The News from ElephantToenails.com

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.

They called it TRAPPERS’ PRIDE

Like I promised I wanted to show you the toenail up close and personal from the Funsten Brothers catalog. I got off last night doing research on Funsten Bros- evidently they were major players in the fur trade industry in the 1800s and into the 1900s. Maybe more to come on that firm.

Let’s get to the good stuff. I love to find toenails in catalogs (Thanks again Steve).

Initially, this toenail was thought to be made by Ulster because several some of the other knives on that page are marked Ulster, or directly referenced. However, if you look very closely on the toenail tang stamp you can see “AN”. I went back and looked at that page and found a knife pictured to be an A J JORDAN.

I now believe the toenail is an A J JORDAN toenail pictured in this catalog.

The order blank in the back of this catalog shows 191__, so I’m unable to nail the date down any closer.

Now, to connect the dots- here’s some interesting info on A J Jordan. They were an import firm based in St. Louis- Goins’ has them dated 1878- 1926. They imported from England and Germany.

In 1911, Mr. Jordan’s son, Clay Jordan, acquired PLATTS BROTHERS CUTLERY CO. of Andover. He renamed the firm to Clay Cutlery Co. and A J Jordan acted as their selling agent. It is very likely Clay Cut. Co sold made knives stamped A J Jordan.

Good stuff, huh? It is possible this toenail was made in Germany (H. Boker & Henry Sears) and imported, or made at Clay.

Just to get you going- here’s my Clay Cut Co toenail. Looks like a match, doesn’t it?

Clay Cutlery Co. Andover, NY c. 1911- 1923

Another interesting point is- notice the single pull. Based on the order blank in the Funsten catalog, there is no doubt the knife for sale was made in the teens, so we know toenails were offered then without a double pull or long pull, both are commonly associated with knives produced in the early 1900s. The Platts Brothers standard style toenails only had a single pull too have both a long pull and regular pull.

Pearl toenails are rare. All you have to do is search The List at ET.com to realize this. And while The List is by no means every toenail made, it does give us a feel for the different knives out there. In fact, only 7% of the 250 different knives cataloged on The List are pearl. If you think about all the old toenails made, I bet the percentage of pearls is much lower than that.

Because pearls are rare and we don’t run across them often, I thought I would show you what you are looking for when you look at the handles. If you have never seen an old pearl up close, the handles may appear to be less than desirable (if you are used to looking at MINT knives, that is).

Nothing can be further from the truth though. Seeing pearl like this is like having black stuff (black gold, Texas tea) bubbling up in your backyard.

What you see here is AGE. This particular knife is about 100 years old.

Again let’s keep the look of pearl in context. We’re talking old knives. And this is what old looks like.

I have one for you. Here it is-

You know the W R Case Jumbo? Everyone agrees it was made either by Platts or on their equipment after the merger with W R Case.  But how is it we say there are W R Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Jumbos made on contract by Platts?

We have been told there are W R Case & Sons Jumbos that were made by Platts for W R Case & Sons before their merger.

Well, here’s the rub- before the merger Case wasn’t W R Case & Sons Cutlery Co, instead it was W R Case & Son Cutlery Co, plus it was Little Valley, not Bradford. I need to go back through my W R Case Jumbos to see if any are LVNY, but this I know for sure- there ain’t none of them SON knives. I’m only talking Jumbos here, cause there are SON standard toenails.

So, I guess I need another expert to come forward to clear this up for me. If there was no SONS til after the merger, then how is it popular opinion that the W R Case & Sons was a contract knife made by Platts? Do you follow me?

The truth is I am perfectly fine if all W R Case Jumbos were made after the merger- that would actually clear things up for me. Then we would know the earliest date the W R Case Jumbos were made- about 1905. Then the only question still on the table would be- when did they stop making them? But, we’ll hold that one for another day.

And, no this isn’t a Trivia Question; this one is my question that needs answered and you guys are the Elephant Toenail Collector Club, so what say you? If it is an obvious answer, please be kind and don’t embarrass me, OK? : )

In the quest of dating Cattaraugus toenails and the number of pins used during the company’s 77 year existence (1886- 1963), here’s a tidbit-

Pre- 1913 Etched Cattaraugus Elephant Toenail

This Catt is etched “The Western Hdwe & Imp. Co.”

I am able to only find a snippet of information at this point on the hardware company. 

 

 

 

 

The Western Hardware & Implement Company’s name was changed in 1913 when the business was sold.

So, one fact we can nail down is this- the 3 pin dates back to pre- 1913.

I know I am a week behind posting about these blades, but my internet service has been offline at home since last Tuesday. We are going crazy. My son, middle daughter and I am at my office today (Sunday afternoon). They are big WOW players and have their weekly raids shortly.

I saw these blades last week before the auction ended and thought it would be cool to add them to the ol’ collection. Needless to say, it is hard to buy online with you are offline. My guess is they sold to a knife maker.

It was a set of elephant toenail blades. I agree with the seller that they look like Catt blades.

How often can you find toenail blades that haven’t been tang stamped or drilled for the pin and are unsharpened, literally.

If you have ever wondered what an honestly full masterblade looks like- here is the fullest of full. Don’t you just love to see how it bows (bulges) out near the tip. You won’t find many used toenails with truly full blades, except for every now and then.

I need some help! Would a Cattaraugus expert please come forward to answer this question for me.

I’ll pose it to the group here- “Just how many pins does it take to pin handles on a Catt toenail?”

I thought I had seen it all on Catt toenails. I’ve seen toes with 3 pins, 4 pins and 5 pins, but now there is a 7 pin?! The most interesting aspect of this knife is it is at a pretty fair price of $355 on eBay so far, so maybe it is just me. I have never seen any toe with 7 pins before now that I can think of it.

I think the best way to tell you about my last three days is as a photolog, so here goes. The tale begins at Parker’s Knife Show, then a tour through the NKCA Knife Museum and finally, breakfast with some fellow Elephant Toenail Collector Club Members. Then I headed home.

Parker's Show Hall

C Platts Jumbo for sale by Joe Seale

National Knife Collection Museum

Platts History & Jumbo

Case Family Toenail

Case Brothers Toenail

Early Case Toenail

Henry Sears & Son Tear Drop Style

Napanoch Display featuring Toenail

Voyles Knife Auction

As a followup to my editorial- I am Angry a few issues need further addressed and clarified in light of some of the comments I have received. Thanks for taking an interest and sharing your thoughts with me.

1. I am fine with criticism. Moreover, as long as it is rendered in gentlemanly (or womanly, as the case may be) fashion, you are free to express your thoughts.

2. It seems as if my comments were incorrectly construed to have been defending sham artists (crooks, fakers, and folks who intentionally deceive others) as a result of a link posted on BladeForums.com and that topic’s context.

(more…)