New Jersey Cutlery by Philip R. Pankiewicz

Description

Historical profiles of more than 70 cutleries and individuals who made knives, razors, and scissors in the state of New Jersey including Boker, Valley Forge, Heinisch, Wiss, Alfred Hunter, Passaic, Bayonne, Barnett, OST, Undy, Electric and many others. Much information that was previously unavailable. Also includes New Jersey knife patents.

Loads of new information and full color photos, a must for the serious knife collector.

BOOK REVIEW
Reviewed by Knife World Staff

If something seems familiar about this new title, there may be a good reason for it: New Jersey Cutlery is the second book by cutlery historian Philip Pankiewicz. The first? 1984’s New England Cutlery, a book that long ago attracted a loyal following of knife enthusiasts with a passion for America’s cutlery history. After all these years, it remains the go-to book for information on obscure New England cutlery makers and dealers and an awful lot of us have well-worn copies on our bookshelves.

New Jersey Cutlery contains historical profiles of more than 70 different cutlery companies and individual cutlers, illustrated with full color photographs of knives, razors, other cutlery items, advertisements and related historical objects. Among the companies covered are such notable producers as H. Boker & Co., Valley Forge, Electric Cutlery, and Booth Bros. as well as a large number of lesser known firms like A.F. Bannister, Bayonne Knife Co., Barnett Tool Co., Nagle ReBlade, and Neft Safety Knife Co. Individual cutlers aren’t neglected either; renowned bowie knife maker Alfred Hunter is a good example.

While most of the included companies are best known for their knives, some are better known for their contributions to other aspects of the cutlery industry: Rochus Heinisch’s Sons and Jacob Wiss & Sons were two of the world’s leading scissor manufacturers, Durham-Duplex was the king of “transitional” razors, Emerson & Silver made swords for Union troops during the Civil War, C.S. Osborne still remains a major manufacturer of leatherworking tools, and Samuel Winterbottom & Sons was a major supplier of bone handle material to the knife industry. These are just a few examples among many.

Interspersed throughout are small snippets on cutlery related topics, and a variety of illustrations of interest. The book concludes with a section on New Jersey ‘contract’ and ‘mystery’ knives, and another on New Jersey knife patents.

New Jersey Cutlery is a worthy successor to Pankiewicz’ previous book; more attractive and better organized while containing the same sort of historical material that is often not available anywhere else. Those interested in American knives, razors, scissors, and just about anything else with an edge will find it to be a very useful resource.

Softcover, 192 pp.
ISBN 978-0-9827373-0-9