The News from ElephantToenails.com

So you have heard of the toenail being nicknamed a Rope Knife, right? Usually associated with that moniker is a description of it being an English rope knife, but if you have been around ET.com for very long you know I believe it was used as a marketing ploy. But did you know there really is an English toenail manufactured by a firm in Sheffield, England?

One of the aspects we find most interesting about our toes is a degree of mystery exists. Parts of a puzzle we just can’t figure out. We know H. Boker a German firm produced elephant toenails. Well I’d like to introduce my English toenail by Lockwood Brothers.

I’ll get to the details on this firm in a minute, but first want to tell you some of the story I have relative to having this knife checked out (plus I was trying to see if the toenail could have orginiated in England…..keep in mind this was 5 years ago. I have concluded a lot since then about its origin- specifically that it ain’t English…that is about it though

The Lockwood Brothers toenail-

When I acquired the AB Haines collection it contained a knife I didn’t pay particular attention to at the time. Only later as I was running the rabbit of which firm invented the standard toenail did I really notice it.

So needless to say, when I attended Parkers show in 2003 I looked up Mr. Jim Sargent to get his initial reaction.

He found it very interesting. He said it was English, both by looking at the handles and the blades.

Then he went and got Bill Wright, saying “he’ll know.” Mr. Wright was familiar with Lockwood Brothers. He looked it over very closely (for what seemed to be an eternity). He had never seen a Lockwood Bros. toenail. He kept looking it over with a magnifying glass, checking the tightness of the blades, the stamping of both blades, the color of the backspring, on and on… Then, he said it was very old and that he didn’t see anything that made his question it being authentic.

Then, as Bill W. continued to look at it, he asked me if I had noticed the etch on the pen blade. I was shocked! No, I hadn’t noticed it before. There is was..it was faint.. It says “REAL KNIFE” with Logo of the Rhea in the middle. (A Rhea is native to South American bird).

Then I contacted Sheffield Cutlery expert, Mr. Jim Taylor. I told him about my conversations with Jim and Bill. He emailed me back-

Hi Scott,

Thank you for the email. You certainly asked two of the better researchers in Bill Wright and Jim Sargent. Bill, in particular, is VERY big on research and he knows his stuff.

The etch would seem to prove the point!! Can’t imagine how you missed it for all that length of time! You must have studied that knife more that anybody?

I now have no doubt that the knife is of Sheffield origin and likely over 100 years old. It’s a VERY rare toenail/ rope knife, indeed. Perhaps we will meet up someplace and you can show me the knife? (Blade Show in Atlanta?)

How did they know it was English? Well, this is more experience than anything else. The Sheffield cutlers did things “differently.” One gets a feel for the differences after a long period of time.

I fired off this email before looking at you new site. I shall do that at more leisure, later today.

Best wishes for 2004.

Jim
In one of the emails I had received had him saying Lockwood made knives for the South American market hence the RHEA. He also noted that neither of the two largest 19th Century Sheffield England Cutlery Firms, Joseph Rodgers & Sons and George Wostenholm & Son, produced toenails.

“I was aware of the reference in the Case catalog, concerning the “Rope knife/Sunfish/Toenail” pattern. However, despite a lifetime of interest, I had never seen one with a Sheffield tang stamp (made prior to 1900). Clearly, Case must have had some reason for it (the label that they put on the knife in their catalog).”

“I find it interesting that the George Wostenholm catalog, of 1885, does not show such a pattern. They, of course, were possibly the largest manufacturer of pocket knives, along with Joseph Rodgers. Both companies exported millions of pocket knives to all parts of the world back then, and yet, neither one shows such a pattern in their earliest catalogs, at least, not to my knowledge.”
Then I contacted Mr. Geoff Tweedale, author of The Sheffield Knife Book. He responded-

“Had a quick look at your interesting site. My only observation is that as far as I can remember, I have never seen a sunfish/toenail pattern in any Sheffield catalogue of any era. I doubt very much that Lockwood Bros originated a pattern that is virtually unknown over here. More likely LB were simply responding to American demand — a popular Sheffield pastime. “

Geoff Tweedale

Obviously you can tell by both of these gentlemen’s responses I was trying to see if there was any clues to toenails being invented in England and possible brought over in the late 1800’s, as I was running that rabbit. I have concluded based upon their comments Lockwood Bros. made this toenail for their South American market after 1900.

Lockwood Brothers, Sheffield, England

The Sheffield Knife Book by Geoff Tweedale states Lockwood Bros.-

The exact foundation date of this business is unknown, but it is recorded that in 1767 John Lockwood of Ecclesfield registered his first trade mark and begin making files. His son, William, moved to Sheffield in 1789 and occupied premises at 74 Arundel Street. William’s four sons: William, John, Joseph and Charles, succeeded him. The manufacture of other tools began and by 1850 Lockwood’s had expanded by taking over the marks and business of tool manufacturers John Sorby & Sons, which had been established in 1780 and operated at Spital Hill. By the late nineteenth century, Lockwood Bros began selling cutlery too. Under George F. Lockwood (1850- 1919), who was the son of John Lockwood and a great-grandson of the founder, the firm became a well known tool and cutlery firm. When he became Master Cutler in 1886, aged thirty-six, G. F. Lockwood was one of the youngest holders of the office. By 1893 the firm had moved the Sorby factory at Spital Hill, overlooking the Wicker and the big steel firms in the Don Valley.

Lockwood’s nineteenth-century trade catalogs show, besides a large selection of tools, a wide ranges of knives. These include all types of pocket cutlery, with the emphasis on complicated sportman’s patterns, and hunting- and skinning knives. The firm’s trade mark included the letters C X and usually a running ostrich with the words ‘Real Knife’ and Pampa on the blade- perhaps an indication that the South American market once was particularly important to Lockwood’s.

In 1919 the firm became part of Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers Ltd, a grouping of cutlery firms led by Needham, Veall & Tyzack. Lockwood’s, which had been losing money for years, did no better allied with firms such as Joseph Elliot. By the early 1930’s, after a decade of losses, Lockwood’s had moved to Sylvester Street, but by 1933 the name disappeared from local directories. Its marks were acquired by Elliot.

Box Labels: Authors collection- In the February 2002 edition of Oregon Knife Collector’s “Knewsletter in a Knutshell” newsletter, Mr. Taylor called the Lockwood Brothers labels marked “Table Cutlery” “the “Rolls-Royce” of all cutlery labels.” Each heavily embossed in gilt and come in six background colors. He estimated the labels are c. 1900.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Knife Company History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.