Here's the thing about Schrade at that period in time: Schrade Waldens were initially going to be a line a bone handled knives, but they were having a hard time aquiring bone since they didn't have a license for it in Ellenville. They decided to contract out to Rodgers, which I believe was in Rhode Island, or maybe Connecticut (can't recall at the moment) for the bone. Now the Schrade bone was dyed in a heated solution in large vats, basically "cooking" overnight. Rodgers didn't have the right equipment, so Schrade shipped a few of their tanks over to them. Well it just so happens that one of those vats caught fire one night, and wound up burning the whole plant down! Without a source for bone now, and with a desire to find something to take its place, the experimenting began, which is why you find so many odd handles from that period. There are even a few masonite handled 8OT's floating around somewhere, which according to Dave Swinden actually worked quite well. The above knives are likely one of those experiments, as was the swirl mahogany plastic, etc. Some took a while to exhibit shrinkage, some worked OK, but it was the timely advent of delrin that sealed the deal.
Eric
But, after a light cleaning I found what appears to be brown celluloid with copper colored metallic inclusions. It looks to me like it's factory original. There's shrinkage at the bolsters and a bit of curling on the ends. The Old Timer shield is perfectly inlayed as it should be. When I do a rub test to heat up the material, it definetly has a chemical smell. The primary blade is tang stamped "SCHRADE WALDEN N.Y. U.S.A.". The Walden is below the Schrade and the N.Y. U.S.A. is below the Walden. I couldn't find any reference to a celluloid handled OT in the books I have. Anyone know the scoop? Thanks
