- Joined
- Aug 9, 2000
- Messages
- 374
Please accept my apology for not keeping the Randall Lore articles up to date and frequent. Janie's father has been ill over the past 3 months and we have spent a lot of time in West Virginia. In fact we have been home two days and leave tomorrow going back there.
The article below is one I wrote for Randall Knife Society
Newsletter #26 March 1995.
STIDHAM: CHROME PLATED RANDALLS
In February I purchased what, to my surprise, appeared to be a chrome plated blade on a Smithsonian Bowie.
Well, I got right on the phone and asked Gary Randall if they ever chrome plated knives for customers. Yes, they did, and quite a few of them. He remembers that every week or two they would take one or two knives to the plater. They were located around Central in Orlando, but the name is lost to history.
He remembers that most of the knives were big, Model 12's and 13's. The buyers were more interested in preventing them from rusting when displayed, than using the knives.
The knife shown above is a Model 12 Smithsonian Bowie with an eleven inch blade. The handle is a beautiful rich ivory and is not cracked. The lugged hilt is brass, as well as the hand cut scalloped collar and conical butt. One of my fondest memories of Bo Randall is the first time I met him. I had taken an early Smithsonian Bowie (in fact the Bowie that is shown on your membership card) in to ask Gary about the age and "BO" was in the Randall museum. Bo commented, "You see that hand cut scalloping? I made that knife"! He had a wonderful gleam in his eyes and cherished looking at an old friend once again. So sorry to digress so from the story in point, but! There is a leather washer at each end of the ivory. I wish I could tell you about a beautiful sheath to compliment the knife, but there is no sheath. I guess, since it was for display, no sheath was ordered.
I also talked to shop manager Pete Hamilton and he remembers that quite a few Randalls were chrome plated. Besides the big knives a few Model 1's and 3's were also plated through the years. He also commented that chrome plating was offered in the Randall catalog until about 1970.
Well, that got me to looking at my old Randall catalogs to see exactly when this option was offered. The first place I find it mentioned is in the 1954 catalog issue. This catalog was the first to appear in the form (shape 4" X 9") that we are familiar with today (shown here). It had no number, as to establish the printing, and the price was 20 cents. I have a beautiful copy of this catalog, a personal gift from Bob Gaddis.
On page 13 of this catalog we find: CHROME PLATED BLADE: any model. Recommended for exhibit purposes only. Models 12 and 13..$7.00; All other
Models..$5.00.
This catalog was used through 1958 and then in 1959 the first catalog showing the printing, the twelfth, was issued by Randall. The chrome plating price has increased to $7.50 and $5.50. Also of particular interest is the delivery time for your Randall knife orders, 4 to 6 weeks. The price of this catalog was 25 cents.
Best regards,
Rhett Stidham
The article below is one I wrote for Randall Knife Society
Newsletter #26 March 1995.
STIDHAM: CHROME PLATED RANDALLS
In February I purchased what, to my surprise, appeared to be a chrome plated blade on a Smithsonian Bowie.
Well, I got right on the phone and asked Gary Randall if they ever chrome plated knives for customers. Yes, they did, and quite a few of them. He remembers that every week or two they would take one or two knives to the plater. They were located around Central in Orlando, but the name is lost to history.
He remembers that most of the knives were big, Model 12's and 13's. The buyers were more interested in preventing them from rusting when displayed, than using the knives.
The knife shown above is a Model 12 Smithsonian Bowie with an eleven inch blade. The handle is a beautiful rich ivory and is not cracked. The lugged hilt is brass, as well as the hand cut scalloped collar and conical butt. One of my fondest memories of Bo Randall is the first time I met him. I had taken an early Smithsonian Bowie (in fact the Bowie that is shown on your membership card) in to ask Gary about the age and "BO" was in the Randall museum. Bo commented, "You see that hand cut scalloping? I made that knife"! He had a wonderful gleam in his eyes and cherished looking at an old friend once again. So sorry to digress so from the story in point, but! There is a leather washer at each end of the ivory. I wish I could tell you about a beautiful sheath to compliment the knife, but there is no sheath. I guess, since it was for display, no sheath was ordered.
I also talked to shop manager Pete Hamilton and he remembers that quite a few Randalls were chrome plated. Besides the big knives a few Model 1's and 3's were also plated through the years. He also commented that chrome plating was offered in the Randall catalog until about 1970.
Well, that got me to looking at my old Randall catalogs to see exactly when this option was offered. The first place I find it mentioned is in the 1954 catalog issue. This catalog was the first to appear in the form (shape 4" X 9") that we are familiar with today (shown here). It had no number, as to establish the printing, and the price was 20 cents. I have a beautiful copy of this catalog, a personal gift from Bob Gaddis.
On page 13 of this catalog we find: CHROME PLATED BLADE: any model. Recommended for exhibit purposes only. Models 12 and 13..$7.00; All other
Models..$5.00.
This catalog was used through 1958 and then in 1959 the first catalog showing the printing, the twelfth, was issued by Randall. The chrome plating price has increased to $7.50 and $5.50. Also of particular interest is the delivery time for your Randall knife orders, 4 to 6 weeks. The price of this catalog was 25 cents.
Best regards,
Rhett Stidham