The News from ElephantToenails.com

Many of you many remember our fellow toenail collector, Russ Altamore. Russ passed away in 2005. Today, I was contacted by the executor of his estate about his knife book library.

It’s now on eBay. This set is an excellent jump start library.

Here’s the list-

* Pocketknife Trader’s Price Guide - Volume 5 by Jim Parker - very good condition with minor signs of wear
* Pocketknife Trader’s Price Guide - Volume 6 by Jim Parker - Looks to be in excellent condition
* American Premium Guide to Knives & Razors Identification and value guide by Jim Sargent - minor signs of wear
* The American Blade Collectors Association Price Guide to Antique Knives by J. Bruce Voyles - good condition - minor signs of wear
* Knife Album by Colonel Robert Mayes - great condition except for damage to front lower spine. Does not affect pages
* Price Guide to Pocket Knives 1890-1970 by Jacob N. Jarrett - Excellent condition
* Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery by Gerald Witcher - Used condition on front and rear cover - pages are in very good condition
* The Sword And Knife Makers Of Germany 1850-2000 - Vol 1 - A-L by Anthony Carter - Excellent condition
* The Knife Makers Who Went West by Harvey Platts - Excellent condition of book except for wear on the hard cover’s cover
* Cattaraugus Cutlery Co. Identification And Values by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart - Excellent condition
* New England Cutlery by Philip R. Pankiewicz - Very good condition with light signs of wear
* The Best of Knife World Volume III  - Very good condition - very little signs of wear
* The Complete Book of Pocketknife Repair by Ben Kelley Jr. - Very good condition
* The Standard Knife Collector’s Guide Identification Values Fourth Edition by Roy Ritchie and Ron Stewart - Excellent condition
* The Standard Knife Collector’s Guide Third Edition Identification Values by Roy Ritchie and Ron Stewart - Torn front cover - pages are in good condition
* The International Price Guide To Antique Knives by J. Bruce Voyles - some wear - good condition
* Big Book Of pocket Knives Identication & Values by Ron Stewart & Roy Ritchie - Excellent condition
* International Blade Collector’s Association Price Guide to Commemorative Knives - 1960-1990 by J. Bruce Voyles - Excellent condition
* Levine’s Guide To Knives And Their Values - 4th Edition - torn front cover on lower side - 2 small tears in the botton first 2 pages.
* The Official 1981 Price Guide To Collector Knives - Third Edition by James F. parker and J. Bruce Voyles - Very good condition
* Twelfth Official Price Guide To Collector Knives by C. Houston Price - good condition but cover and some pages are bent. These can be pressed out

Part Two of How do you grade toenails with replaced handles?

I mentioned there were two pearl rehandled toenails up for sale on eBay right now. Here they are-

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co (eBay #200362450831) & W R Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Bradford, Pa (eBay #200362439336)

I can hear the Purist now. But if you are looking for a replica of the older pearl toenails, rehandled knives definitely fit the bill.

HSB rehandled pearl toenail

W R Case Bradford rehandled pearl toenail

You want an interesting conversation- ask collectors of vintage knives about how they feel about rehandled knives. The purists won’t have anything to do with them, while the practicals say if the part is original to the knife then it is a collectible.

Well what about when it comes to pearl handles? Pretty hard to find replacement scales that are original. It is much easier to find bone. So, what do we do when an old pearl handled knife that has had its handles replaced with newer pearl handles?

One question that must be answered is “How do I know the knife originally had pearl handles and it is not a bone handled knife replaced with pearl?” That is difficult to determine in many cases. We have to go back and look at the old catalogs and billheads to determine if the knife was ever produced in pearl.

Then we must look at the pattern numbers on the knife to see if it matches the records, like the 8250 and 8251 Case stamp. Many old knives will not be that easy. Old records can be difficult to get our hands on.

We must also look at the maker of the knife. Were they known to produce toenails in lots of variations? If they did, then it is likely they made pearl toenails too. In the case of contract knives, the same applies. Again, many times we can conclude pearl toenails were likely to have been made.

You can see we can’t simply rush to judge here. We must do some digging. We do know pearl toenails are rare. Recently we looked at a pair of nice old pearl handles. The newer ones are fairly easy to spot. So, for toenail collectors, how do we value pearl handled knives with newer handles?

As far as I’m concerned, I do want original pearl handles, no doubt. These knives are right up there at the top in desirability and value. Toenails known to be authentic pearl toenails but had their scales replaced with newer handles are still desirable. It is going to be up to the collector as to if they see them as collectible and if they do how they value them. What about the toenails that can’t be nailed down to have been produced in pearl? Maybe that maker did or didn’t. We just can’t make a definitive determination. Again, I think it is going to come down to the preferences of each individual collector. Personally, I’m not going to not buy an old toenail with newer pearl solely because I don’t know for a fact that knife wasn’t ever produced in pearl. I’m a potential buyer, but it is going to be a function of the price.

Tomorrow, I’m going to post two pearl toenails that are for sale right now, so be thinking about your personal criteria and preferences- especially if you haven’t ever thought about it before.

The agony of defeat. Moments ago, I lost a knife I wanted, but just not enough.

I am talking about being runner up in an auction. I just didn’t want to pay retail price. While I do have several already, I didn’t have a pearl with XX stamped out on the blade, in this condition.

In case you haven’t been out prospecting for toenails over the last week and didn’t know there was a Case Brothers pearl toenail up for auction. It was being sold for the executor of an estate in Michigan.

Less than a minute ago the bidding closed. While the number of bidders was limited to 7, it narrowed down to two once the bidding got over $1000. Me and the eventual winner.

Guys, this knife was a keeper. It was an Excellent + to Near Mint example of a 100 year old Case Brothers pearl toenail.

While I wallow in my grief, I’ll close with its picture. Oh yeah, I almost forgot- it sold for $3439.99. It was worth it too. Congratulations to the winner!

When my wounds heal, I’ll post in under Recent Sales here at ET.com. The post about its pearl handles were shown here earlier today.

Got a chuckle today. Have you seen the Case Bros toenail on eBay right now?

This seller has a $2000 Buy It Now. Then he goes on to say he doesn’t expect to get $2000                            

You tell me what it is worth?

If you are an eBay watcher then you have undoubtly noticed the decent quality toenails going off there lately. Late today, another knife friend passed on one to me that has just been added.

While Camillus doesn’t seem to rank up there with Platts, Case Brothers, Napanoch and W R Case & SON and the other grade A Brands, Camillus is still a fine brand and one that should move up a notch or two with them shutting down in 2006.

While I do I a number of them, I am not a Camillus expert, but from what I have read it seems the 4 line is the older model.

This one is worth checking out-

One of our members of the Elephant Toenail Collector Club brought to my attention a Napanoch Toenail for sale on eBay right now.

Napanoch is a rare and sought after brand, and is another one of those very early toenail makers. 

According to Rhett Stedham’s book entitled, Napanoch, “A White Man’s Knife with a Red Man’s Name,” this knife company was incorporated in 1909, but had been making knives prior to that. He goes further to say, “In 1905 the knife company became first known as the Napanoch Knife Company.”

Winchester Repeating Arms Co. bought them in June of 1919. The original founders of this firm later (1921) founded Honk Falls Knife Co., another very rare brand. In fact, these men returned to the original Napanoch plant where they started Honk Falls (Winchester had moved Napanoch to New Haven, CT).

Goin’s states the founders of Napanoch were making knives as early as 1900.

In its early years Napanoch made knives on contract for several firms that sold toenails, including, Wilbert Cutlery Co., Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett, Challenge Cutlery Co., Henry Sears, and, of course, W. R. Case & Son!

As a side note- we understand the years of W. R. Case & Son to be 1902- 1903, so we know Napanoch was making toenails then.

Napanoch is another major player in the early history of Elephant Toenails.

One of the charter members of the Elephant Toenail Collectors Club found him a jewel recently on eBay.

Again I’m reminded as I write this that toenails are out there, we just have to look for them. Rarely will a rare toenail land in our lap, but they are out there to be found. Personally, I think there will be some come back into circulation over the next couple of years so be ready.

Anyway, this particular knife was headed ” Old, rare knife Tidioute.” See what I mean about seeking…

No mention of “Toenail,” or “Sunfish,” instead the seller simply referred to it as a “folding knife.”

While the knife did sell for better than $700, my guess is only the Tidioute (Union Cutlery Co brand) buyers were in on this, and not the toenail collectors in general (save one). It probably would have brought even more had it been labeled for what it was- a Toenail.

For an extra bonus- it is one of the rarer of the Union stamps- Union Razor (1902- 1909!

Case XX Greenbone

Did you notice the recent eBay auction of the Case XX? One heck of an auction for one jewel of a toenail!

Greenbone Case XX are rare- much more common are the redbones. Greenbones are believed to have been made in the early XX era. This seller reported it to have been made between 1040- 1955. I can go for that.

It had very active bidding with 34 bids. The final sales price was $853.

I posted it in Recent Sales.

Many of you may remember our dear friend and toenail collector, Mr. Russ Atlamore. Russ passed away on Sept. 17th, 2005. He was singularly the most enthusiastic toenail collector I have known. He took the significant time and energy to write a book on sunfish/elephant toenails about the same time I was finishing ET.com. You may get lucky and find one listed on eBay. He only had a few dozen printed at that time.

Got a message from Russ’ friend and the estate executor yesterday giving me a heads up. He is selling Russ’ knife related books, knife boxes and other memorabilia. Save the seller under your favorites as there are sure to be some goodies listed. Russ had an extensive library of reference books. 

Russ' TESTED XX knife box

Right now he has two items up on eBay with more to come.

The items are: 120314038970 and 120310486023

Let’s support the memory of our fellow toenail collector by helping out with the sale of these items.