Photos of Henry Calvin(Sgt. Garcia) with his " Texas Black Knife" - Also photo of  the Crozier Technical High School mini tank- BTW, they made this, too !!…

How these knives came to be dubbed " Texas Black knives"-  The first was found in an estate sale belonging to General  Graber Kidwell of Dallas, Tx.- Not much thought about it until another was found in the estate sale of Henry Calvin, better known as Sgt. Garcia of the old " Zorro" tv show- Got the finder interested in old newspaper articles etc. and he dubbed the knives " Texas Black knives-- What follows are old Dallas newspaper articles, and Henry Calvin (Sgt.  Garcia)  with his own "…

 Now  is the saga of the Crozier Tech knives-

Upon America’s entry into World War Two, our troops were painfully short of many items of equipment. Many were not even known at the time, as a new type of war was being fought. Large-scale troop movements in diverse weather conditions made supply a real problem. Clothing and weapons were the first big step, without which our troops could not enter any battle. Knives were on the agenda, but pretty far down on the list. The need was there,…

Here is an old letter requesting a knife--

"In Jun. 1943, my dad (only 20 years old) had just finished Navy boot camp, and commando training.  He was in an ARGUS unit, assigned to act as an infantry soldier, and to set up radar stations with the Marines when they invaded Tarawa (although he didn't know then that Tarawa was his

destination).  He felt his issued knife was insufficient as a combat knife. And he wrote home to my Granddad, in Dallas, with one request.  As I read…

The real hero of this saga is the Crozier Technical High School of Dallas, Texas- They are credited with making over a 1000 knives, some claiming over 2000 for the men overseas, but an authenticated example of such a knife is a mystery - The school  started making knives due to the pleas of servicemen begging for durable knives- These knives were crude by any stretch of the imagination, but serviceably tough- Most were made from old files and old commercial saw blades and were handled in…

Okay, how do I begin ?? Long before a nail file got a student expelled from school, there was a period of sanity when some schools actually sponsored the making of knives to support the WW2 war effort- I, as many of you know, do a lot of research on vintage knives as  a hobby for other members, and I was unaware of this until a few days ago- I find this story fascinating, and a story with a real lack of hard information- I thought the story worth sharing~~~ This story will be picture and…

Let me preface this by saying I am a typical 60 year old law abiding citizen-In my 20's I worked as a bartender, then in retail management until my retirement- However, I have had people try to kill me with a car ,boulders, knives, hatchets, etc. in what would seem to be a normal life-Not to mention, that Danny Rollings, the Florida serial killer who killed U of Florida coeds was captured in my yard !! I have had to defend myself twice with a gun, once with a knife, and once with  a…

These are some pics of a 2 ton granite ball that rotates on top of it's base for some unknown reason in a cemetary in Sullivan, IL. It broke free from it's base a couple of years after it was erected, and very slowly revolves- The name Johnson was originally straight across the ball- In the 1940's they used a crane and recemented it in its original position. After about 2 years. it broke free again and started rotating again- If you notice the chip in one of the photos. that it where it…

My father was laid to rest yesterday as most of you know-I just wanted to share a couple of photos of my father- THE MAN- My favorite photo of dad-Worn out from a hard days labor on the farm- Faded shirt-Faded jeans-Faded couch- BUT NEVER, EVER, faded hopes and dreams of making a better life for his family- You can rest now-DAD !!

And one of mom and dad from a…

An open letter to my IKC friends and family-

You have no idea how much your condolences and prayers meant to me after the loss of my dear Father- Your kindness and support is helping me cope with this difficult and traumatic time, in ways you cannot imagine- To the uninformed, this is just another knife forum- But in truth, this place is so much more than that, the other sites pale in comparison.This is a place, first and foremost, of good caring people who I feel honored to call my…

My beloved father Robert passed this morning ,one day after he and my mom celebrated their 69th Anniversary. He was a farmer,  a lover of God and family, and the hardest working man I have ever had the honor to know- As this is a knife site, these are 2 of my father's well used EDC's that I have treasured for years, but as of today are beyond all value. Both will be in my pocket at his funeral next Monday- A 1945-55 Hammer Brand and a Colonial Barlow which has the  faint image "Bojac Seed…

The rest of the chest-…

Spent the rest of my day after making a couple of pawn shop knife scores buying this from Harbor Freight -Unfortunately, may have to buy another real soon !! LOL-…

Picked both of these up for a grand total of $28- Not a bad days (work) ?? LOL

A 1978 Case 2 dot 6254SSP trapper with "Tested XX  Razor Edge" blade etch and a Remington advertising knife.…

1999 Case Paua Abalone 8254 Trapper with shell shield -1 of 250 produced…

 A 1978 Case Red Etch Sambar Stag 5254SSp Standard Trapper 

Case Pocket Worn Green Bone New Millenium 6254SS…

 Hello all.

As I said before, I'm new to this forum but not new to knives. I have a collection of Case knives, mainly

trappers and mini trappers, mainly vintage and short runs. I Also have many Case Classic prototypes

(trappers,mini trappers, and clasps),and limited editions. I realise Case Classics are a dirty word to some.

I also have a few vintage straight blades( WW2 and earlier) and a few of my own knife creations. Problem

is, my old computer crashed…