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- Aug 9, 2000
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- 374
This is from an early RKS newsletter, July 1991. The facts for this article were provided by Bob Gaddis even before his book was on the market.
Regards,
Rhett
Stidham/Gaddis: The RANDALL IXL BOWIE
The first Randall IXL Bowie that I ever saw came walking through the Blade Super Show in 1988 or 1989. The fellow that was walking it tried to get me to buy another $500 knife with it and that's where we both made a mistake. Anyway, another dealer ended up with the IXL bowie and I still had my $1000, but I sure wanted that knife. At the time I was not sure if it was even real, but the back of the Johnson sheath was marked with the Randall logo and it was also marked IXL-10.
While in Houston this past June I was lucky enough to purchase the Randall IXL Bowie that you see pictured here. The blade length is 10" and the handle is wood. The one I saw at the Blade Show had a leather handle. The back of the Johnson sheath is also marked IXL-10 along with the usual Randall logo.
Bob Gaddis provided me with particulars of this article with information from his study of the Randall Shop files. As most of you know Bob is writing a book on Randall knives and should be out sometime in 1993. Yes, I will keep you posted how and when you can get your copy.
Seth Birdwell - Cutlery of Beaumont, Texas got Bo interested in I*XL pocket knives in late 1958. He was a distributor for these knives from George Wostenholm & Son Limited of Sheffield, England. In 1962 he sent snap shots of a couple of I*XL bowie knives which he had rehandled. This got Bo interested in buying blades only directly from England. Birdwell didn't have any blades available, but a few were on order.
In November of 1962 Mr. Birdwell sent two 6" bowie blades to Bo and the shop immediately fitted their own style stag handles. Both Bo and Seth liked the results, Bo sending him a picture of the resulting knife. Mr. Birdwell then mailed his only sample of the I*XL 10" bowie blade on December 10th. The shop added RMK hilt and stag handle in January of 1963.
Meanwhile, Bo had placed his first order directly to Sheffield on December 19, 1962, by air mail. It was for 24 each 6"; 12 each 5" and 12 each 10" blades without hilts or handles. The sales manager, Mr. Rogers, replied on December 24th. The plant was closed for the next few weeks for stock taking and they would hold the order and send the blades at the earliest possible date. This order was sent on February 12, 1963. The next order that Bob found records of was: 24-10" blades April 17, 1964 and 36-6" blades June 29, 1964.
The next record is for an order of 4 dozen 10" blades sent by Bo on April 19, 1966. This order was acknowledged by Wostenholm on May 2, 1966. On October 11th Bo wrote to ask why he had not received the blades, or any communication about them. On October 18th Sheffield admitted that the order had been "over looked". They would ship in 10 to 14 days. A dozen were sent on November 9th and the remaining 2 dozen on November 16th.
On May 1, 1969 Bo ordered 4 dozen 10" and 3 dozen 6" blades. Wostenholm replied that they were too busy and couldn't get at the order for 6 months. Bo replied OK and please do your best. He explained about these knives being in his catalog and not wanting to disappoint customers. Their reply to this was to say they were thinking about stopping the sale of blades only because they had so much trouble getting steel. They explained that this was due to the strikes and labor trouble in England.
Bo wrote back politely to just forget about the bowie blades and that he would withdraw these knives from his catalog. They acknowledged this.
These I*XL blades with RMIK hilts and handles were not marked Randall Made any place on the knife. Only the sheath mentioned the Randall name with IXL-10 or IXL-6 on the back of the sheath also.
The knives were never pictured in the catalogs. They were mentioned and described in the insert for the 15th printing, plus were in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th printings. They were not in the 20th, which was out about December of 1969.
The factual data for this article was provided by Bob Gaddis through his research for his upcoming book. The RKSA continues to be indebted to Bob. //////// Gaddis/Stidham
Regards,
Rhett
Stidham/Gaddis: The RANDALL IXL BOWIE
The first Randall IXL Bowie that I ever saw came walking through the Blade Super Show in 1988 or 1989. The fellow that was walking it tried to get me to buy another $500 knife with it and that's where we both made a mistake. Anyway, another dealer ended up with the IXL bowie and I still had my $1000, but I sure wanted that knife. At the time I was not sure if it was even real, but the back of the Johnson sheath was marked with the Randall logo and it was also marked IXL-10.
While in Houston this past June I was lucky enough to purchase the Randall IXL Bowie that you see pictured here. The blade length is 10" and the handle is wood. The one I saw at the Blade Show had a leather handle. The back of the Johnson sheath is also marked IXL-10 along with the usual Randall logo.
Bob Gaddis provided me with particulars of this article with information from his study of the Randall Shop files. As most of you know Bob is writing a book on Randall knives and should be out sometime in 1993. Yes, I will keep you posted how and when you can get your copy.
Seth Birdwell - Cutlery of Beaumont, Texas got Bo interested in I*XL pocket knives in late 1958. He was a distributor for these knives from George Wostenholm & Son Limited of Sheffield, England. In 1962 he sent snap shots of a couple of I*XL bowie knives which he had rehandled. This got Bo interested in buying blades only directly from England. Birdwell didn't have any blades available, but a few were on order.
In November of 1962 Mr. Birdwell sent two 6" bowie blades to Bo and the shop immediately fitted their own style stag handles. Both Bo and Seth liked the results, Bo sending him a picture of the resulting knife. Mr. Birdwell then mailed his only sample of the I*XL 10" bowie blade on December 10th. The shop added RMK hilt and stag handle in January of 1963.
Meanwhile, Bo had placed his first order directly to Sheffield on December 19, 1962, by air mail. It was for 24 each 6"; 12 each 5" and 12 each 10" blades without hilts or handles. The sales manager, Mr. Rogers, replied on December 24th. The plant was closed for the next few weeks for stock taking and they would hold the order and send the blades at the earliest possible date. This order was sent on February 12, 1963. The next order that Bob found records of was: 24-10" blades April 17, 1964 and 36-6" blades June 29, 1964.
The next record is for an order of 4 dozen 10" blades sent by Bo on April 19, 1966. This order was acknowledged by Wostenholm on May 2, 1966. On October 11th Bo wrote to ask why he had not received the blades, or any communication about them. On October 18th Sheffield admitted that the order had been "over looked". They would ship in 10 to 14 days. A dozen were sent on November 9th and the remaining 2 dozen on November 16th.
On May 1, 1969 Bo ordered 4 dozen 10" and 3 dozen 6" blades. Wostenholm replied that they were too busy and couldn't get at the order for 6 months. Bo replied OK and please do your best. He explained about these knives being in his catalog and not wanting to disappoint customers. Their reply to this was to say they were thinking about stopping the sale of blades only because they had so much trouble getting steel. They explained that this was due to the strikes and labor trouble in England.
Bo wrote back politely to just forget about the bowie blades and that he would withdraw these knives from his catalog. They acknowledged this.
These I*XL blades with RMIK hilts and handles were not marked Randall Made any place on the knife. Only the sheath mentioned the Randall name with IXL-10 or IXL-6 on the back of the sheath also.
The knives were never pictured in the catalogs. They were mentioned and described in the insert for the 15th printing, plus were in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th printings. They were not in the 20th, which was out about December of 1969.
The factual data for this article was provided by Bob Gaddis through his research for his upcoming book. The RKSA continues to be indebted to Bob. //////// Gaddis/Stidham