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Member in memoriam
Russell Folding Palette knife
The one in the middle was made by J. Russell & Co, in business from 1834 to 1873, when the company went bankrupt.
It was reorganized and by 1877 made 400+ patterns of knives.
Then in the 1930’s, the company went bankrupt again and didn’t survive the great depression.
This one is very high quality, and it still walks & talks like a good folder should!
It has a 4 ¼” thin flexible blade, rosewood scales, and is blade etched:
Compliments John A. McDonald Paint & Glass Co.
The business was located in Kansas City Mo in 1879.
In other words, they gave them away to customers.
That’s a far cry from the wooden paint stirrer sticks they give you now, if you are lucky and remember to ask for one!!
Folding Salami Knife
The bottom one was made by Colonial, Prov. RI probably in the 1950’s.
4 ¾” stainless lightly serrated blade.
Scale is marked:
M&M Packing Company, Inc.
Iola Kansas
I remember that company as a boy.
It was a butchering plant that also rented freezer storage lockers where farmers could store the meat from cattle & hogs M&M processed for them.
Mystery Knife
The top little pen knife is one of the very few “Mystery Knives” I have seen.
It has a 2” blade that the uninitiated would probably find impossible to open.
* Blade facing up - push on blade to open knife.
* Blade facing down - push on blade to lock knife closed.
The trick is a small sliding pin in a slot in the liners, and a hook on the blade tang that engages it.
One way, the pin falls out of the hook, and the other way, it falls in.
Celluloid scales are stamped with the name & address of a clothing store in Garnett Kansas that went out of business many years ago.
Made by Imperial, it has two patent numbers on the tang.
#2170537 issued in 1936.
#2281782 issued in 1939.
Both relate to a cheaper better way to make pocket knives.
Imperial called them the New Jiffy-Jack Master" and referred to them as a "low priced yet thoroughly practical automatic knife" in their 1936 catalog.
In the 1937-38 catalog they were given a MSRP of .25-.29 cents.
In the 1952 catalog, they were subtitled "Mystery Knife" and included ad copy:
"Frequently referred to as a "mystery" or "trick" knife, the "JIFFY JACK-MASTER" has strong appeal as a gift item, souvenir, a premium, or as an advertising give away.
Again, a far cry from today when you are lucky to have a merchant give you the correct change & a smile, let alone a halfway decent or unique pocket knife!
rc
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