Cattaraugus Cutlery Company
All you guys know I am on a never ending quest to trace toenails back to the earliest date I can.
There are only a handful of firms that could have made them prior to around 1900. One of those firms, and a highly potential candidate, is the underrated- Cattaraugus Cutlery Company, Little Valley, New York.
This firm was a major player in early American cutlery history. Their history was the foundation of Case Brothers, W R Case, C. Platts and many other firms later to come.
Trying to find a connection between any firm in the late 1800s and our favorite pattern has so far been fruitless. Sure we know there is the 1904 Case Brothers Catalog with a photo of two toenails in it. I have an old Case Brothers Manufacturing Co., Gowanda, NY box with 8250 legibly written on its end, aside from those two items, as far as I have anyway, there are few clues to go on.
Cattaraugus Invoice May 24, 1894
Last week, I grabbed a 05/24/1894 Cattaraugus Cutlery Co. billhead/invoice off of eBay hoping it would have the sacred pattern number “92″ on it (a bone toenail is 22929), however struck out again. I actually have several now from the late 1880s and 1890s, but none of them have our patten number being ordered.
So, I will keep searching…if you happen on any lead we can use to trace back toenails to pre-Case Brothers, please let me know. In fact, I’ll name the discovery after you (like when someone discovers a new star it is named after them)!
March 6th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Update: I corrected the pattern number of a bone handled toenail. It is 22929.