iKnife Collector
The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel
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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on
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Reply by Sue OldsWidow on
History of Colonial Cutlery International, Inc
Colonial Knife manufactures military knives, law enforcement-Tuff Cop™ knives, fire/rescue and marine/sailors knives plus electrical contractors knives, hunters and rock and ice climbing knives. Colonial Knife Corp also engineered the automatic knife, switch blade, military collector’s knife-Mark 1 navy deck knife, paratrooper knife, marlin spike knives and the Roper Knives™, assisted opening Quick Flick Knives™, known as Cowboy Up™ knives, Tuckerman Ravine Knives™ and the J Hook Rescue Tool, or J knife, are made for the professional. Colonial also manufactures the MC-1 Survival Pocket Knife. All Colonial knives come with a life time warranty against defects in material and craftsmanship.
Colonial Knife was incorporated in 1926 by the Paolantonio brothers; Antonio, Domenic, Fredrick . Prior to the three brothers forming Colonial Knife, they each worked in other occupations which would hone their skills as manufactures and businessmen.
Antonio: upon returning from the First World War where he served as black smith with the U.S. Cavalry he started the A. Paolantonio Cutlery Company where he began making knives for the jewelry industry.
Domenic: worked for the Empire Knife Company, Meridian CT, as a foreman.
Fredrick: worked for the Imperial Knife Company, Providence, Rhode Island as a department head.
The brothers proved they had the skills needed to achieve success. Antonio handling the sales, Domenic the finances and Frederick the manufacturing process. The 20’s and 30’s would prove to be difficult times, but with hard work and determination, the brothers would overcome all obstacles.
When the Second World War broke out, Colonial Knife was engaged in the production of the famous Mark 1 Navy Deck Knife and the Navy Pilot Survival Knife along with a variety of military jack knives. During the, war Antonio served on the war production board in Washington D.C where he oversaw the allocation of steel to the cutlery industry.
During the next 70 years Colonial Knife grew adding new products. The 1950’s inspired such brand names as the Sure Snap (auto knife) along with the Cub Hunter and Rin Tin Tin series and other well know styles of knives that would earn the Colonial brand a reputation as “;a boy’s first knifeâ€.
History of the Colonial automatic knives-Shur Snap™, Snappy™, Jiffy...
The 1970’s saw the introduction of a number of better quality brands for Colonial such as the Ranger series,Master Brand, Swiss Master, and Old Cutler series. Each of these new series helped to increase demand for the Colonial brand throughout the United States.
The 1980’s and 90’s brought a new type of business to Colonial, the “private label†customer. These include Smith & Wesson, Colt, Winchester, John Russell Barlow and the riders of the silver screen with such names as Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Hop along Cassidy, Daniel Boone, Elvis Presley, commemorative knives and Ultra Blade series and the Sharp brand (K-mart).
In 2001, some of the employees of the former Colonial Knife started Colonial Cutlery international (CCI) and began manufacturing the M-724 auto knives and the J-316 for the military. This new interest in the Colonial brand led to additional customers such as the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A, Cooper Tools, Stanley Works, Ideal Industries, and the General Service Administration (G.S.A.).
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Reply by Robert A. Paolantonio on
Well Sue, most of this is absolutely true...
Unfortunately it leaves out the fact that Frederick, my grandfather was the first to arrive here
in the US in 1903.! Fred was said to have paved the way for he and his brothers....
His bothers came to America many years later...The first and most important actuall beginnings of Colonial, see more in my book: myfamilybusinessbook.wordpress.com,
It's a good read is the compliment back from folks in general....My blog has had 5,000 visits
in two vears..The story you speak of is definately a very general story with lots of facts, and that's a good thing.
Robert Paolantonio, Colonial Knife Company, Inc., RAP Cutler, and Heritage Cutler's....
myfamilybusinessbook@wordpress.com is some times more effective....Thanks Sue!!
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Reply by Robert A. Paolantonio on
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Reply by Sue OldsWidow on
wonderful examples of colonial.....I always love to look at the handle materials on them.
They stand out in the cases at knife shows.
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Reply by Sue OldsWidow on
Nice to have the actual history as told by living members of the family.
Thanks for sharing
Sue
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Reply by Sue OldsWidow on
INPUT INPUTHistory of Colonial Cutlery International, Inc.
Colonial Knife was incorporated in 1926 by the Paolantonio brothers; Antonio, Domenic, Fredrick . Prior to the three brothers forming Colonial Knife, they each worked in other occupations which would hone their skills as manufactures and businessmen.
Antonio: upon returning from the First World War where he served as black smith with the U.S. Cavalry he started the A. Paolantonio Cutlery Company where he began making knives for the jewelry industry.
Domenic: worked for the Empire Knife Company, Meridian CT, as a foreman
Fredrick: worked for the Imperial Knife Company, Providence, Rhode Island as a department head.
The brothers proved they had the skills needed to achieve success. Antonio handling the sales, Domenic the finances and Frederick the manufacturing process.
The 20’s and 30’s would prove to be difficult times but with hard work and determination the brothers would overcome all obstacles.
When the Second World War broke out, Colonial Knife was engaged in the production of the famous Mark one Deck knife and the Navy Pilot Survival Knife along with a variety of military jack knives. During the, war Antonio served on the war production board in Washington D.C where he oversaw the allocation of steel to the cutlery industry.
During the next 70 years Colonial Knife grew adding new products. The 1950’s inspired such brand names as the Sure Snap (auto knife) along with the Cub Hunter and Rin Tin Tin series and other well know styles of knives that would earn the Colonial brand a reputation as “a boy’s first knife”.
The 1970’s saw the introduction of a number of better quality brands for Colonial such as the Rangerseries, Master Brand, Swiss Master, and Old Cutler series. Each of these new series helped to increase demand for the Colonial brand throughout the United States.
The 1980’s and 90’s brought a new type of business to Colonial, the “private label” customer. These include Smith & Wesson, Colt, Winchester, John Russell Barlow and the riders of the silver screen with such names as Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Hop along Cassidy, Daniel Boone, Elvis Presley, commemorative knives and Ultra Blade series and the Sharp brand (K-mart).
In 2001, some of the employees of the former Colonial Knife started Colonial Cutlery international (CCI) and began manufacturing the
M-724 auto knives and the J-316 for the military. This new interest in the Colonial brand led to additional customers such as the
Girl scouts of America, Boy scouts of America, Cooper Tools, Stanley Works, Ideal Industries, and the General Service Administration (G.S.A.) in 2002 CCI registered the Colonial Knife brand as a division of Colonial Cutlery International, Inc. (2010) Colonial Cutlery International, Inc. brand is the imported line of knives and tools while the U.S.A.- made products fall under the Colonial Knife brand.
Together, two great brands under one roof.
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Hello all; here's some of my oldest Colonial's, curved tang stamp and some real handsome old Celluloid!!
These date back to 1931-1933....