The News from ElephantToenails.com

Did you get your copy of Knife World yet? I got mine today. How about that killer article on Clay Cutlery by David Pierce? I drank in every word on the first read through. I’ll be reading it a few more times before I file that edition away. It is super rich in cutlery history. David is very thorough and does a good job on his articles.

It covers all the hot points- Andover, NY; Platts Brothers; Killer pictures; Cattaraugus; A J Jordan and even the ol’ Case Brothers got mentioned.

And for us here at ET.com, it even had a picture of one of our favorite knife patterns in all the world

I know you probably think I fell off a log and broke my hands, but between my work schedule and family scheduling, I am still here and OK (as far as I know anyway).

Wanted to update you on my interview with custom knifemaker Tony Bose- I’m scheduled to talk to him in the morning…it is going to be good. I know, again, we aren’t into customs much around here, but my gracious, to talk to a knifemaker of the caliber of Mr. Bose who has actually made swellcenters- albeit only a few, is way too cool for me. Again let me remind you of his statement that those knives were there hardest to make of ANY knife he has ever made.

I can’t wait. Plus, with all the technological advances in knifemaking we have today, if today’s makers call it hard, just think how hard it must have been back at the C. Platts factory!

Our life is filled with a deluge of thoughts and image impressions. Our memories are, to put it in computer terms, are like a folder on our hard drive. All day, every day, our internal video camera is recording everything our 5 senses are encountering. Think of the shear amount of data our brains filter on a daily basis. Most studies conclude the brain retains this information for your entire lifetime.

Well, while it is interesting to ponder all that I’m just a knife guy who can’t seem to “call up” my kid’s cell phone numbers, so trying to remember what I got for my birthday when I was 10 years old is fruitless.

BUT some things I can remember easily and as if it was just yesterday.

And the day I saw my first toenail is one of those instant recall memories. I’ll never forget it; that knife just jumped out and grabbed me.  It was so different from any of the knives I was familiar. It was so different, unusual, peculiar, and cool, that I knew right then and there I had to find me one!

Long story short- I was “studying” Levine’s Guide to Knives and Their Values 4th edition and when I flipped to the page- those ET’s just reached up and grabbed me ’round my neck.

Here is exactly what I saw

To be honest, it was the C Platts that stood out to me the most.

You gotta love that knife. I mean look at that master blade. It is huge.

I lusted over it for some time (before I turned the page). I was disappointed to see Levine say these knives were popular and expensive. I concluded they were going to be hard to find and really doubted if I would ever actually own one.

So, do you remember your first time?

As an aside, forget the value he had on it at the time (The jumbo had $675 and the pearl MSA at $1200). I’m guessing the book was published close to 25 years ago. That knife today is worth going on… Well that exact knife is owned by the Platts family and is worth probably $10,000 to $15,000! The pedigree of that knife being in the founders family for all these years is what knocks that price out of the park.

I know of two cleaned excellent condition W R Case swellcenters sold a few months ago for $4500 a piece. I know of another one in Near Mint condition offered for a tad under $6000.

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…)

I was contacted by a reputable dealer recently making me aware of a super nice Platts Jumbo Swellcenter he had available. He deals in only the best of the best.

Check it out-

She’s a beaut that is for sure! Of course, a minty knife like this has a minty price- just a few dollars under $6000.

If you know where any Jumbos are out there for sale better grab them while you can. If and when they get hard to find, then you will see prices that will take your breath…..

One day I’ll post the prices for Jumbos were for sale for back in the early 80’s. You will be amazed at how affordable they were then (at least to us today anyway). We will probably look back and feel the same way 10 years from now.

If you are interested in this one let me know and I’ll hook you two up.

I was born and raised in a small, two-traffic light town located in southeast Alabama named Brundidge. In the name of progress, however, one of the traffic lights has been removed. We were hell bent on not becoming too big. Fifty years later, we still have just one traffic light - so, I guess the removal of that second traffic light must have worked. Although I’ve traveled all over the world, had some great times and met some great people, Brundidge is still my favorite “small town.”

My passion for collecting knives, guns, cars and Harley motorcycles started in my hometown while attempting to walk in my grandfather’s shoes. My grandfather taught me how to “have my cake and eat it too” by buying stuff that he was passionate about, taking good care of his stuff, and believing that sometime in the future, you should pass the stuff on. He instilled that in me at an early age, and I plan to pass my stuff on to the grandkids, but NOT YET!!

After graduating from high school at 17, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where I served for 5½ years (some of the best years of my life) - another case of “having my cake and eating it too.” After wearing that blue uniform for my country, I suppose I was hooked on uniforms. I returned from the Land of the Rising Son (Japan) and joined the Metropolitan Police Department in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., where I served for 20½ years (the last 13 years I served as a training officer at the Fourth District) before retiring.

So - after 26 years of service in the Air Force and on the Police Department, I decided that it was about time for me to “man up” and do some real work - I founded V. Henderson Landscaping in 1991. I am still having fun doing this. One of the properties that I take a lot of pride in landscaping and maintaining is the US Chamber of Commerce located across the park (Lafayette Park) from the White House. This property was once the home of the historic Webster family - so, if any of ET.com folks decide to tour this great city and the White House, feel free to walk across the park to the U.S.Chamber, go the front desk and ask for me. If I’m not around that day, they will know how to reach me.

In the past few years while chasing that next “must have” for my collection, I’ve had the chance to talk with some of the most passionate people that I’ve ever encountered (the late James Parker, his son Buzz Parker, Bob Wurzelbacher and, without a doubt, Scott King to name a few). These men have been forthcoming, earnest and helpful - some things that you don’t see much any more. This is just one of the reasons that collecting knives can be so intoxicating for me - what better way to spend your money - collecting knives that you can enjoy for a lifetime while at the same time, teaching your kids (or in my case, the grandkids) some real life lessons about taking care of your stuff, investing, patience and discipline - like “having your cake and eating it too.”

Just like ET.com creator, Scott King, I am also hooked on the elephant toenail pattern - stag is my favorite handle material. C. Platt Son, Case and Napanoch are my favorite brands, but I love all brands of elephant toes. When I’m not searching for old elephant toes, I love driving some of the vehicles that I’ve collected over the years. My favorite is a 1974 Pantera that I purchased brand new and it still has the original wiper blades.

That’s a little about me. I look forward to reading all of your bios.

P.S. Thanks Scott for firing up the old toes again!

When I was writing the article on Welcome to My World I contacted David Anthony to inquire about their Gowanda, NY factory years of operation. I ran on some conflicting info in different knife books.

My purpose here is to provide correct dates for us as we go forward in our research, not to prove any other book or author wrong.

David has authored several articles on the Platts family and their history in cutlery. He is viewed as The Authority on anything Platts related.

Here is what David had to say (I inserted the pictures)-

Scott,I’ll be happy to tell you anything about the Platts family cutlers that I can. Some of Goin’s dates are wrong and because everyone else relied on his information, the other knife guides are usually wrong on their dates also. Here are the correct dates gathered from 20 years of extensive research:

C. Platts & Sons, Gowanda, NY 1896-1897

C. Platts & Sons, Eldred, PA 1897-1900

C. Platts’ Sons, Eldred, PA, 1900-1905

Platts Bros. Eldred, PA 1905-1907:

These knives were not actually manufactured by the Platts Bros. but were contract or “private brand” knives almost certainly made by the Eldred Cutlery Co. but bearing the Platts Bros. Eldred, PA stamp. There is absolutely no evidence that any knives stamped Platts Bros. were made before Charlie and Frank Platts started this jobbing business in 1905, after C. Platts’ Sons was sold to W.R. Case & Sons.

Platts Bros. Andover, NY 1907-1910

Platts Bros. Union, NY 1910-1911

Hope this helps. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. It was a pleasure to hear from you.

Best Regards,

Dave Pierce

In our recent ET.com survey it was interesting for me to see a the majority of you indicated the topics of The News were just right- not too basic and not too advanced, however a handful of you indicated a desire for some “meaty” topics. Well you know advance level courses in college (graduate and doctoral level courses) don’t always give you answers as much as teaching you to THINK.

So, with that here we go and, while I don’t profess to be a doctor of toenails, I thought I’d let you into my world……hang on tight and DON’T JUST SKIM.

Let’s begin by asking: “Do you ever wonder which knife company invented the toenail?” I do all the time. I have been running this rabbit for years now and have declared this to be my quest. (more…)

I love being able to get real time feedback from the members here on various topics of interest. While I recognize only a representative segment of our visitors and members take part in our surveys/polls/postings, it does give us a snap shot of feedback at that time. The most Recent Poll asked you to identify your favorite toenail style.

The clear majority of the voters said the Jumbo Swellcenter to be their favorite. Then it was almost a tie between that cute Tear Drop style and what I call the “Standard” style.

The fact that you guys like the Jumbo the best doesn’t surprise me. The Jumbo represents best of all what I think of when I think of a toenail- Massive knife, huge scales (handles) and mother of a master blade. When I think of a toenail the sheer size and weight of the knife instantly comes to mind and the Jumbo is all of that and more!

I will say I was surprised by the level of interest in the Tear Drop style, however, I have always been fond of it. While the standard style, compared to the other two, may strike you as a bit vanilla (plain), we all know it is by far the most common and offers the most variety in the number of different cutlery companies that produced it.

I have a particular fondness for the Jumbo though because it was that knife that jumped out and grabbed me when I, for the first time, flipped the page of Levine’s Guide to Knives and their Values, 4th Edition and saw the various examples of toenails shown on that page.

Did you know there are different variations of the Jumbo? It is true and while they might be considered to only be slight differences, the fact remains there are differences. I have been working on a article on this, but I am not finished, so allow me to illustrate two of the most notable ones below.

While we don’t know this for sure but believe the one shown below is the later model produced by W R Case (after the merger with Platts) and the last model made. Notice the style of the master blade compared to what is called the “Platts Jumbo.” You can see it is a much narrower master blade.

Below is the Platts Jumbo stamped W R Case & Sons, Bradford, PA. This particular knife was either made by Platts on contract for WRC or was made after the firms merged in 1905. Also, you will note the “Platts shield” on these. (I am of the inclination that there is even an earlier version of the “C. Platts” Jumbo and will be sharing that with you in a couple of weeks).

We love the JUMBO!

At the NKCA Show in Dalton, Georgia, I found two jumbo swellcenters for sale for $5000 each. One was a WR Case (Platts production). Nice full blades and great handles. The other was a later W R Case swellcenter with the more “modern” style master blade. It appeared to have a variation of Rogers bone and bowtie shield. It also had the matchstriker in the nail nic. Both of these are up in The List for your review (not the ones I found at the show but the two I have). I would say both were EX + to NM.

This morning, I made one more quick walk through just to see if there was anything I missed and to say goodbye to my old and new friends. I took a stab at getting the swellcenters, but to no avail. Even though I had both of them, I am always willing to have some more .

As I was trying to come to terms on them the dealer asked me an interesting question and one to which I hadn’t really ever thought about before. He was trying to convince me I needed to snatch them up because he felt there aren’t many “out there,” so he asked “So just how many jumbo swellcenters do you think there are out there today?” Now that was an interesting question. He expected me to say something like “…oh, you are right, there aren’t very many.” But you know, after I thought about it I said “dozens.” He was taken back by my response, but the truth is I believe there are dozens out there in collections today.

Heck, I know quite a few folks with one or more. I also know of at least three single bladed Platts floating around. Then factor in the folks who are closet collectors (folks who don’t want anyone to know what they have) and the folks who don’t really know what they have. All you have to do is read the Toenail Q & A to see what I mean. I know of at least two folks who have emailed me asking about Jumbos they either found and didn’t know much about them or inherited.

Anyway, I was pleased to say that I believe there are dozens that have been identified and are being preserved in collections out there.