"Dexter" Knife

[thefraze_1020]

Does anyone have any details on the Russell Harrington Cutlery Co.? I previously restored this knife, marked "Dexter No. 10" and "Patent No. 2267325". I entered the patent on Google and it came back as "cutlery article", assigned to Russell Harrington Cutlery Co., filed 10/17/1938 and granted 12/23/1941. At what point was Dexter used as a brand name, and I am assuming this company is related to Dexter Russell that exists today.

Here is the Google Patents link: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2267325A/en?oq=US2267325

...and what kind of knife is this? It looks to me, the untrained eye, as a linoleum knife.

 

[Packard V8]

Agree, it's known as a hawksbill and also as a linoleum knife.

BTW - they're still made and sold today.
https://dexter1818.com/hawkbill-knivesv/

jack vines, who uses Russell Dexter knives in the kitchen and in the shop for sixty years now.

 

[ChefRex]

I have a Dexter cleaver in the kitchen, that's about all I know about them, nice piece.

 

[SweetD]

They make great fillet knives to this day as well. USA-Made.

 

[Ed in Virginia]

Looks like the linoleum knife that came out of my father's toolbox.

 

[RTM]

I have a bunch of other Dexter & Dexter Russell knives. Mill knives, extendable knives shoe knives. Great edge holding ability.

 

[Poolshark314]

I assumed this was a thread about knives used in the serial killer show "Dexter" lol

 

[RTM]

Yeah, the TV show really screws up searches for information on the company.

 

[Mintgrun]

DEXTER makes nice spatulas too.

 

[ChefRex]

Forgot about my spatula.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

At what point was Dexter used as a brand name,

According to one of those Arcadia series books on the history of Southbridge, MA, linked HERE for further reading, "DEXTER" (the name of his son) was trademarked in 1884 by the Harrington Cutlery Company, which was founded by Henry Harrington in 1818. In 1932, the Harrington Cutlery Company merged with the John Russell Company (Greenfield, MA) to become the Russell Harrington Cutlery Company, offering everything from frontier hunting knives to professional and industrial cutlery under their now jointly owned "DEXTER" and "RUSSELL" trademarks.

and I am assuming this company is related to Dexter Russell that exists today.

The company was re-named Dexter-Russell, Inc. in 2001. Unfortunately, you'd have to use other info (catalogs, characteristics, etc) to narrow down the date of your lino knife further than the 73 year span production between 1933-2000.

The motivation for my research can be seen in this photo of my flea market haul from this morning.

Much more to follow after I finish my cigar!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I am sure you guys are familiar with the history of the cigar box - one of the most appealing and unique forms of consumer packaging aimed at men. Most of them were made of cedar and were adorned with embossing or colorful lithographs on decorative paper sealing the lid, and under the lid, often a larger version of the label wrapped around the cigar itself.

Like this box of Tree Cutter brand cigars...



On the left is a top-down view of the lid. On the right is under the lid.

Yes, you could probably open a cigar box with any old knife, cutting through the seal and separating the lid from the box, prying off the brass nail (located center bottom on the lid), prying the lid open, and you could probably use any old tap hammer to tap the brass nail back in to keep the cigars fresh. But the industry provided a special tool for the process, which added to the flair and culture of the smoking, and it helped preserve the artwork on the box, too., which was also part of the pleasure and experience.

You can see the nail holes above.

This is a "DEXTER" cigar box opener "NO. 1" made by the "HARRINGTON CUTLERY COMPANY" sometime before 1932.



That stiff, thick blade is for separating the lid from the box all around the top. The notch is for prying up the nail. And that little hammer is for tapping it back in after you've removed your stogie.



Here it is displayed on a PHILLIES Perfecto box.



The PHILLIES box is not wooden. But it's special to me. It happens to be mine. Quite literally. That is the box my dad set out in the drafting room of the Lehigh Structural Steel Company when I was born.

This...



...is his handwriting on his note!

 

[four.cycle]

by all means - have a cigar.

unless I'm mistaken, I did a pretty extensive dive down the rabbit hole on this one... I just looked at the list ... there are a mess of links to Dexter Harrington et al. (pretty sure that was right after it became painfully evident that "cutlery" had to be included in the list because of all the cross-over into planes/axes/adzes/etc.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

@thefraze_1020
If you follow the link to the book I used to provide a concise history of the company, a version of which can also be found on the Dexter-Russell website, you'll find photos of the company at various stages. These are from the era of my cigar box opener's manufacturing.