5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

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jerryk25
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5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

5 inch mini knives.
I always called them " One Cent Sale" knives.
because I recall an advertisement "get a second knife for a penny more".

Usually, you would see the knives advertised in sporting magazines,
the kind with a stag deer on the cover, and sales ads in the back.
Sometimes you'd see a knife on the back of a comic book.
But usually not.

I first sent for "Smoke from your fingertips",
and the Giant Frankenstien Poster.
And I got a Free "Johnson Smith" catalog.
And inside were at least 20 different knives.
I found out if I ordered the Fake Dog Poop,
and a big "Iron on" t-shirt decal. . .
I could keep my knife purchase a secret. . from my Mom. . .
It was small, and could hide in the packaging.

I saw the knife Advertisement of the STILETTO.
It had a button on the top bolster. . .
I had visions of receiving an Italian Gravity Flick Knife.
I sent for it (about 1964). . . .
and I got ripped off.
I got a regular lockback.

I got a little 5 inch lock-back from japan.

I guess I missed the "cut-off" date somewhere after 1958.
It was too much like a switchblade to be sold anymore.

Subsequent advertisements were scribbled out buttons,
and eventually they correctly changed the image.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

This started a FORTY YEAR SEARCH. . . for that "toggle knife".
I saw one from a distance in high school.

I finally got a similar mechanism from Bob at SharperDeals.
But the one he sold to me has a swing guard and is 9 inches long.

And I have a friend who has the regular bolster version.
Also a 9 inch version, I only have a bad flat bed scan of it.

Below it is the infamous toggle knife swing-guard that eluded me for so long.
It sits next to a standard 9 inch lock back for scale.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

But in an indirect way, the 40 year search led to a collection
of mini 5 inch lockbacks of various quality.

Here is a select choice scan of my 5 inch One Cent Sale knifes.
The Valor 15187 has loose stainless bolsters on Stainless liners
The Valor 15188 has loose stainless bolsters on Stainless liners
The Valor 587T has Brass liners and soldered Nickel bolsters
. . . . with horn scales and a Faux Button.
The Valor 187T has stainless liners and bolsters with plastic scales.
The G.C.Co 212 has stainless bolsters and real horn scales
. . . . and is much thicker than usual.
The O.M.O.R. J204 has Nickle bolsters and real horn scales
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

Here is a New AKM switchblade, next to some of my vintage stuff.
Added in the lineup is a G.C.Co manual picklock in 5 inch.
I wish somebody would make those again.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

Many of the One Cent Sale advertisements clearly show the fishtail VALOR knife.
with the tell tail straight cross guard ears.

i remember the advertisement for a 5 inch knife with "S" cross guards.
It was the ad that ACTUALLY SAID "send 1c more and get a second knife"
But I don't have a photocopy of that advert . . .yet. . . .

It was a long time, but eventually a fellow collector
Belmont got me the evasive little 5 incher . . . . named REX K-11 . . .
It actually seemed like a little "Flat Guard".
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Last edited by jerryk25 on Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

Jackalope has a really cool Rosco mini knife. . . great tang stamp.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

Valor always made a slightly better mini knife.
Often they were brass liners, and real nickle bolsters.

Eventually the Viking / Valor locktab stilettos disappeared.
You know, the "peg in the hole" like a classic picklock.
to be replaced by the standard back lock similar to buck knives.
(I don't know what you call that, standard square key notch. ? ? ? )

Then the "S" quillion cross guards . . . .(or "Ears" as I call them)
changed into something like a muscleman curling weights.
I called them "Pagoda bolsters" for quite a while,
and then someone coined the term "Saguaro Cactus Bolsters"
which seems more accurate a description.

At first the Saguaro bolsters were robust and solid,
the knife liners were punched out to match the bolster ear profile.

Then the blades went from bayonet to clip point.
and the bolsters were no longer soldered in place.
You would notice the bolsters often would wiggle around .

Finally, then clip point blade became very flat without a bevel.
All the pins on the handle scale disappeared,
and the liner no longer extended out under the cross guard ears.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

There were other 5 inch knives out there in the mail order days.
Lots of Swing-guards, some were sheep-foot, some were regular bolstered.

I suspect this weird . . . "impossible to fold closed" . . . . advertisement
was for this swing-guard 5 incher.

But never having sent for it at the time, I can't be sure.
I never collected the Bullfighter / Dragon scales,
or multi colored scale either.
I just have one or two in the collection box.

That red one has a long weird nail nick. . .
I just noticed that. . while editing this post. . .

The VALOR swinguard does not have a weird bottom bolster. . .
Someone drilled it for a lanyard hole.
I filled it with a soft solder big fat pin.
I was going to finish and burnish it. . .
But, I stopped. . . it looked okay. . .
I just liked having various blade grind examples.

Wow. . . a buck and a quarter for a knife. . . . .
Back when a "dime Bag" actually cost $10 ten bucks.
That was a days pay shoveling horse manure, and tossing hay bales.
That was before Zip Codes . . .
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Last edited by jerryk25 on Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:15 am, edited 3 times in total.
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

I like to mangle. . .or rather,
I USED to like to mangle. Back when my fingers still worked.
I find I can work soft materials, but not metal.
I don't trust myself with a dremel anymore.

I noticed I was falling off my skill level a while back
and I switched to using copper wire for pins.
I didn't feel the need to make anything "permanent".
I got enough weapons.
Time to just play with wall hangers.

About 6 years ago, I was refitting a horn handle on a mini.
I had an extra Rizzuto Blade, or the like,
I was all ready to swap out a blade. . .
and I stopped.
Something came up. . .work. . .my health. . something.
and I never got back to it.
I fitted up a test blade, didn't like it, and never
finished filing the rizzuto blade down to the correct size..

I think it was because thing were easy with the machine shop.
And since I sold my shares of it, and never went back,
My home drill press just doesn't impress me.

Now I just wax them and bag them. . .take them out on rotation. .
open mail with them. . clean my fingernails.
The big ones are used as a back scratcher.

I got a nephew (the son of my nephew) . . .who is a boy scout.
he's into knives. . . I'll have to mentor him. . . .
but I'm not quite ready to turn over to him some projects.
He's young, and everything is " rush-rush-rush-get it done-next toy . . "
As soon as he starts "analyzing" a bit more. . .I'll let him work some
semi rare materials. . . .
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

Well, that's done.
I didn't draw anything new. . . just dug out some old posts.

i hope nobody got bored.
This was for the talkblade guys that maybe never saw this stuff before.

It's midnight.
Gonna have a bowl of lukewarm Borscht Soup.
Put my CPAP and Oxygen on, take my pills. . .
and try an sleep.

See everyone on the internet later. . .
Jerryk25
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bigfatross
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by bigfatross »

Hey Jerryk25
Let me start off by saying I’m sorry to hear that you are having health issues and wish you the best, and will keep you in my prayers. I float in and out of the knife forums so I don’t keep up as much as some of the other members, and sometimes I’m out of the loop on things.

Now back to your post……..
I just replied to your “Some K-12s” post yesterday and you created this post in a matter of hours.
MY GOD, YOU ARE A WEALTH OF HISTORY, KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION and ORGANIZED AS HELL!

I too sent in for the novelty catalogs and spent a lot of time shoveling snow / cutting grass
buying, as my Mother would say (God rest here soul) CRAP! I was more of a whoopee cushion and fake vomit kind of kid.

Growing up in the 70s I and my friends always saw switch blades in the movies and always wanted one. For you younger guys, life was a LOT different before the internet. If you wanted to learn something you would have to go to a Library or ask around to see if any one knew how to do it. If it was a “specialty" say like for instance, “knife repair” you were S.O.L. Now days you can go to YouTube type in “knife repair” and BANG you have all the info you need. It was the same thing for products like, switch blades, a “specialty" item, they were hard to find.

Being cut off from the switch blade world in the 70s, the next best thing was a knife that looked like a switch blade. Hence the Japanese made lock blade stiletto! I’m not going to rehash what I responded with in the “Some K-12s” post, but I was ecstatic when I saw your advertisement from Midwest Knife Co. I guess I’m not senile ……..yet anyway.

Jerryk25 thank you so much for sharing this info. BRING ON THE OLD STUFF, if you have it.
You do a fabulous job with your postings! It brought back great memories. And if you want to sell any of your lock backs PLEASE let me know……….. I have $5 burning a whole in my pocket ;0)
Hang in there! And thanks so much
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jerryk25
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by jerryk25 »

pre-internet days
1- walking flea markets as fast and as early as you could, scanning for knives. . . .
2- waiting patiently for a movie on TV with a 35mm film camera with Tri-X fast film, for a "knife shot"
. . . .(and waiting a week to find out the shot came out blurry. and it costs you $10 to boot.)
3- looking up stuff in the Library, Time-Life book series "this fabulous century" the 1950's.
. . . .Staring at that photo and dreaming. . .was it really like that ?

photo- Time-Life magazine / Latama LLC
I think Walt actually knows the guy, who recognized himself, and recalls that day.

Valor ads - courtesy of Gunner
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thom
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by thom »

Thanks for the post. Really brings back some very fond memories. I too ordered a supposed switchblade when I was probably 10 or 11. Pretty it was a black beauty. I saved pennies nickels dimes. Filled an envelope with $5.95 in change. I didn’t know any better. Couldn’t let my parents know. Anyway I got the knife sometime later. It was not a switchblade but a manual opener but looked like a switchblade. I don’t remember what happened to it. Years later thinking about I wonder if it all those coins actually went through the mail. I dropped the envelope with all the coins in a mailbox. Wonder if the mailman saw the return address and my mom wrote a check? I guess I will never know. My parents never said a word.
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by button_man »

.

jerry ~ Phenomenal historical information! !!! Thanks so much for this thread !!

I remember reading 'The Outsiders' (back when I was young) and being struck by a passage that described one of the kids hanging around a drugstore waiting for an opportunity to shoplift a big switchblade knife..... the presence of switchblades in a drugstore was presented in the story in a very matter-of-fact way, just as if it was as normal as seeing aspirin or sunglasses in such a place. It's hard to imagine, as you say, that it was really like that.
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Re: 5 inch mini one cent sale knives for Bigfatross

Post by rock-n-roll$$$$$$ »

very good read Jerry.
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