The News from ElephantToenails.com

Got a bunch of projects going on at the moment. One just went out the door and should be published in an upcoming edition in Knife World soon. Even though it is on the broader topic of early pocketknives, it is related to toenails, of course.

Also, I’m burning the midnight oil, on a big project related to cutlery around the turn of the century. I’m still in the research stage now, but hope to have it to Knife World by the end of August.

I don’t want to give all the details away, but will share this much with you. You know I am a modern-day Commercial Traveler (commonly referred to as a traveling salesman, or road warrior), so I have an intense interest in life as a traveling cutlery salesman (sometimes called Drummers) around the time of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

If you don’t know, many of the founders of early American cutlery companies were at one time traveling cutlery salesmen. As a side note here-  my great-grandfather was a traveling salesman (back in the early 1900’s), as was my grandfather and my father, so, “life on the road” goes back in my family at least 4 generations.

Got the “heads up” the other day from a collector who has ordered a swellcenter custom made. I thought it was a cool idea and was surprised when a couple of weeks later was contacted by the actual knife maker. He confirmed the order and expressed his excitement about producing a custom made swellcenter toenail.

I have yet to ask permission to annouce the knife to the world at this point, but feel I can share with you some behind-the-scenes photos of this baby as it is being made.  This unique maker specializes in the old patterns- multiblade folders- and told me his favorite is the toenail. I’ll get the actual specs soon and hopefully will be provided additional shots of the final stages and finished produced. In the meantime, check out the creation of this old style swellcenter-

The first meeting of the Elephant Toenail Collector Club is now history.

While the majority of our members weren’t able to make it to Bradford for the meeting, I would like to thank two of our most active members, Mr. Roger Cunningham and Mr. Ken Mundhenk. These gentlemen have been active in helping plan this meeting.  They also took it upon themselves to have a special gift made for me and presented it right off the bat. 

Roger is on the left and yours truly the right. This gavel memorializes our first club meeting and I will be sure to have it at our next meeting.

The main topic of discussion was the direction of the club and we then wrapped up with the discussion of our next meeting date. The consensus was to have our next meeting to coincide with Parker’s Knife Show this winter. The show dates are Nov. 20-22 at the Sevierville Convention Center, in Sevierville, TN. I’ll get the details once they are finalized and let you know. We realize our members are located all over the Country, therefore we will only have it annually and usually around a major knife show.

Attached is the handout of the meeting club-meeting-handout.pdf.  

For the last two days I have been a part of the W R Case Collector Appreciation Weekend in Bradford, Pennsylvania, both as a member of the Case Auction Team and as a collector. I have to say I don’t believe I have ever witnessed the sincere gratitude a company has for its consumers like the Case firm has for its collectors and customers. You see and hear the “lip search” many companies attempt to pay to its customers, but usually it is more of a PR effort and staged than heart felt. Any one there over the last two days will attest, Case sincerely appreciates the folks who support and purchase from this company- from its owner and senior management all the way through its associates working in the factory.

This firm recognizes its responsibility to its customers. Let me give you a small example.  I am amazed at the admiration its customers have for the company and its executive team. I have never seen individuals line up to get autographs from corporate executives before. Most consumers are of the what’s-in-it-for-me mentality- “Give me your product or service how I want it when I want it, and if I don’t like something I’ll let you know.”

One of the most intriguing phenomenon is Case’s customers are more fans than consumers, and the Case firm clearly recognizes and accepts the responsibility that comes with this culture. And I must say, the senior management team spend hours meeting and signing autographs for their fans. And Case spent this weekend expressing through a special event that it wanted to let these fans know- it values and appreciates them too.

I’ll add more about my trip over the next week- about the first meeting of the ETCC club, the auction, significant events and people I encountered while in Bradford, but the truth is of all the events and happenings there, I am most impressed with Case’s sincere appreciation for its customers and collectors.

Do you know what and where The One Hundred Mile Circle is? Well, I am headed there tomorrow and to me it is hog heaven. It is the most historically rich 100 mile patch of territory in the entire United States. I’ve been there only once before 2 years ago, but I felt like I was on holy ground.

If you are a knife collector and into early American cutlery history, and have been in this region, then you know what I am talking about. If you aren’t familiar with this term, it is the 100 mile circle around Little Valley, NY.

According to Giles book, Case, The First 100 Years, there were over 73 different cutlery companies that have at one time been located in this magic circle. I soaked it in when I was there last and hope to do the same this trip.As you probably know, I head out tomorrow on my way into Bradford, Pa for the Case Collectors Appreciation Day. I will be landing in Buffilo and driving down.

Two years ago Case asked me to conduct their auction and they asked me back. On Friday night, we have 10 items that are sure to be treasured among collectors. As you also know we are having our first Elephant Toenail Collector Club meeting at 11:00 Saturday morning in the boardroom of the Case factory. Come be with us.

Last trip in I visited Cattaraugus and Little Valley. I wanted to go over to Eldred, but wasn’t to. I also when on a fun trip with the Case historic tour that takes you up to Little Valley to see the original factor sites and grave sites of the Case brothers and family.I’ll try to post while I am gone but for sure will at least once when I return.

Identifying a fake toenail- Seeking an expert’s opinion

Fellow ETCC members let’s face it- there are knives out there made to trick us into spending our hard earned money on them under the pretense that they are authentic. While we don’t want to go around paranoid thinking everyone is a crook, we do have to be prudent in our pursuit to find toenails to add to our collection.

I admit I have bought fake toenails thinking they were the real deal. Most of the time I sought counsel and then returned the knife. One such individual’s opinion I value is Bernard Levine. As you may know, Mr. Levine has written several books (10) and over 500 articles related to knives. My all time favorite is no longer published, yet can be purchased from his site- Levine’s Guide to Knives and Their Values, 4th Edition. I had the fortunate opportunity to meet him at the Oregon Knife Collectors Show in Eugene, Oregon a few years ago.  Mr. Levine is pictured below at the show.

While he can be very harsh (by choice I am sure) in telling me I should have been able to make the determination on my own, rarely do I disagree with his conclusions.

Recently, I posted about the 7250 Tortoise Shell Case Brothers I had purchased. When it came in I immediately contacted Mr. Levine pertaining to the identifying tortoise shell handles vs celluloid. Here’s what he had to say to me after I spelled out what I saw (he had seen pictures at this point too).

Let’s all learn from his wisdom here-

1. First look at the knife. You did that, and found a list of problems, mainly size and shape, but also the bad fit of the handle material (regardless of what it is or isn’t). This should put you on your guard.

2. Second look at the WAY it is marked. This marking is obviously fake. This fakery kills the deal (regardless of what the marking says).

3. Only if the knife passes muster on #1 and #2 should you consider what the mark says. You made the mistake of doing #3 first, and wasted both our time.

Granted his jab at the end stung, but his points are the important thing (I told you he was harsh, didn’t I?).

Should you ever wish to seek his opinion know this: He won’t speculate. He will tell you if he knows or he doesn’t. Note too, he has a strict criteria for photos, if you are going to send any. He won’t look at any pictures that don’t meet his specs. Contact him before sending him any photos. He charges for his time (paypal).

He is an expert and is very interesting to talk to. You’d love to read some of the emails I have received from him- my suggestion is the less you say the better. Just get to your point and let him answer.

As a wrap up- I approach him as if he was my grandfather. Gruff, harsh and will put me in my place- but is fair and is really trying to teach me to think.

My intent with this post was not to “push you to contact Mr. Levine,” but I like the guy and truly value his insights. So, let’s take his guidance to heart here and be thankful we still have these old timers still with us to whip us into ‘right learning.’

Recently one of our active ETCC members got a lead on a CB 7250 Tortoise Shell handled toenail and did the right thing of running it down. Do you know how rare an authentic 7250 Case Brothers tortoise shell is?

Interestingly, however, it turned out to be the same fake Case Brothers (and same seller, Jay Nelson of Huntington, WV), I purchased a few years ago. The good news is we KNOW about this knife and who has it. The main purpose of this article is to put our other fellow members on notice before Toenail Blindness* clouds someone’s  judgment and it is added to their collection.

Here is it- at first glance it almost looks good but if you look further it is a fake.

I’ll cover what I didn’t like about it, but first take a look at the stamps- Look at how jumbled up the letters are.

Here is the pen blade stamp- check out the remains of the ‘C’ from what I believe to be Camillus. It is right above the C on Case. Also, see how close the letters are- too close among other things.

Now compare the length against authentic Case Brothers. The top one is the ‘51 pattern (4 1/2 inches) and the bottom one is the ‘50 pattern (right at 4 inches) Case Brothers. The fake is in the middle at 4 1/4 inches.

 I”ll post an article illustrating the various Case Brothers stamps (I know of three variations right off) soon.

The knife and backspring are ‘thinner’ than any Case Brothers (or WRC, for that matter), but are an exact match to Camillus in length, width and style. Also this knife lacks the TESTED XX stamp on the rear of the master blade. There were several other issues (real tortoise does not shrink, I am told but celluloid does, etc.), but you get the point. Therefore, I had concluded it is a Camillus frame (the blades were poorly stamped Case Brothers).

Our fellow ETCC member reached his own conclusion on this knife totally independent of me and arrived at the same conclusion- it was a fake and it was really a Camillus.

*Toenail Blindness is an delusionary illness where the collector wants to see a fake knife as the real thing.

While I am a die-hard C. Platts, Case Brothers & W R Case fan, I have always had a strong liking for Cattaraugus. This firm has it all- very rich history, TOENAILS, ample information available and my favorite town in America location- Little Valley. (Photo shown is the old factory in Little Valley after it was closed down. I “discovered” it while driving around Little Valley in 2006. You can imagine my surprise when I found it.)

This history of J.B.F. Champlin (the founder) as a businessman is very interesting. I view him as the patriarch of a whole line of American cutlery firms, including Case Bros, Kinfolks, Little Valley Knife Association, Crandall, W R Case, and many others that had their roots in some association with Mr. Champlin’s vision. (more…)