April 2001
"Mystery" Knife
Not a single guess on this knife for the entire month. We shall leave it archived here on the remote chance someone may stumble into it.
As suggested by several folks, we are adding this page to gather what information we can about knives of unknown origin or backgrounds. We will print what information we do have on them and any theories anyone may have right here on this page. Hit me with your best shot to stimulate the thought process.
A $100.00 REWARD will be paid to anyone who DOCUMENTS the location (street address) of Stevenson Mfg. Co. Inc, owners or partners, year it opened and final disposition of the company.
Stevenson
Evolution of the Stevenson knives? My Theory.
Earliest Stevenson
Second generation Stevenson
Third generation typical Stevenson as found today
First of three bail markings (Stevenson -45)
Second of three bail markings (Stevenson U.S.A.)
Third of three bail markings (Stevenson)
Just recently we have found that Stevenson Manufacturing Co. Inc. was located in Rochester, N.Y. As you can see from the above photos we have long thought that Stevenson and Robeson have had some type of relationship. Be that of ownership, partnership, or just that of customer / supplier, the connection is unmistakable. Stevenson used the proprietary can opener used only by Robeson. They even used the short screwdriver blade as can be seen in the comparison photos of the Robeson "scout" type utility knife shown. Robeson Shuredge World War Two era owner was Saul S. Frankel, I thought maybe the "S." was for Steven or Stevenson. A phone conversation with his wife stopped that thought, he didn't have a middle name! He used the "S." because it looked good she informed me. So much for that thread. Well we know the company name that made the knives but we do not know anything about that company so here we are with the first "Mystery" knife. Who was Stevenson Mfg. Co. Inc?
Many thanks to Dennis Ellingsen, Mike Wiedemann and Mike Cowart for loaning me knives to compare and just play with!