Show your Hecho en Mexico Imperials.

[mykel m]

When I was a kid, the first knife I bought with money earned was an Imperial shell handled fishing knife with the thin yellow covering & impressed crown shield, so when I got into traditional knives again I went looking for one (and toothpick patterns in general) & acquired this one in a group buy off ebay and was surprised to see it was made in Mexico.
The last word-Mexico is partially obscured by the scale no matter where the blade is positioned and it isn't of the highest quality, but it is light in weight, slim as heck and made with decent steel with a good back spring and no wobble to boot.
The scales even had a slight curve to 'em like it was carried in a back pocket. (butt bend? )

I've since learned that Imperial did in fact have some knives made south of the border in addition to Ireland and was
wondering/hoping if anybody else has any Hecho en Mexico Imperials they can show?
(if anyone even bothers with them)
Thanks for your time,
Myke

 

[Codger_64]

I bought a couple from the Schrade bankruptcy sale. They were a part of the factory sample collection of these knives. A fellow collector in Australia bought the rest of them.

I won't bore you with a long story, but they were made in a short-lived factory there in the 1950's, and few actually made it to market. The real purpose was the importation of the molding machinery from Europe via Mexico since direct importation was forbidden by law (Dupont patents I think). IIRC, Foster (of Foster Grant sunglasses) was involved in helping Albert Baer facilitate the importation on the sly.

 

[mykel m]

Man, you are just a font of knowledge,thanks Michael!

 

[Codger_64]

Somewhere I have a picture of the "tycoons", (Baer, Felix and Michael Mirando, Dominic and Joe Fazzano) in Monterrey for a meeting to discuss the pending Mexico venture. I believe Joseph Foster was also in the picture. The first injection molding machines were made in Germany, but Foster wanted/needed to import them in spite of Dupont's patents. He had already bought four of them. They were "used" and modified in Mexico and thus imported to the U.S.