Nostalgia

[Viking45]

I put this here in the pictures section in hopes someone can share some pics.

Does anyone remember the small Japanese lock back stiletto ad that some comic books,Popular Mechanics and other outdoor magazines had listed in the back- Buy one get a second for a penny?
I had four at one time,lost one,bent the blade on one,traded one and not sure what happened to the last one.
If anyone has one please post pics here and to make it interesting post pics of any knife that was ordered from old magazines or other promotions.
The older ones had bayonet blades and the latter ones had a clip style blade. Mine were two of each.
One more thing,if you have any of the old Japanese swing guards or stilettos with the plastic dragon/bullfighter scales please post those too.

I still have my Ulster camp knife I got from Prince Albert in I think 1968. Can't recall for sure but my dad got the three blade "Stockman" and my brother got the Barlow (or the other way around,too many years ago) My ole Grandaddy smoked Prince Albert and the floorboard of his old Ford truck was full of these tobacco wrappers.
Pretty sure I posted this a few years back when we were discussing camp knives.

[sammy the blade]

That's cool! I have an old case and a barlo that belonged to my grandpa and plan on passing them along to my son. Along with everything else I still have when and if I go see Jesus, or whatever else one my go when we cross over. Those pics. Really bring back some great memories, grandpa smoked the old prince in the can too and my little brother and I had alot of those cans. He was a great onery man and I hope he and my brother are having a cold one with a fishing line in the water. Thanks for the memories!

[Fishtail Picklock]

Yes Viking, I remember. In 1962, I was seven years old. (God blessed me with the ability to read at the age of six). I remember reading Popular Mechanics and Popular Science as a boy. Since dad began working at the Corvallis, Oregon Post Office in 1959, he brought home magazines that couldn't be forwarded. I devoured all the information I could and enjoyed every "futuristic" article I ever read.

Boys Life was a favorite along with a large number of other magazines. I ordered an AL-12 lock blade knife From Westbury Sales Inc. in New York State when I was but 10 years old. That alone should tell you something. (1965 was a long time ago). The Federal Switchblade act took effect when I was but two years old. I can't even begin to tell you the stories of what I read in every magazine that I could latch onto.

Ah, the memories!

[Viking45]

Yeah Sammy the Barlow was popular for many decades,wish I still had the ones from childhood,one was from the 50's.
My Grandad carried a Barlow but he used his hard,he had no problem touching the blade to a grinder just to get through a days work.
All of his knives were used hard and sharpened hard.

Many of the real old Barlow's from the turn of the century on up a few years were from Sheffield England. I think the Barlow originated in England.

Fishtail- Around 73/74 was when I saw the ad for those little Japanese lock back stilettos. Seems like it was 1.99 and a penny for the second one.
Back then I just stuck the money in an envelope and sent away. For about two weeks I couldn't wait to get home from school and run to the mailbox.
It was weird,they just stapled two pieces of cardboard together with the knives sandwiched between. Not really a top-notch organization.

[gravknife]

Viking
That's a cool old baccy tin and knifeI'd love that,
I love older American lock knives but i havnt bumped into many Barlows over here,and I'm shocked to learn they originated here,always pegged them as American blades.
That photo is the a typical Grandads passed down knife,they have great character and were beautifully made ,and always on the ready when any job arose.
Great knife and picture mate.
Gravknife

[Viking45]

i havnt bumped into many Barlows over here,and I'm shocked to learn they originated here,always pegged them as American blades.

Gravknife

Have a go at this- Three hundred years ago, you got around on your feet or on the back of a horse. News came via word of mouth or, in big cities, the first newspapers. The Revolutionary War was a century and a half in the future, and medicine consisted of leeches and biting bullets while your arm was amputated. Much has changed.

One thing that hasn’t changed in three centuries is the fact that one of the best knives for EDC is still the Barlow.

The Barlow is a traditional knife pattern that was first produced in the 1700s in or around Sheffield, England. It has a long bolster, a tear drop shaped handle, and a clip point blade. They almost all open with a nail knick. Dozens of companies have made Barlow pattern knives, and today you can get a cheap overseas-made version for $5 or fine custom ones for more than five figures.

From Sheffield, England, the Barlow, like other goods, was sent across the ocean in huge trade routes. It made its way up the Mississippi and into early America. Everyone that had a pocket knife in 1800s America probably owned a Barlow once in their life. They were cheap enough that even poor people could carry one. They were the first widespread EDC knife, so universal, in fact, that by the 19th century the word “Barlow” was genericized and came to mean “folding knife.” (Interesting note: I can’t think of another term that was specific, became generic, and then reverted back to a specific meaning). The Barlow was mentioned in two books of Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. This quintessential English, common man knife took hold in the New World and became the epitome of an American folding knife.

[gravknife]

Cheers mate
I'll have to keep my eyes open at car boots for an old one.
I love the tin and advertisement ,it looks great displayed like this.
Thanks for the info and history Dave as however much I love my switches,these multi blades are great well made old knives.
Gravknife

[peter44]

Hello Dave , ive got this little Jap one its 7.5 inch , its not a lockback though , look at the funny shaped ears

[Viking45]

That's great Peter. It looks very much like the ones from the old 70's ads I mentioned.
Seems they had the funny little ears like that. They were cheap knives but had a solid feel and tight lock up.

The old Japanese knives like Valor,Frost,Parker and a few others were high quality and could be had for the same cost as the Chinese crap today.
This lasted through the 70's on into the mid/late 80's when it went to Taiwan and eventually China.

Here is an old Japanese Frost Widow Maker I sold on ebay a year or so back for about 45 bucks. Kinda wish I kept it looking back.
Very solid,well built knife with a thick blade and super tight lock up. Nickle bolsters,brass liners and real bone too.
Terrible scale carving,looks like a drunk monkey scribbled that one out
Widow Maker is etched but has a nice deep tang stamp you don't see that on 300 dollar USA knives anymore.

[Fishtail Picklock]

Fishtail- Around 73/74 was when I saw the ad for those little Japanese lock back stilettos. Seems like it was 1.99 and a penny for the second one.
Back then I just stuck the money in an envelope and sent away. For about two weeks I couldn't wait to get home from school and run to the mailbox.
It was weird,they just stapled two pieces of cardboard together with the knives sandwiched between. Not really a top-notch organization.

Lord, Almighty. I remember when the knives finally came in the mail. It seemed as if it had taken forever! The cheap, Japanese steel knives are selling for a pretty penny nowadays! Why? Nostalgia, of course! So many of us that were kids treasuring the knives of the day, are looking back fondly and wishing we had them once more. Remembering both the magazines from which they were ordered, and the thrill of the knife when they arrived.

Peter: That's is SO cool, because so many of us had those, and we felt they were neat (read: impressive). Truthfully, that brought a tear to my eye.

"Take me back, take me back. Back to Gasoline Alley where I started from." - Rod Stewart,

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, Spring afternoons and long, lazy summer nights with quart-sized glasses of lemonade.

Oh, yeahhhhhhhh.

[sammy the blade]

My grandpas knives were users too, kinda wish sometimes the grinders were never invented!!!

[peter44]

Dave I like that Widow maker , the jap knives are kind of cheesey looking but in a good way , kershaw did a similar one with a finger cut out grip i love those . Fishtail i was at a fleamarket here in th U K , a guy was selling knives mostly sheath knives and folders , i got talking to him about collecting switches , he didnt have any but he had a small box full of the little jap knives and gave me one , shame it wasnt a box of Latamas !

[gravknife]

Great knife Peter
Had one years ago but with a bayonet blade,but I love those bolsters and its gleaming.
Viking,that's a nice old knife.
I have a similar knife but japanese whitby &co .
Its nickel bolsters and stainless with nice wood scales,and pretty well made from the 90s.

[Fishtail Picklock]

Peter: We were FLKs (funny little kids) back in the 1960's. Hell, with visions of tough guys and movie icons we played with our cheap stiletto knives and carved our names in trees and on park benches. These weren't tools of violence, but a "rite of passage". Fun times.

Those were the days.