Interesting little folding knife

[MushCreek]

Cleaning up the shop, I stumbled across this little folding knife I got at the first shop I worked at in 1974. They had a whole box of them- hundreds of them. Surface rust, but I think they were NOS. I used it on and off over the years as a utility knife in the shop. I looked at it closely under a magnifying glass to get the following info:
Sanitary Knife Co.
N.H. (New Haven?) CT
Pat'd 12-4-17
A quick google search for the company turned up nothing at all.
The frame is kind of springy, securing the blade in the open or shut position. I've never seen another knife like it- I wish I had grabbed a handful of them at the time.

 

[Old tool guy]

Nice. Only issue i see is the point extending past the side of the handle.

 

[geneg]

Point is probably exposed from the sharpening, it would have dropped into the body with the original length. Apparently Geo. Schrade copied the concept of the Sanitary patent, his date is 9-21-26 on the knives & 1-27-42 on the fork. Bridgeport,Conn. U.S.A.

 

[30-30remchester]

These were quite common in the first half of the 20th century. They are known as "wire jacks". The complete set, spoon, knife, fork, were often standard issue for the Boy Scouts mess kit utensils. Many companies built these and though I collect mainly high dollar antique folders, these simple blades are just kind of cool to me and have several in my collection.

 

[gpw_42]

@MushCreek neat old knife! Feel free to post it on the vintage knife thread: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/show-your-vintage-knife.460999/page-13

 

[MushCreek]

I could grind a little off of the heel to make the point flush, but then how would you pull the blade out? As is, I catch it with a fingernail to pull the blade out.