf states, especially southern farming communities. In order to get away from competing with Case, Schrade, Cattaraugus, Camillus. I live in northwest PA only 30 minutes from the factory, and never saw a Queen knife for sale in a hardware store around here my entire life. My grandfather worked at the Queen plant in the 70's and 80's, and said the company motto was "Build them up north, ship them down south".
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- a great account.........many thanks Rookie82 Rookie82
 
Chui Chui I think it's a 'fashion thing' Paul, collectors are sometimes prone to group-think ;) Schatt&Morgan just aren't perceived as sexy or must haves, currently. Or else the herd have their sights fixed somewhere else...but make hay etc because they are nicely finished stainless alternatives, the Premier Series in particular is rewarding.

Thanks, Will
 
Will Power said:
Chui Chui I think it's a 'fashion thing' Paul, collectors are sometimes prone to group-think ;) Schatt&Morgan just aren't perceived as sexy or must haves, currently. Or else the herd have their sights fixed somewhere else...but make hay etc because they are nicely finished stainless alternatives, the Premier Series in particular is rewarding.

Thanks, Will
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- thank you, Will

I have no idea if these are stainless steel - must do some more research.!
 
Paul, the swing-guard in stag was from 1995, the large lockback mountain man is in golden aged jigged bone from 2003. Both should be 420HC stainless from their annual keystone series.
The barlow is not from that same series, but most likely still 420HC steel.
 
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