🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Help with antique draw knife.....

[Mike from MI]

Just trying to date it. No need for a pic. Stamped in the is the word (WORTH) with an (*) under the word. I can't find any info as to when this company was in operation. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[poetsgarden]

Just trying to date it. No need for a pic. Stamped in the is the word (WORTH) with an (*) under the word. I can't find any info as to when this company was in operation. Any help would be great. Thanks.

Hi Mike, there is a 8" Worth drawknife currently up for bids on ebay $23.00 no bids and one day left to bid.
Joe McDonough

 

[Red-Coat]

It might be B. Worth & Son of Sheffield in England, who used the mark “WORTH” (all capitals, no serifs).

This firm was launched by (William) Beeston Himsworth around 1874 as "B. Worth" with Himsworth registering ‘WORTH’ as his trademark in that year, presumably because it was easier to stamp on blades. His sons later joined as partners to become “B. Worth & Son”, then “B. Worth & Sons”. They were originally at Bramall Lane as “universal cutlers and comb manufacturers” and then also at Court 3, Sidney Street from 1884, by which time they were making hand-forged razors, table knives, Bowies, and butchers’ knives Then from 1901 they were at 195 Arundel Street as well as opening a London office.

Beeston’s parents went to the USA in about 1877 for a while to demonstrate Sheffield cutlery methods to firms in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In the early days, their main business was export to American via their Philadelphia agent, Supple Hardware Co. Amongst the consignments were packs of Barlow knives, which the Himsworths bought from the Furness family in Stannington.

The dominance of American trade didn’t last, as a result of the punitive McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 and they progressively turned to other markets such as South Africa and Australia until the business turned it's attention to other ventures in 1919

 

[Mike from MI]

It might be B. Worth & Son of Sheffield in England, who used the mark “WORTH” (all capitals, no serifs).

This firm was launched by (William) Beeston Himsworth around 1874 as "B. Worth" with Himsworth registering ‘WORTH’ as his trademark in that year, presumably because it was easier to stamp on blades. His sons later joined as partners to become “B. Worth & Son”, then “B. Worth & Sons”. They were originally at Bramall Lane as “universal cutlers and comb manufacturers” and then also at Court 3, Sidney Street from 1884, by which time they were making hand-forged razors, table knives, Bowies, and butchers’ knives Then from 1901 they were at 195 Arundel Street as well as opening a London office.

Beeston’s parents went to the USA in about 1877 for a while to demonstrate Sheffield cutlery methods to firms in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In the early days, their main business was export to American via their Philadelphia agent, Supple Hardware Co. Amongst the consignments were packs of Barlow knives, which the Himsworths bought from the Furness family in Stannington.

The dominance of American trade didn’t last, as a result of the punitive McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 and they progressively turned to other markets such as South Africa and Australia until the business turned it's attention to other ventures in 1919

Thanks RC, looks like you got it.