Railroad knife?

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hpidaves
Posts: 273
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:37 pm

Railroad knife?

Post by hpidaves »

I've had this knife for a couple of years now and have finally gotten around to investigating it. It's in the Reed & Barton Old London pattern, 1936 and it has just the word "Union" on the reverse of the handle. I know I have another piece (somewhere) in the same pattern with the same stamp on the reverse.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave

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Traintime
contributor
Posts: 2778
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: Railroad knife?

Post by Traintime »

Commercial wares were used everywhere from logging camp commissaries to corporate boardrooms. 1936 is long after the grand era of 1885-1910 when there would have been many Union-named places that might be associated, even indirectly, with railroad travel in it's golden age. You have entered the early years of the auto & air age here, brining in a whole new realm of possibilities. On top of that, there had long been clubs using the name, like Union and Union League, with some being very exclusive and others no more than a bowling alley with a bar area. Just to show you how difficult this identity might be in locating a "smoking gun" piece of evidence, here are three matchbooks which all use a lettering of "Union" that have some similarity to yours:

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hpidaves
Posts: 273
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:37 pm

Re: Railroad knife?

Post by hpidaves »

Yes, I was afraid of that. Union could stand for countless organizations/businesses.

Thanks for the info.

Dave
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