The News from ElephantToenails.com

Did you see this Marbles 1910 Trade Catalog that sold on eBay recently? It sold for $468 and was only 13 pages.

I’ll do a post on MSA Toenails as a Feature Toenail soon, but we know they did list toenails in the 1905, 1906, 1907 and their 1908/09 editions. Don’t know if this edition that sold on eBay had toenails or not.

You do know that Marbles never made toenails. The toenails were made on contract by Case Brothers, but I don’t want to steal my own thunder by going any further into toenails, as this post was just about this valuable catalog.

Mr. Larry Gagner of Gladstone, MI helped me when I first started to try to get my arms around Marbles catalog and listings of toenails. Larry wrote a good article on Marbles Safety Axe that was published in Michigan Traveler in May, 1996 and possible for other pubs as well.

Old cutlery company catalogs offer a wealth of information and can help us learn tidbits about their toenails. Grab them when you can. If you run across any you think I might be interested in please let me know.

If you remind me one day I’ll do a Page on all the catalogs from the old cutlery companies that do list toenails- that way you can let me know of ones I am not aware of so we can compile a complete for future reference.

If you don’t already know Mark, you don’t have to talk to him very long before you clearly see he has the collectors’ interest at heart and does not mince works when talking to the “establishment” that we are the lifeblood of the knife world. Mark has always encouraged me with ET.com and trying to use technology to advance our hobby.

One of the things I like about Mark is he is not shy about his editorial comments, which is why my favorite “section” of Knife World is his editorials. You can find “Irons in the Fire” now on page 4 of each edition.

If you don’t already know Mark, next time you are at a knife show look him up as he will probably be there based on the number of shows he attends. 

I have made Mark Zalesky our first honorary ET.com member (I can do that, can’t I?).  With that I’d like to introduce my friend and fellow cutlery enthusiast Mr. Mark Zalesky. 

Hi Scott,
I’d be happy to accept, thanks very much for thinking of me. Will do my best to answer your questions…

General geographic area you call home (country, state/province)

Knoxville, TN

What first got you into collecting toenails?

I’m not precisely a toenail collector, though I’ve owned quite a few over the years. I think Scott has a couple of them…

How long you have collected toenails?

A second-generation knife collector, I’ve been collecting & trading antique knives since roughly 1974… age 5 if you can believe that. Going to gun shows with my Dad was a lot more exciting than staying home and baking cookies with Mom!

Do you collect other patterns in addition to toenails?

My primary interest these days is in pre-Civil War bowie knives by American makers, but I collect or have collected over the years a number of different things… pre-1875 American made lockbacks, Marble’s knives, American made exotic pearl handled knives, wharncliffe patterns, straight razors with patriotic or political motifs, 19th century cutlery related ephemera, and so forth.

Do you collect old or newer toenails?

I’m definitely a rusty blade guy, though I will admit to owning a few modern handmade pieces.

What is your favorite toenail?

I only own one “keeper” — a stag handled M.S.A. Co. that is one of very few holdovers from my Marble’s collecting days. It’s badly worn, but absolutely authentic… and I just can’t bear to part with it.

What is your profession?

Editor of Knife World magazine.

Do you attend knife shows? If so about how many a year?

Roughly 20-25 knife shows or other knife related events a year.

Are you currently looking for any particular toenail to purchase?

Not really… but actively collecting lots of other stuff on the list above.

Any other information you would care to share with the members here at ET.com.

Kudos to Scott King for the fabulous collecting resource he’s created… here’s hoping that he can find time to pen more KNIFE WORLD articles in the future!

Are you willing to share your email address to the membership?

I’m easy to find… just go to http://www.knifeworld.com
Mark

When we mine for nuggests as we have here for going on 10 years now, we (as in ME/I) end up “collecting” other “stuff” (in proper terms it is called Ephemera, which is nothing more than a fancy word for stuff, junk, etc), well anyway, I was mining for nuggests and came across a pretty good one! Let me show you .

I know it is hard to make out what this is, BUT it just so happens to be a page from a Marbles Safety Axe Company (MSA) catalog.

In case you don’t know, this knife was made for Marbles by Case Brothers. I’ll feature the toenail in the upcoming weeks, but suffice to say, that knife today in Excellent condition would be worth probably $8500 to $15,000. Yeah, let’s all catch our breath for a moment now.. I’ve heard rumors of one that couldn’t be bought for $10,000. Heck, my very closest friend in the world (read ME) paid $1500 for a Junk condition stag handled MSA. It is up in the list. It even has a nail holding in one of the blades.Anyway, the point of the post this morning was the finding nuggets, so let’s shake the sick feeling of the value of the pearl handled MSA in the picture for now…..

This is an actual page with a MSA pearl handled toenail. Marbles didn’t make the toenails. Case Brothers did. In a 1904 Marbles catalog there is a Case Brothers stamped pearl toenail pictured.

The page above is dated October 11, 1907. Keep your eyes peeled out there. It is “stuff” like this that can provide us invaluable nuggets.