The Elephant Toenail Designed Use
There are a few stories on the background of this pattern, but the consensus is that this odd looking knife was produced as a working man's knife, as well as a tool for the hunter/camper.
Mr. Harvey Platts writes in The Knife Makers Who Went West, a fascinating historic catalog of his family and the cutlery business, that the massive swell-center produced by his family's firm was a "rope knife."
Many knowledgeable dealers and collectors conclude this knife was a knife made for cutting rope. In his wonderful article on Elephant Toenails in The Best of Knife World Volume III, Mr. Joe Seale remembers as a young boy in 1933, this knife being used in the old mercantile stores to cut rope. He writes "There were all kinds of rope sold in this store, the old P. N. Stockton General Mercantile since 1901, specifically huge spools of well rope, calf rope, rope for working livestock, rope for pulling heavy loads." He remembers the clerk measuring out the rope, then reaching for up for an Elephant Toenail to cut it in the desired length for the customer. One of the stories he recounts is that this knife was used on the early seagoing vessels to work with and repair the big thick hawsers (tow ropes).
An early Napanoch catalog illustrated this knife as a “Napanoch Axe (for the Vest Pocket)” and stated, “The nearest thing to an axe, still can be conveniently carried in the top vest pocket and you would hardly be conscious of its being there. Best thing for Hunters, Campers, Sportsmen, and Linesmen hanging Trolley, Telegraph and Telephone wires.”
Mr. Richard White, in an article in Knives 2002, states that the Sunfish was used in the past as a tool knife by surveyors to cut stakes. He writes, "…because of the massive size and thick blades and backspring, it could be placed on the end of a piece of wood, and stuck with a mallet in order to split off a wooden stake."
In the Oct 18th 1906 edition of The Youth’s Companion the Jumbo Pocket Knife is shown in an advertisement illustrating the Napanoch Knife Company, Napanoch, NY (1900- 1919) toenail. The caption reads, “Designed especially for that large class who require a knife for heavy work, such as leather or rope cutting, or other similar material requiring great strength.”
In a 1903 Gold Cross Coffee Company Catalog, pocket knives were used as incentives for new clients. In it a toenail was illustrated as “Old Honesty” (a label taken from a Case Brothers Catalog produced around the same time) and the description read “heavy blades and frame, just the thing for lumbermen, teamsters and oilmen. It is an axe, board axe and Jack-knife combined. "
Marbles Safety Axe (later to be renamed Marbles Arms Co.) of Gladstone, MI in its Hints to Hunters written in 1905 encouraged its readers “…a good hunting knife, and a small pocket or belt axe are about as much importance as any other part of the outfit.”
The elephant toenail was the largest pocket knife offered by Marbles, unless you want to count its Folding Safety Hunter. The toenail was classified as a camping tool and was made under contract by Case Brothers of Little Valley, New York. In its 1905 Marble’s Specialties for Sportsmen catalog, it stated, “the (elephant toenails) have been selected with a view of fully meeting the requirements of our sports-men friends in the woods or in town.” As a side note, the 8250 pictured in this catalog has no tang stamp, but does have the TESTED XX stamped out on the master blade. In both the 1906 & 1907 Marbles catalogs, the knife is shown bearing the M.S.A. CO (over) Gladstone (over) Michigan USA stamps without the TESTED XX stamp/etch on the master blade. Also, understand, just because a catalog depicted a knife in a certain matter, doesn’t mean it was actually produced that way, i.e. without a tang stamp as in the 1905 catalog.
A 1906 catalog of The French Manufacture of Weapons and Cycles of Saint-Etienne contained an ad promoting the toenail. The knife was identified as “The Bulldog” and is characterized as the knife “to satisfy the desires of the sportsmen, motorists, and hunters.”
Again, the reference to the W R Case catalog in which the firm labels the pattern as being "used on sailing vessels", however, in examining the old sailors knives a clear pattern emerges, which is absent on the Toenail. The old sailor's knives commonly have a bail. It would seem that being able to free ones hands to hold on in rough water would be important and without a bail, which allows for the knife holder to let it fall to his side, the holder would be forced to try to hold on for dear life while maintaining a firm grip on his valuable "tool" knife. The bail also allows the seaman not to worry about the knife falling overboard. In fact I have only seen one old toenail with a bail. It is a Case Bros. Little Valley with the arc stamping produced around 1900 to 1912.
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While Case represented it to be "used on sailing vessels," I believe its use was more as a general work knife and camping & hunting tool/axe. It also was clearly used for cutting rope; however, in a more stationary place like on a farm, factory floor, a hardware or general mercantile store, or at the dock, rather than on a sailing vessel at sea.
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