The News from ElephantToenails.com

Saturday, July 19th is the big day and it is fast approaching! Some of you may say, what’s happening on this day- well, if you have just started coming round, this is the inaugural date of our meeting of the Elephant Toenail Collectors Club.

Case is having its Collector Appreciation Day Weekend that weekend and several of us are going up, or over, and maybe some down, to Bradford, PA for it. Case invited me back to be the auctioneer for their auction Friday nite, otherwise, I don’t think I would have made the trek.

We got a wild hair and decided to take advantage of this opportunity and will have an “official” meeting. I realize it is hard to take time out for knife vacations (I have made 1 show in a year), but we welcome anyone who likes toenails to attend.

Here are the details. Case has been gracious enough to allow us to meet in their boardroom. We will call the meeting to order at 11:00. It will be informal and will provide us the opportunity to meet each other in person for the first time.

If you are headed to Bradford, please make sure to stop by and say “Hello.”

If you have any questions, shoot me a note.

I know you are aware I have an particular liking for Case Brothers and have just about been able to get my hands on most of the variations made. But, a few weeks ago I was contacted by a fellow toenail collector about one he has had in his collection for some time. It is one I haven’t been able to find in authentic condition. (I am amazed by the “closet collectors” who have some jewels out there they have kept a secret. I know without a doubt there are some of the most desirable and sought after premo toenails keep below the radar that will surface soon enough.)

This particular toenail is the 7250 tortoise shell produced by Case Brothers. It is advertised in their 1904 catalog.

If you will notice the 7250 is the second most expensive list price in their catalog. While it is just under a third of the price for a dozen pearls, it is more than the genuine stag or bone stag. Tortoise Shell (sea turtle shell) was expensive then and eventually was banned.

I have the 2250 (ebony), 5250 (genuine stag), 6250 (bone stag) and the 8250 (pearl), but have had a difficult time locating a genuine 7250. I have seen a few fakes, but not the real thing yet.

Well this collector states his is the real deal (I haven’t see it in person yet).

Tortoise Shell was replaced by celluloid. Hibbert Spencer and Bartlett, Chicago was one of the large producers of celluloid to look like tortoise shell handles.

No this isn’t a Bud commercial, instead it is my fulfillment of my promise to a recent request.

As I posted earlier this week, I had a new collector want to see a toenail in hand (so he could show his wife how big toenails are). I have two confessions here- one is I am a terrible photographer and two, I only have time to play knives at night so the lighting stinks. I had to take the photos left handed which is hard due to the camera being made to push the button with your right hand, plus it is an bulky camera at that.

Anyway, you see how the knife is a handful, but honestly it fits like a glove. To me the toenail being a working man’s knife was perfectly made to fit the contours of the right hand.

Can you guess the knife I am holding? You probably guessed right. It is in my all time favorite standard style toenail (non-jumbo, that is).

I acquired it last year from a fellow collector who was raising money to buy a car or something…..really I don’t remember what he said, but you know as well as I do he could go out and nearly buy a car for what I had to pay for this pearly. While there is a bit of rust on the bolsters the knife still has original finish on the blades and is the best conditioned Case Brothers pearl I have ever owned. While the famous trademark XX is not stamped out on the blade, the rear tang is stamped TESTED XX.

As most of you are aware Case Brothers made this knives shorter than most other manufacturers. It measures out at nearly four inches long closed.

Did you see the extremely minty Camillus toenail that went off on eBay the other day? It was one fine sample of a toenail and a treasure.  I’ll be posting the results to Recent Sales here at ET.com soon, but had to say something about this knife. While I confess I am not totally crazy about celluloid handles, I wanted this knife.

It sold for the opening bid of $699. While I thought it was a bit on the high side, it wasn’t far off what I would have paid. Rarely will you find an older toenail with the original finish on the blades. It is one killer toenail.

Congrats at due “one old gray mare” the buyer.

Check out the stamp on this knife 

If you missed it here is the seller’s description- 

Up for auction this vintage, circa 1919-1941, Camillus 4-line sunfish/elephant toenail knife is in near mint condition.  The knife measures a full 4 ¼” long and  1 1/16” wide.  Blade measures 2 7/8” long, blade is full and unsharpened, retains it’s original factory finish.  This knife has not been polished.  Spear tip blade features double pull.  There are a few spots of very light pitting, etching on blade ( LITTLE GIANT ) is clear as could be.  Both blades have a very clear and definite stamping.  The fourth line ( U.S.A. ) is rarely visible on knives such as these.  You can see the top of the “A” in U.S.A. in main blade.  Small blade is in similar condition. Both blades snap well, steel bolsters, brass liners, beautiful brown-green celluloid scale handles.  There is some shrinkage.  Very small scratches on handles, one small nick near back spring on brass liner which is hard to see.  This is the real deal. 

You guys know the time management challenges I have trying to balance home, work and ET.com life. It is a constant balancing act…kind of like keeping spinning plates spinning and not falling to the floor.I must share an encouraging email I received today from a brand new toenail collector- he actually has yet to get his first toenail, but really likes them and what we have done here with ET.com. He made an excellent suggestion and one I will act on after I get back from a biz trip I leave for tomorrow, so next week I’ll do my best to fulfill his request. It is collector appreciation like this that continues to motivate to keep up my self appointed role as ET.com creator and webmaster. Thanks to all you old members of ET.com for your continued support too.

Scott:

I have never collected knives but my collecting friend showed me a toenail and now I think I am hooked.  You sight is wonderful and has been a great education for me.  I can’t wait for the next gun show to go hunting for a starter knife.

May I respectfully suggest you add a picture or two near the front page with a toenail in someone’s  hand for perspective?  Until I can buy one, I’m having trouble getting my wife to understand just how big they are.

Many thanks for your website which I know is a lot of work.

Brian  

You have probably heard by now of the big auction of Bob Wurzelbacher’s green bone knives. While I doubt they are all he owns, it is reported to have over 100 antique Case knives in it.

Green bone handled knives command a premium. It is a fact. Case green bone knives command a king’s ransom. While some folks may want to argue only Case made green bone handled knives, that isn’t the topic for today.

Bottomline: Green bone handled knives are in very high demand. I must confess to like them too, but green is one of my favorite colors.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why folks like green bone so much? I don’t know all the reasons, but do know, variations are good. Collectors like niche’s. Differences add an element of desirability. In my 2003 interview with Mr. Joel Seale, he told me green bone was one of the most desirable handle materials. He went on to tell me one of the reasons for this- Case lost its formula and couldn’t duplicate it. The story goes: After WWII Case tried to rehire its workers returning from the war. The new hires weren’t able to replicate the formula with the proper mix of dyes and also weren’t able to get the color to hold to the bone. 

In a conversation with Mr. Tony Foster, notable antique Case knife expert, Tony said, “all TESTED XX are green bones, actually, even though some appear brown.” He added that there are several variations of green bone and that the Bradford, TESTED XX and XX are the only eras with green bone. He also believes that neither Case Brothers or early WR Case used green bone.

I am not going to argue with an expert, but opinions differ out there as we have learned over the years when it comes to knives and toenails. So, is this Case Brothers a brown bone??  

Anyway, sorry I wasn’t able to add several of the other green bones toenails I have, including some killer green TESTED XX! Plus, I have several non-Case branded toenails made with green bone handles.When you have the chance to acquire a green bone toenail, grab it. You won’t go wrong, and if you are like me, will develop a special liking for them :) 

Have you seen the t-shirts around with “Life is Good?” Looking on the bright side is a healthy perspective and folks enjoy being ’round individuals with this outlook as it is refreshing.

Well, in an effort to refresh you (and provide an excuse for my long absence the last week), I’ve been taking a Life is Good week. My three daughters, son, wife and I headed to the beach last week and just got back yesterday. Call it a long Memorial Weekend week, if you will.

You won’t believe it if I told you but while I took my trusty MacBook Pro, I never got it out of my briefcase. As unbelievable as that may sound it is true. I will tell you, however, I thought about it (and you here at The News), but elected to have my Life is Good week. I know you thought I may have stabbed myself with a Jumbo, but I didn’t.

Instead, we rode bikes, rode jet ski’s, played freesbie at the breach, watched a really cool air show while at the beach, played games, rode bikes some more, shopped, ATE REALLY GOOD and, did I say we rode bikes (we rode bikes everyday actually). It was really fun.   

 I hope each of you get to spend some quality time with your family this summer. Even though our vacation was right in the middle of our busy season at work, I was able to relax and enjoy the folks most important to me.

I’m going to do my best to catch up at work first and then will jump back in here at The News, but do have to head out of town this week and next.

LIFE IS GOOD