Knife Lovers BLOG

10. W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company is headquartered in Braford, Penn., a rural city of 9,000 about 80 miles south of Buffalo, N.Y. Along with Zippo — the company that makes the popular hinged lighters — Case is the city’s largest employer.

9. The Case Collectors Club was formed more than 25 years ago in 1981 and includes nearly 18,000 members (who pay $12 a year to join). It’s believed to be the largest knife association in the world. Check it out here.

8. In the American South, “case knife” is a slang phrase referring to a knife one uses at the dinner table. It originated during a time when dinner knives actually came with cases.

7. The Zippo/Case Visitors Center includes a Case knife museum at 1932 Zippo Dr., in Bradford, Penn. Hours are Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, click here.

6. Cases licenses knives to several major organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, John Deere and the Orange Country Choppers.

5. It takes 125 people to create one handmade Case knife. The company prides itself on quality and intends its knives to be handed down for generations.

4. Case knife handles are often made of exotic materials, such as Brazilian cattle bone, India Stag, Buffalo horn, Mammoth Ivory, mother-of-pearl, brass and silver.

3. Case’s unique tang stamp dating system (numerals and letters carved into the blade) has been used since the company’s early days, often driving collectors who can use the system to verify the age and class of a particular Case knife.

2. Case co-sponsors a biennial Swap Meet with Zippo Manufacturing Company that draws visitors from around the world to Bradford, Penn. There, collectors buy, trade, and share their most prized collection pieces.

1. Case’s roots stretch back to 1889, when William Russell (the W.R. in the company’s full name) and his sons started selling handmade knifes from the back of a wagon in upstate New York. The company was incorporated by William’s sons in 1900 as the Case Brothers Cutlery Company. The rest is history.