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Great Grandpa's Case

My great grandfathers mint Case bowie style knife.

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Comment by Michael Squier on March 17, 2015 at 18:24: oh cool John, thanks for clarifing that. So far your is the only history on the early Case I could find on the internet. I'll check out your videos later.

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on March 17, 2015 at 14:22: Michael, not exactly true, but close-- When Russ Case started W.R. Case in Son in 1902, for the first year in 1902, yes, he was indeed a jobber and re-branded the knives-- However from 1903-1905 W.R. Case & Son had started making their own knives. Impossible to say if this was a re-branded 1902 knife, or a Case made knife circa 1903-1905. The style of your Bowie is typical of that time frame-- Search for an Old Wade & Butcher Bowie or an old Joseph Rodgers and sons Bowie, among others, and the style is of that vintage. Case resisted the urge to use equipment like power hammers, long after other companies had started using them- They preferred to make them the old- fashioned way. In any regard, it is a very rare and valuable piece of Case history, especially in such outstanding condition. BTW, if you have 20 minutes to spare, check out my 2 videos here on IKC --Kin or Bust -part 1 and part 2 . 10 minutes each-- Explains the Case history and the companies they were associated with-- On page 2 in the video section here.

Comment by Michael Squier on March 17, 2015 at 12:51: Ok, so I just read the Case history buried somewhere in IKC. This knife was not made by Case but they bought knives and branded them, so its a pre Case & Sons (note the s in sons) business venture that spawned the Case we know today. Very interesting stuff. I'm excited.

Comment by Michael Squier on March 16, 2015 at 19:50: Please note that I have edited this to be great grandpas instead of my grandfathers. Grandpa would have only been about 5 or 6 at the time and I dont think his parents would have given him knives to play with. So it would have been his father in laws and he liked knives and hunting.

Comment by Michael Squier on March 16, 2015 at 19:45: woah, so this was probably hand made by one of the Cases themselves?

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on March 16, 2015 at 14:39: Wow, circa 1902-1905. Here is the link that to where I explain a little more about it--

http://iknifecollector.com/forum/topics/what-vintage-and-model-case...

Comment by Michael Squier on March 16, 2015 at 12:41: Thanks, this is one of my favorites.

Comment by Jan Carter on March 15, 2015 at 19:18: Someone long ago told me never buy a knife for the story. I have always tried to follow not only that but never sell a knife with a good story! This is a great story and a knife to treasure!