My previous two Throwback Thursday knives have been related to my time in the BSA as a Scout. Today’s is no exception.
The Craftsman medium Stockman pattern, near as I can tell, was made by either Camillus or by Schrade for Sears. This one happens to be model 95223. I’ve not found any correlation between model numbers and manufacturing dates but that’s ok in this case because I know the year this was made.
This knife was a gift from my maternal grandmother on a special day: the day I became an Eagle Scout. She had it engraved with the date, something you can just about see in the main photo.
It was always my grandmother’s intent that the knife be used as a knife and not as just a gift. I was (and am) very proud of it and I have a fond memory of receiving it from her.
But unfortunately wear and tear was affecting the visibility of the engraving. I did not want to lose this, nor do I want to try and have the engraving deepened, So it has been sitting in a box for a long while. A few rust spots developed and it needs a bit of a cleaning and sharpening.
I’m kinda tired of it sitting unseen so I think a shadow box is in order this weekend. It gave a lot of service but hiding it away is not honoring the gift nor the giver.
You should use it instead of displaying it. Make a photo collage of it and your grandmom and hang that on the wall instead.
I hear ya. And I certainly used it while I was still in Scouts. If there is a good way that I can protect the engraving, I’d use it but I really don’t want to see that date lost.
That’s awesome. That knife would truly deserve a place of honor on display by now.
I’ll have to go digging around in my box o’ random cutlery. You might be on the right track with the Schrade manufacture. I think I have a Schrade somewhere that’s near identical to that one in design. I might even have the box for it, and if I do we can see what the model number is.
Unfortunately, I took a slightly different path in my knife life… Almost all of my first knives were flea market trash and mall ninja shit I bought when I was an edgy teenager. Few of them were any good and I’m pretty sure most of them are long gone. My parents never gave me any knives (although they sure confiscated a few) so I don’t have any mementos like yours.
Thinking back on it, I’m not sure why I didn’t buy gas station/flea market knives when I was a teen. I guess it never really occurred to me as I “already had 2 knives” (both for Scouts). My brain hadn’t yet figured out that you can actually buy more knives than you can ever possibly use! 😂
