Very interesting.
Shipping American made parts of an American knife pattern across the pond for assembly just so they could send 'em back to market as MADE IN SHEFFIELD when MADE IN USA tends to be more desirable here seems like a pretty dumb idea to me, but I'm sure they had no trouble selling them.
I wonder how / where they were sold ?
I believe they were sold post 1988. Imperial-Schrade bought several Euro brands including Westholm, after the fire that destroyed the Imperial plant in Providence, R.I.
As for
where they were sold, the usual pre-"big box" stores (K-Mart/Target/Walmart) culprites come to mind: Gun and sporting goods stores, hardware stores, farm supply stores, stand alone cutlery shoppes (if any in your area); where you could find the big name brand knives. E.G.: Case (East of the Mississippi River until at least the 1980's.
Growing up in Iowa,I did not see any CASE knives for sale.
Back then, is someone said "Case" they were talking "a case of ___" or farm tractors and farm implements. I do not recall any W.R./Case Bros/W.R. & Sons, ads in my
'BOY'S LIFE' or in any of my dad's
'OUTDOOR LIFE', 'FIELD AND STREAM' or any of his national gun, fishing, and camping magazines.
I am sure Case advertised in those magazines; just not in those distributed where their knives were not sold.
From what I saw, that would be west of the Mississippi River. I did not see any Case Knves for sale while in So. Cal from 1975 to 1980, or in Iowa and Missouri from 1960 to 1988.
The first Case knives I saw for sale was at Grandpa's Sporting Goods, in Clarksville, TN, after the company I worked for shut down their Iowa operations, and moved to TN. in 1988.
After we moved to Wichita, KS, in 1991, I don't recall seeing any Case knives in KS at the local Walmart, or at any of the gun & knife shows we attended. I returned to Stockton, MO. from 1995 to 1996. I did not see any Case knives that I remember, tho it is possible that Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Mo., had some that I missed.
I know Carl's Gun Shoppe and Museum in Boliver, MO., did not carry Case knives. (Carl had one of the largest collection of firearms in the area; over 2,000, that he displayed in the second floor of the gun shoppe.
I admit I bought several rifles from him; mainly WW2 Surplus Lee Enfields, Argentine Mausers, and Mossin Nagart's ... tho I did buy a used Marlin 336, a pre '64 Winchester 94, and a couple shotguns from him between 1980 and 1996.
Sadly that shoppe shut down after Carl passed from old age, followed by his son about 1.5 months later, who lost his battle with cancer.
Some may have been sold mail order, of course.
If my memory is working properly, I
"think" Sears, Monkey Wards, and Grant's mainly sold knives with their own branding on the tang.
