ea42
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2006
- Messages
- 4,017
I've recently gotten an answer to something that's been bothering me for a few years now. I have a couple of tang stamps from the Schrade factory that just didn't make a bit of sense to me. One is VERY large, the other is small, and both simply say MOOSE.
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I had never heard of a company with that name, nor could I find a bit of information on it, and for sure I'd never seen a knife with that stamp, so I just chalked it up to another Schrade mystery. Then, about two months ago, a knife turned up with those very stamps. It was a small metal handled gent's knife with the large "MOOSE" stamp on the cover. That explained it's size, it wasn't a tang stamp at all! On top of that it had an Ulster stamp, not Schrade. So at least I knew that Ulster made the knife, and those stamps were apparently inherited by the Schrade factory years ago. Soon after that another knife turned up with a slightly different set of tang stamps just to make things interesting, but it still didn't give me a definitive answer about its origins. Then, a couple of weeks ago, a mint example of the knife, with the box, showed up! I coulden't believe it, years go by with no sign of the knife, and then three increasingly better examples show up within a few months:
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So there you have it; the knife was made for the Loyal Order of Moose, which is an organization that's been around since the late 1800's. Initially it was started as a men's club type of organization, but in the very early 1900's the focus was changed to offer working class families some benefits and security. I'm sure the knife doesn't date that far back, more likey the 1940's or '50's, although I might be able to pin it down once I find out when that particular blade/opener combo came into being. Seems a little Imperialish. Overall it's 3 1/8" closed, with solid nickel silver covers, great snap too!
Eric
I had never heard of a company with that name, nor could I find a bit of information on it, and for sure I'd never seen a knife with that stamp, so I just chalked it up to another Schrade mystery. Then, about two months ago, a knife turned up with those very stamps. It was a small metal handled gent's knife with the large "MOOSE" stamp on the cover. That explained it's size, it wasn't a tang stamp at all! On top of that it had an Ulster stamp, not Schrade. So at least I knew that Ulster made the knife, and those stamps were apparently inherited by the Schrade factory years ago. Soon after that another knife turned up with a slightly different set of tang stamps just to make things interesting, but it still didn't give me a definitive answer about its origins. Then, a couple of weeks ago, a mint example of the knife, with the box, showed up! I coulden't believe it, years go by with no sign of the knife, and then three increasingly better examples show up within a few months:
So there you have it; the knife was made for the Loyal Order of Moose, which is an organization that's been around since the late 1800's. Initially it was started as a men's club type of organization, but in the very early 1900's the focus was changed to offer working class families some benefits and security. I'm sure the knife doesn't date that far back, more likey the 1940's or '50's, although I might be able to pin it down once I find out when that particular blade/opener combo came into being. Seems a little Imperialish. Overall it's 3 1/8" closed, with solid nickel silver covers, great snap too!
Eric
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USING THEM!
