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Featured Comment by Steve Riordan on January 11, 2018 at 21:10

Very Interesting Sue, Thank you for that! I just sent Mine To Gary Claxon to be Refurbished!

Comment by Sue OldsWidow on January 11, 2018 at 12:31

Schrade Cutlery Company had its roots in the New York Press Button Knife Company, formed in 1892 by George Schrade, an inventor from Sheffield, England. Unable to raise sufficient capital to begin knife production, Schrade sold a partial interest in the company to the Walden Knife Company. The company's unusual name arose from its first knife design, a switchblade or automatic-opening pocket knife with an operating button mounted in the knife bolster. First patented by Schrade in 1892, the knife was eventually produced with a unique style of clip point blade. In 1903, Schrade sold all of his interest in the New York Press Button Knife Co. to Walden Knife Company. The following year, Schrade formed the Schrade Cutlery Company in Walden.

In 1906-07, Schrade patented the Safety Pushbutton Knives, an improved series of switchblade knives with side-mounted operating button and a sliding safety switch. Later developed in slightly modified form as the Presto series, the Schrade switchblade would come to dominate the automatic knife market in the United States for the next fifty-five years. In the 1920s, Schrade bought the defunct Walden Cutlery Company in order to obtain their stocks of handle material for his knives.^[6][7]

From 1911-1916, George Schrade resided in the knifemaking center of Solingen, Germany, where he ran a small workshop. There Schrade developed a new type of switchblade knife, which he titled the Springer. However, in 1916 the German government seized all of Schrade's assets in Germany to assist its war production. Schrade returned to the United States, though his Springer switchblade would live on; now unprotected by patent, the type was manufactured by several Solingen shops for many years thereafter.

In 1917, Schrade licensed a flylock switchblade design to the Challenge Cutlery Company, which he then joined. Schrade pursued his knifemaking interests at both Challenge and at Schrade, where his brother George now managed one of the company's factories. In the 1920s, Schrade bought the defunct Walden Cutlery Company in order to obtain their stocks of handle material for his knives.^[6][