Old Knives, Xx, and More: Case and Case-Related Knives Before 1920: a Guide to Identification and Value

By Tom McCandless

Knife collecting has grown tremendously in the last thirty years, and the most collected brand by far is Case.
The long history of Case knives dates to 1896, when brothers John, Jean, and Andrew Case began producing knives with their stampings. Author Tom McCandless, a longtime knife collector, explores the history of Case knives from their beginning to 1920 in Old Knives, XX, and More. He also chronicles his own experiences as a collector in building knowledge, networking with dealers and vendors, and finding answers to questions of value and authentication.
Early Case knives, current-production knives, or knives from any period between are all collectible. Some collectors focus on patterns such as whittlers, stockman, or trappers. Other collections are based on handle materials such as stag, bone, pearl, greenbone, and redbone.
If you want to know more about collecting knives—including pattern numbers, handle materials, grading conditions, and pricing—this book is an essential resource.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532068447

Tom McCandless

Tom McCandless spent forty years in the banking business, retiring as president and chairman of a community bank. He has also worked as an auctioneer and real estate appraiser. He enjoys raising and training Brittany bird dogs, collecting old pocketknives, and spending time with his five grandchildren. He occasionally sells knives on eBay under the handle olderdogs1.

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Copyright © 2019 Tom McCandless.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-6843-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-6845-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-6844-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019902267

iUniverse rev. date: 04/12/2019

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Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1   The Big Three

Chapter 2   History of Case Knives

•   The Beginning of the Case Story

•   The Beginning of Knives Marked Case

•   Case Brothers Cutlery Company, 1896–1914

•   Little Valley Knife Association, 1898–1903

•   Standard Knife Company, 1901–1903

•   W. R. Case & Son, 1902–1905

•   Crandall Cutlery Company, 1904–1912

•   W. R. Case & Sons, 1905–1914

•   Case Manufacturing Company, 1908–1911

•   J. D. Case Company and John D. Case & Sons and Company, 1908–1911

•   The Case Bradford Era, 1915–1920

Chapter 3   General Collecting Information

Chapter 4   Specific Grading Information

•   Pattern Numbers

•   Number and Letters of Handle Material

•   Handle Materials on Old Case Knives Pre-1920

•   Grading Condition of Knives and Adjusting for Value

Chapter 5   Pricing

Foreword

Tom is a longtime knife collector who has evolved over the years, as a lot of us fellow knife enthusiasts have. Every collector starts out with sporadic interests that eventually narrow in on a particular concentration. He has settled in gathering pre–Tested era Case and Case-related knives.

A while back at a knife show, we bumped into each other and showed each other our recent acquisitions in our own collections. As usual, Tom pulled out several early Case knives, the likes of which are rarely seen. Some of the pieces he presented to me included a couple of W. R. Case & Sons Winterbottom bone knives as well as three or four Case Bradfords in Old Rogers bone. I was impressed by the knives, and most were things I had never seen before.

In the course of our discussion, Tom asked what I thought of a book on early Case-era companies and their offerings, including W. R. Case & Son, W. R. Case & Sons, W. R. Case Bradford, Case Brothers, Crandall, Case Manufacturing, Standard Knife Company, and Little Valley Knife Association. There has never been a book dedicated only to this area of collectable knives. In my opinion, it is an area that has not been covered as well as Tested XX, XX, and newer Case knives; thus, it is an important addition to other available references.

In this book, you will see pictures of some rare and rarely seen knives, many of which are in Tom’s personal collection as well as the collections of others. There has never been a book that catalogued these knives in color photos, and doing so gives readers an ability to see what these knives should look like.

This work will be invaluable in determining authentic historic knives of Case