Codger_64
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- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
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I must be slipping, Bill! I must now do pennance to my Fixed Blade Hunting Knife collection, least they feel neglected and begin rusting on me. The five frames of them do share a wall space with my lone folding knife display, so I am sure they know I have some. And since they are not hidden, it's not like I have to get them out of the closet or out of my drawers to play with them!El Lobo said:Excuse me MR. CODGER,
Was that an entire post about FOLDING knives???
You are potentially escaping from the DARK side, and I'll hold good thoughts for you.
Bill
The year 1959 was an interesting one. Dwight Eisenhower, WWII General was president of the U.S. and Nakita Khrushchev headed the Soviet Union, Caastro had just taken over Cuba as Batista flees Havana. The islands of Hawaii and the Alaskan Territory became states, "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin and "Battle Of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton were hit songs, Charlton Heston won the Academy award for best actor for his performance in "Ben Hur". Cars reached their zenith in fins and chrome, Ford announces the demise of the Edsel, and New York City considered lobbying for statehood. Top shows on television were Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, The Danny Thomas Show, The Red Skeleton Show, and Father Knows Best. IBM shipped the transistor-based IBM 1401 mainframe computer. A new car cost $2,000, and gas for it was twenty five cents a gallon.
The last of the "Baby Boomer" generation is born in 1959, comprising nearly one third of today's adult population. The power, political and economic, was in the hands of their fathers, the "Greatest Generation". They had a different way of looking at the world than their children, or even their younger brothers and sisters. Their attitudes towards life were formed during the Great Depression and World War II. They grew up in tough times. As a result, their core values are discipline, hard work, self-denial, obedience to authority and financial conservatism. JFKs ask not what your country can do for you sums up their commitment to bettering society.
It was this generation, returned from WWII and Korea, that led an industrial revolution in America and founded an era new prosperity with their hard work and inginuity. As more disposable income became available to the average Joe, so did more leisure time. A new generation of sportsmen took advantage of the wildlife and fisheries restoration efforts of their fathers, becoming a generation of outdoorsmen. Surplused military equipment (knives, guns, sleeping bags and tents) were in great demand from the men to whom they were so familiar, but then soon there was a demand for new, improved products for the outdoorsman. Schrade-Walden Cutlery was there to provide it just as they provided knives for the war years.
In 1959 Schrade-Walden Cutlery was located in their new modern factory in Ellenville, having moved from the old building in Walden New York the year before. Enthusiastic about their new home after being in the old factory for more than half a century, the list of knives they produced included over seventy folder patterns and twelve fixed blade hunting knife patterns.
One of the new fixed blade hunters was called....the H-15 "Utility Hunter". It was produced in four variants the first year, and was a marketing success under both the Schrade-Walden and Imperial tangstamps. Always an important retail outlet for Schrade knives, Sears Roebuck & Company had a large number of the H-15s private stamped and sold them to their sporting goods customers. So successful was the H-15 that it was sold through 1975.
The H-15 represented what Schrade-Walden was known for, an honest quality knife at a good price. Based loosely on the earlier Imperial M3 military knife, the design had a broad appeal to the targeted generation. Nowdays, you will frequently see them described as military fighting knives, but they never were. They were civillian hunting knives from day one.
The Utility Hunter had a saber ground five inch clip point carbon steel blade, an overall length of 9 3/4" including the aluminum guard, leather disc handle, and enlarged aluminum disc pommel. Plastic spacers on each end of the leather handle were brown, red, or black.
The H-15 represents a good value today to the collector, and are not hard to find in excellent condition. As with any older carbon blades, examples without patina or peppering bring a premium, but prices are very reasonable still. The varients are much more uncommon, and among these, the Craftsman marked knives are most often seen.
Codger
