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Knives with Names or Initials

Got a knife with someone else's name or initials on it? If so, show it to us-

If you know anything about the person or where he/she lived and when- that'll make it even better.

Tags: carved, engraved, initials, names, whittled

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Permalink Reply by Phil Bogdan on December 29, 2009 at 21:21

Wow! Very impressive how you uncovered the Faber and Ryse information. Great job. Very exciting.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Scott King on December 30, 2009 at 3:34

Thanks Phil- couldn't have found Faber without Robert's help. On Ryse I still have to get up with the Indianapolis library for some more background...but after 2 years I now their address and some of their years in biz and what they did, which is huge...for me :) I'm kinda crazy in that way....

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Permalink Reply by Mike Bowler on January 9, 2010 at 5:01

I have a Bernie Garland Knife He is one of the UK top Makers

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 12, 2014 at 10:01

This is such a interesting research of knives and original owners!

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on July 19, 2014 at 1:20

I have this Zippo 7200 Cut-About lockback. It is marked, "Presented By Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan Chief of Staff U. S. Army" As Chief of Staff of the Army, he was also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The knife also has the flag of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on it. Gen. Gordon was Chief of Staff from 1991 to 1995. So the knife was made in that time frame. Gen. Gordon retired from the Army July 31,1995 after 36 years of service. In 1998 he became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of the U. S. Army, a position he still holds.

You can read more about Gen. Sullivan here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_R._Sullivan

I won this knife on an eBay auction. I bid on the knife solely because of what was imprinted on it. I was basically bidding blind. There was only one picture and almost no description. I didn't know what brand if any was marked on the knife or where it was made. I figured it was probably a cheap foreign made knife. My curiosity carried only so far so I put in a max bid of only $5. I got the bid for $2.52 with free shipping. I was pleasantly surprised when I received the knife. It is a well made all stainless steel US made knife.

I called the Association of the U. S. Army and asked for Gen. Sullivan in hopes he could tell me something about the knife. They told me he was out of the office on extended leave. I then contacted the seller to see what he could tell me about it. This is his reply.

There's not much that I can say. I received the knife from an army supply clerk in 1994 time frame. I remember that he said that they were over stocked with these so he just gave it to me.

I assume the knives were not meant to be sold since they say Presented By. But I don't know to whom or why they were presented. I want to try again to contact Gen. Sullivan to see what he can tell me. I would like to learn the rest of the story on this knife.

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Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on July 19, 2014 at 5:57

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on November 12, 2014 at 14:20

I was thinking this discussion was about personalized knives, as in people had their own name or initials put on their knife or perhaps a "Family Reunion" knife. For instance an Eagle Scout had a knife given to him by his father and the father had the son's name engraved on the blade or bolster. Or perhaps a groom gave pocket knives to the grooms men had their name engraved on the blade.

When I come across these types of knives, I typically pass on them.

If the knife is a "company knife" then it really depends on the company. But these ar emore advertising knives as opposed to a "personalized knife" Now if I came across a personalized knife that belonged to a famous or infamous person, I might be interested in purchasing it. But I'm not going to buy "Stella Robbins" pen knife or a Marlin spike engraved "Commodore Stan Burbich, Hoboken Yacht Club" as there is no real historical importance attached to them; at least not to me. (nor any emotional attachement) As such, these engravings detract from the value of the knife.

Now if the Marlin Spike was just engraved "Hoboken Yacht Club" I might be more inclined to buy it, simply because it came from the Hoboken Yacht Club!

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Permalink Reply by Ms Data on November 13, 2014 at 21:44

Great topic! I don't have one myself - unless a knife with David Yellowhorse's name on it counts.

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on November 14, 2014 at 10:30

Data, in the case of the David Yellowhors knife, I think the value would be even less with out his name or some other trademark identifying the work. Even with his name on the knife a certificate of authenticity and and trail of provenance is probably in order to retain value.

With that in mind, you can't tease us with this statement and then not show us the knife!

Data (C Thomas) said: