Mystery Knife

I attended an estate sale this past weekend at a home that was built in the 1930s and appeared as though it was stuck in a time warp with nothing having changed since then. Among the items that caught my eye and ended up going home with me is beautiful carving knife. The knife (blade and handle) are 15 inches long and appear to be made of stainless steel.

The knife is contained in what I believe to be a walnut box with the inner lid labeled “Abercrombie & Fitch Co. New York”. The bottom of the box is labeled “Gerber Legendary Blades”.

The knife itself is engraved “SNICKERSNEE” on one side and “GERBER” on the other. The bottom of the knife handle is stamped Pat Pend.

I have posted photos of all of this at www.jlkunkel.com

Armed with this information I attempted to learn more about the knife by searching the internet. From my research I believe this is a Snickersnee carving knife produced by Ron Gerber, however, the labeling on my knife and the box differs from that which I found in other Snickersnee/Gerber knife photos.

For example on my box the Abercrombie and Fitch label is not so much a logo, but rather has the name spelled out. And on the knife, where others have the name Ron Gerber beneath the handle, mine simply says Gerber and this is inscribed on the right side of the handle. There is nothing beneath my handle other than a patent pending stamp.

All of this has brought be to this forum. I am wondering if this is actually a Ron Gerber knife that had been sold by Abercrombie & Fitch or have I bought myself a “knock off”? If it is the real deal, what would you estimate the value to be? (I paid $8 for the knife and naturally I’m hoping I got a great deal.) And lastly, the blade is currently extremely sharp and once cleaned is probably ready for use, but there will come a time when it will need to be sharpened. Do you have any tips for the best way to sharpen a knife like this?

As you can probably tell from my questions I'm a novice in the knife world, but I am finding all of this very interesting. Thanks in advance for any insight/information that you can provide. It is greatly appreciated.

You probably got about $8 worth.

Gerber had a few carving and steak knives from that time. I recall that the logo "Gerber Ron with a sword" was the most valuable. There were others. I have a similar knife to what you describe and a carving fork. Don't think it has much if any collector value. Not much knife either.

You can go on bay and search for other sales to better determine value.

Looks like a pretty nice knife with a fancy box. I would say you got a good deal. You now have a nice carving knife, some new knowledge, and had some fun doing it. All of that is worth the money either way. With all of that branding, it was bound to be made to a higher standard than most vintage stainless.

Head over to the sharpening sub-forum for a near infinite amount of sharpening knowledge to absorb. But to get you started, look at King Water Stones on Amazon for beginner sharpening equipment at an introductory price. You will spend more on a single stone than you did on the knife though.

Thank you for the quick response to my questions. Dave is a very wise man as he hit the value right on the nose ... I did pay $8 for it. Of course I had hoped it would be worth $50, but that doesn't matter as I really like the knife. I'll check out the sharpening sub forum and see what I can learn.

Thanks again for the quick response.

I don't know a Ron Gerber but the company started as a family firm. From the 50's up to maybe 25 years or so ago, Pete Gerber ran the factory. These carving knives in the presentation boxes are fairly common (I have a knife and carving fork set) here in the Northwest. I'm guessing they were made from the 50's until sometime in the 70's. The Finnish company Fiskars bought the factory off of Pete and his family and made many changes to the lines after that.

Check again, Gerber sold to Fiskars in 86 but I don't if they were still making these kitchen knives then. I will be talking to an expert on the subject this weekend though.

Thanks for the info Noodle Soup.

Based on the other items in this estate sale, the '50s would make sense. My wife's cousin who went with us to the sale bought a beautiful sailboat that looks like something you would see in one of the Bogie and Becall movies. The place was an incredible million dollar home and definitely a walk back in time.

In my searching of the web I found a lot of similar knives, but none with the same Ambercrombie & Fitch label, the same Gerber Legendary Blades mark on the box or the same etching on the knife itself. Everything on the internet looks newer which made me wonder if this might be an original from the past.

PLEASE ask you expert about this as my interest is REALLY peaked. I don't want to sell it as I really like this knife, but I would love to hear that I purchased a diamond in the rough.

I'm guessing the A&F marking would add some value but otherwise the knives are fairly common.

I'm afraid the guy I wanted to ask at the Northwest Knife Show in Kelso Washington didn't show up yesterday. Sorry.

Nice sailboat no knife pics though...I think it's called a lightning a Midwestern racing boat.

Hello Bear1889

I agree the sailboat doesn't look like a knife. I do web design and use the jlkunkel site as a temp hold for different projects. Since I thought the knife thread was pretty much over and from the comments I had received I realized that I hadn't found a million dollar knife at an estate sale I figured that I had best get back to work. The knife page came down and a test page for a client's sailboat find went up.

Turns out the sailboat is actually a Snipe manufactured just after WWII by the Thompson boat company in Peshtigo, Wi. I actually had an opportunity to see the boat and the wooden hull work is quite amazing.

But enough about sailboats, this is a knife forum.

Thanks to all who provided a comment on my knife find. I have now cleaned both the knife and box and have put them away until the next time we have a ham or turkey. I'm actually looking forward to an opportunity to use it. It may not be worth a lot of money, but I sure like it and consider it a great $8 find.

Minocqua

Gerber sold both kitchen cutlery and sporting cutlery through A&F in the 40's and 50's just like so many other brands and makers. Your Snick is no anomaly. If you would like to narrow down its production date, or get more info, the guy to get in touch with is Phil Rodenberg. He's getting along in years, but still knows more than any other person alive about Gerber....and then he wrote a book to prove it.:biggrin:
-Mark

Phil was who I wanted to talk to at the Kelso knife show but he wasn't there this year.

I figured....he and I have corresponded over the past 15 years concerning Gerber and Gerber related items. He's forgotten more than I'll ever know. When he puts up his display cases at shows, I have to stare and shake my head with disbelief for at least a half hour.:laugh:
-Mark