Then and Now

Thomason

Thomason

Joined
Nov 28, 2002
Messages
9,375
Fellow forumite Mike Robuck send me a page from an old sporting goods catalog. I could not find a date on it.
I thought you guys might get a kick of this. Check out the Maher&Grosh no.30. Ebony handle, German silver, 2 blade model is 75 Cents but if you want 3 blades it will cost you another 25 cents. The picture below is of one from Billy at Vintage Knives. His model 1902 swell-center moose in ebony and nickel silver. I gave a little more than 75 cents for it.

Another funny thing on the page was a couple of references to the phrase Cheap John.
"Women are awful failures in choosing a knife. A "Cheap John" blade with a pretty handle catches them every time."
and
"Blades made for service and file-tested. No "Cheap John" work here."

(Disclaimer - The remark about women is the opinion from the old catalog and not that of yours truly:D )

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kni.jpg
 
Rob,

That's great that you have a modern day example of that knife. I've heard the ones from Billy have great snap.

And the attitude in that old ad could lead to a “Bobbitt” encounter today.

Mike
 
Very nice recreation of a lovely old pattern. Is that ebony ???

I am interested, because I am about to re-handle an old knife with some ebony.

I am told it is not quite as hard to work as one would think.

I love those vinateg knives, the designs are great and the blade shapes are so varied, with lovely back edge grinds, nicely rounded off so they do not catch your clothes.

I wish I could say the same of a new sodbuster I just got, I had to smooth off the back of the blade, it was nearly as sharp as the cutting edge and felt very uncomfortable in the pocket.
 
Casares said:
Is that ebony ???
Click to expand...

Yep, indeed it is. The old one was ebony so Vintage Knives had the new version done in ebony. Did you notice in the catalog that pearl was 50 cents extra?
 
I LOVE Vintage knives! That is where I got my 2 bladed Scagel from!! WOW, that is really something special!!
 
Billy at Vintageknives hit a home run with that (I call it a swell center moose) knife. I got mine a couple of weeks ago. It's one of Queen's better productions, and they make good knives!:D
 
Thomason said:
Yep, indeed it is. The old one was ebony so Vintage Knives had the new version done in ebony. Did you notice in the catalog that pearl was 50 cents extra?
Click to expand...

Yes, what an interesting piece of history.

I have never really liked pearl very much, but you have to recognise that it has been popular for a long time, and you still see lots of antique/vintage knives with pearl handles.... I even just bought myself a Boker with pearl scales. My first ever pearl handled knife!
 
HI Gang!

My only comment is this: "Maybe they can make'em like they use to"!

VERY NICE.

I have been an active follower of Vintage Knives since its beginning. Nice people,
 
I wish we had a date; 75 cents or a dollar was probably expensive at that time>
 
Levine's Guide said the Maher & Grosh Company operated between 1877 and 198? So the catalog was probably no earlier than 1877.
The page Mike sent me also had an ad for The H & D Folsom Arms Co of NY. Double barrel breech loaders for $8. Good plated revolvers for home defense - 22cal for $1, 32cal for $2, 38cal bulldog for $2.50.
 
I found a page from a maher and grosh catalog from 1900, it's porbably the correct date or so.

some facts about that time:

YEAR OF 1902 in the USA!
The year is 1902, one hundred years ago... what a difference a century makes.
Here are some U.S. statistics for 1902....

The average life expectancy in the US was forty-seven.

Only 14 Percent of the homes in the US had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated
than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the
21st most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour.

The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500
per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical
engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the US took place at home.

Ninety percent of all US physicians had no college education. Instead, they
attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by
the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee cost
fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks
for shampoo.

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any
reason.

The five leading causes of death in the US were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and
Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

There were no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

One in ten US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans
had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner
drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives
buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact,
a perfect guardian ofhealth."

Eighteen percent of households in the US had at least one full-time servant
or domestic.

There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire US.
 
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