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Remington
Arms Company
Madison, NC ~ USA
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REMINGTON
KNIVES, THE HISTORY The Remington Corporation and
the knives that they built have had one of the most influential affect
on the U.S. cutlery industry. From the time America was settled, to the
end of WWI, American knife companies struggled to compete with Britain
and German imports, but events that occurred during and after the First
World War led to a great change in this phenomenon. Unprecedented opportunities
arose, and Remington stepped up to seize the moment. In the process, they
created some of today's most prized collectables. In an ironic twist,
the next World War played the greatest role in ending the company’s
domination of the industry.
Preceding
WWI, the U.S. knife manufacturers were having some lukewarm success in
competing with imported knives. Most of the competition came from Britain
and Germany. Knives made in Sheffield England were dominating the quality
end of the business because of their tradition of quality. On the low
end, Germany was the front runner with their inexpensive knife making
methods. The events of WWI completely rearranged these circumstances.
Many of the best Sheffield cutlers were sent by Britain to fight in the
same Regiment. This turned out to be disastrous to the British knife industry
because that particular Regiment was nearly wiped out in a single bloody
battle. This event severely crippled the British knife industry, and it
was never able to recover. Germany’s cutlery business was also damaged
from the war. Like Britain , they lost many of their great cutlers, but
that was not their largest problem. Naturally there was a strong anti-German
sentiment following the war and most Americans chose to shun imports from
the country. These events were tragic to Britain and Germany, but created
a great demand for American made knives.
The
Remington arms company was aware of the demand, and was more than ready
to capitalize on the situation. As one of the leading arms producers,
the company had been extremely profitable during the war. When the war
ended, they had idle facilities that were no longer relied on to fill
the high demand for war products. In addition, they had more than enough
capital from their profits that they could build new state of the art
facilities to mass produce high quality knives. Remington was under way
by 1920 with a wide variety of pocketknives. They had a system that allowed
for never before seen variations. The company would use a single handle
form and make numerous versions. They used a single handle pattern and
produced it with a single blade, two blades, or three blades. In addition,
each pattern variation was produced with numerous handle materials. They
even developed their own handle material called pyremite which was a plastic
that was dyed different colors to offer even more variety. The Company
claimed to have over 700 different patterns, and at their height was producing
10,000 knives per day. Soon, the great depression hit and the company
sold out to the Dupont Company. Dupont did not change anything about the
knives, but eventually discontinued the cutlery business in 1940 due to
the undertaking of several U.S. government defense projects. The facilities
that were being used for knife making were needed to supply the government
with weapons of war. The company sold its equipment to the Pal Company
who assembled the remaining parts, constructed a few military knives,
and later scrapped the equipment in 1950.
Despite
Remington's departure from the cutlery business, several newer Remington
knives are in circulation. Reproductions of older patterns have been manufactured
by other companies on contract. Many of them are extremely collectable
and are quite valuable. There are a large number of the older knives around
as well, but they are usually well worn. Some of the more popular patterns
(The bullet knives in particular) are among the most valuable collectable
knives in existence.
We here at 888 Knives R Us are excited to offer both new and
vintage products from this world-renowned arms and cutlery company. Please
feel free to contact
us if you are looking for a particular model that you do not
see on our site. We will be happy to do our best in finding that model
for you. thanks for shopping at 888 Knives R Us!
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