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Looking for some information on a knife I found in an old tool box

While cleaning out my dad's cabin, I came across this old tool box that belonged to my grandfather. Inside was an antique Solingen hunting knife (I will attach two pics below). One side of the blade is marked "Solingen". The other side is marked "Germany" with "Laufer Trading Co." and "601" stamped next to it. There is a small, German compass (I say that because the 'E' for east is instead a 'O' for ost) inlaid into the stag handle... sort of like an early, survival knife. Anyways, I have looked and looked online, and cannot find one thing to shed any light on this knife. That is how I came across this website.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on May 30, 2015 at 16:48

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Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on May 30, 2015 at 17:01

Nick...if you can, please include some closeup shots of the tang stamps on both sides. This will help in figuring things out.

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Permalink Reply by Nick on May 30, 2015 at 17:40

Steve, here are a few more pics with a closer look. I am using my iphone.. so, it is difficult to make out the detail. I also included a pic of the stamp on the sheath. Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on May 30, 2015 at 19:45

pictures are great Nick. I have no information or knowledge to add but just off the top of my head it reminds me of an old Puma knife.

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Permalink Reply by tim payne on May 30, 2015 at 20:13

no luck on info for your knife nick. but I found a laufer trading co. utility knife on ebay. possibly you could ask seller for any other info he might have on this brand name.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-LAUFER-TRADING-CO-Multi-Blade-Utili...

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Permalink Reply by tim payne on May 30, 2015 at 20:24

tim payne said:

no luck on info for your knife nick. but I found a laufer trading co. utility knife on ebay. possibly you could ask seller for any other info he might have on this brand name.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-LAUFER-TRADING-CO-Multi-Blade-Utili...

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Permalink Reply by Nick on May 31, 2015 at 13:46

Thanks Steve and Tim. I will contact that eBay seller regarding the folding knife brand name. If anything comes of it, I will post what I found.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on June 2, 2015 at 16:22

Nick- I have spent considerable time hunting for info with little to no success-- The only info I can find in any of my reference books is just a mention of the name in Goin's Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings with no dates or further information. Through web searches, found 5 or 6 other examples of Laufer Trading Co. knives. All of these were folding pen knives of various styles.Best I can do so far is provide some educated guesses. The fact that it says Germany probably dates it past 1890 when the Tariff Act required the country of origin on knives exported to the USA.One of the pen knives I found from Laufer was a vintage Tuxedo pattern pen knife.This style pen knife had it's heyday in the late 1800's and early 1900's as they were primarily used for sharpening quill pens, sharpening pencils , and very light cutting such as cutting string on parcels. Based on these facts, I would guestimate your grandfather's hunting knife as being circa 1890 to early 1900's-- Sorry I can't help more, but the information on your knife is virtually non-existant.

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Permalink Reply by Nick on June 2, 2015 at 16:41

John, thank you for the effort! I will say that I have learned a lot going through this process. Tks again, Nick

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on June 2, 2015 at 19:04

Nick,

It is amazing the amount of information that is out there on a great many companies. When we are trying to research a company that has little info available, we tend to read up on what shows up LOL.

Welcome to the world of knife research, it can be fascinating.

As always John, thank you...I know the effort was 120% to locate information