Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wester Bothers Gentleman's Pen Knife, pre-WW2, Solingen, Germany, Wester und Butz,


This last weekend Sweet Pea and I stopped at a couple of yard sales while we were out running errands.  One of these sales was filled with fantastic stuff.  Sweet Pea picked up an Orient & Flume art glass figurine and I bought a beautiful, German, gentleman's pen knife.  The woman who was having the sale was selling off a bunch of her Great Aunt's things that she inherited and no longer wanted.  Glad we stopped!

The knife that I picked up is a small, thin knife that was designed to carry in your suit pants pocket.  When I first picked it up, I immediately recognized the old world craftsmanship and finish work, old steel blades and nickel side plates.  A VERY well made and finished knife.  I knew it must be pre-WW2 at least.  A little on-line research proved even better than that.

Wester Brothers was the sole US representative of the German Knife maker Wester & Butz of Solingen, Germany.  The company was in business from 1902 until 1967.  Production in Germany was stopped when WW1 broke out with the US in 1914 and all production was switched over to US contractors from 1914 through 1918, and again during the WW2 years of 1941 through 1945.  This knife is marked  "Germany", which would date the knife as pre-WW1, or between WW1 and WW2.  Based on the craftsmanship, finish, and appearance of the metals, I personally would date the knife as pre-WW1.  The blade is also marked with the Wester Brothers "Anchor, Star and Arrow" stamp. It has the two classic pen knife blades and a pick-file that is trapezoid in cross profile.


Here are a few more pictures of this wonderful, little knife:

1 comment:

Ace98 said...

A have recently recieved a wester brothers 4 blades and its a pen knife.