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Abode of Yoh
 
RED WHITE AND BLUE UTILITY KNIVES by Dennis Ellingsen  The Remington "Golden Oak Chest" showing several variations of the Remington scout/utility pattern knives. Note the large and small red,white and blue in this collection. The original display boxes had a RWB in every other slot. When you put the colors red, white and blue together, you get, the United States of America, apple pie, mom's cooking, American baseball, patriotism, and all the things that are wrapped up to pledge your allegiance to this great country of ours. Since early times people have displayed flags and shields to show their nationality or allegiances. In the United States we are proud to show our nationality, patriotism and allegiance with our flag which has the stars and stripes and the colors red, white and blue. The American flag, with its familiar pattern and colors, has its roots going back to 1776; and the names George Washington and Betsy Ross exude patriotism at its best. And when you think of Uncle Sam, can you imagine him in any other than a suit comprised of the red, white and blue colors? If we reflect back to the years before World War I, we see that the cutlery market in the United States was dominated by Germany. They had the best steel, quality, price and marketing. American cutlery was far behind in competitive sales. With the approaching advent of WWI (1914), Germany exported little if any steel products abroad. How could they when they needed the steel for themselves?  
The two Remington knives show the difference between the full 
RWB striped handle and the RWB striped handle with the blue field Germany's loss of the War was a boon to the American cutlery business, and the 1920's were the hey day for American-made cutlery of all sorts. Marketing was brisk and new designs and ideas were implemented. The companies that were making firearms for the war soon diversified, and cutlery was now made by firearms manufacturers like Winchester and Remington. Those men that fought in the War had lots of patriotism. Those that supported the War effort also felt the resurgence of faith and belief in the United States of America. The Boy Scouts of America had never been stronger and everyone wanted to show their allegiance. A few cutlery companies recognized this and looked for a knife that they could sell based solely on an emotional level. Thus ushered in the concept of the Red White and Blue (RWB) pocket knife. It was Remington Cutlery that was the first to use the celluloid Red, White and Blue handled pocket knife in their sales line.  
The Remington R3335 3-5/8"; has a long nail nick pull 
and the celluloid RWB stripe with the blue field handle. CELLULOID Remington entered the cutlery market in 1921 and had been very innovative. A RWB pocket knife was made that had the colors impregnated in the celluloid handle material. Remington called this handle material pyremite (Py-Rem'-ite). Whether called Py-Rem-Ite or celluloid, it was still the same material that was used for motion picture film. Celluloid was the first synthetic plastic material and was first made in 1856. In 1869 it saw its first use as a commercial product. This material was made from a mixture of cellulose nitrate and camphor. Because of its strength, toughness, luster, colorability and low cost, it soon became a replacement in the making of billiard balls, shirt collar stays, dentures, combs, brushes and photographic film. If ignited, cellulose burns furiously and explosively. It is for this reason that it was discontinued in knife handles sometime in the 1940's. ( If I recall correctly, it was banned by the government because of its dangerous behavior.) Today only limited use of celluloid can be found in such items as ping pong balls and drafting triangles.  
In 1921 Remington introduced this RWB full stripe 
pattern as the first ever knife with this handle design. During a trip to Camillus Cutlery many years ago, I was told that when Camillus used celluloid, it was designated to special buildings which had unique construction. An accidental explosion could easily level a building, so the roof was designed to minimize the effect of an explosion. The roofs were made of metal and were hinged on either side so that an explosion would blow the metal roof out of the way, sparing the walls and minimizing the physical damage with this type pop-off valve.. Kind of like a giant jack-in-the-box. No one ever mentioned whether they ever had an explosion. REMINGTON The first designed RWB knife by Remington appeared on a utility knife pattern that had a main blade, punch, one piece can opener blade and a combination screwdriver caplifter blade. The RWB celluloid handle had the stripes running from bolster to bolster. On the face side in place of the shield was a five pointed nickel silver star. The five pointed star has the same patriotic symbolism as the RWB colors. This indeed was an All American knife.   These are the smaller 3 3/8" Remington RWB knives. Notable differences
from the larger knives are the pinched bolsters. 
Shown here is the differnece between the one piece and two piece can opener. Sometime between 1921 and 1924 Remington changed their handle design on the RWB knife. Instead of a continuous stripe from bolster to bolster, the new design had the stripes cover two thirds of the handle; and instead of a three color stripe it was now red and white. On the other third of the handle was a field of blue with a five pointed nickel silver star inlaid in the celluloid. This new design was definitely more eye appealing than the earlier design. Also the colors on these knives are more vibrant as I suspect that color fading might have been a problem. The early three color stripe Remington Utility RWB is considered the rarest of all these type knives. These older knives have been found only in the larger 3 5/8 inch pattern. Remington RWB pattern utility knives were made between 1921 and 1929. Over time the colors of the original Remington RWB knives have faded, and the white has turned to a mellow yellow cream color. I can imagine that, when new, the colors had been bright and sprightly. In the Remington two color stripe RWB, both the larger 3 5/8 inch and the "junior" 3 3/8 inch utility pattern knives can be found. It should also be noted that there never were any official scout knives sanctioned by any of the scouting organizations for the RWB pattern knives. In other words, there are no RWB official Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America or Camp Fire Girl knives. The Remington RWB junior knives are characterized with pinched and grooved bolsters, a bail and a spear blade, in addition to the typical can opener, punch and screwdriver blades. The variants to this "junior" pattern are clearly seen through the evolutionary Remington can opener. The one piece can opener (CO) was used between 1921 to 1924, and the two piece CO by Remington was used exclusively after 1924. The smaller 3 3/8" RWB knives by Remington were similar to the standard size 3 5/8" knives, but with a few differences. The smaller knives always had pinched bolsters and were never made in the full three color stripe RWB handle. Another point worth mentioning is that the junior RWB has long pull nail nicks and nickel silver liners. The larger standard size RWB has brass liners and can be found with both long pull or short pull nail nicks. The junior Remington RWB knives are pattern R4235 and the larger pattern is R3335. Note that the "5" denotes pyremite handles. One of the most sought after Remington collectibles is the "Golden Oak Chest" counter display box that advertised Remington "Scout" Knives. When these boxes were supplied (1921 - 1924), they came with 12 utility pattern knives of which six were the red, white and blue. This box with knives was part number RMS75 and sold to dealers at $13.50; the dealer suggested list price on a single RWB was $1.75. The sales description of these knives to the dealers was interesting as can be seen from the following: "Handles furnished in two styles of coverings (handles) - Stag and Py-Rem'- Ite - both popular - the Py-Rem'-ite handle makes a strong appeal to the boys who like colors - they are easily located too, when laid on the ground - another strong feature." SCHRADE CUTLERY  
These two knives are by Schrade Cutlery
Schrade only made the RWB full-striped handles
This design did not have a bail Schrade Cutlery Company made a utility pattern knife that appears to have had handles made by the same celluloid handle material supplier that was used by Remington. This at least holds true for the three color stripe handle as this was the only pattern RWB used by Schrade. One of the RWB knives that I have shows the etch on the main blade as, "Schrade Boy Scout Knife". This etch tells us much about the marketing used for this type knife. The "Boy Scout" indicates that this was targeted at the younger male buying market. It was also on target to aim for the sales market that the Official Boy Scout movement had created. But the Boy Scouts weren't the only scouting organization targeted by Schrade Cutlery Co. Their 1926 cutlery catalog offered a RWB utility knife called the Girl Scout Knife. This patriotic RWB knife was 3 3/8" long, as opposed to the larger boy scout knife that measured 3 5/8".  
Schrade Cutlery knives like this one are quality
made knives. Usually more than one blade was
marked with the Schrade name. Schrade Cutlery Co. was not a sanctioned authorized supplier of official Scout knives but attempted to capture part of this very lucrative sales arena. By using the RWB emotional issue and using the words "Boy Scout" and "Girl Scout" they were able to sell these knives. Schrade also did a cutesy trick in their catalog numbering system for the Red White and Blue knife. The 3 5/8" pattern was the 9464US and the smaller 3 3/8" was the G9594US pattern number. Any guess why they used the US extension on the RWB knives? ABOUT THE RWB KNIVES I have had several inquiries about the authenticity of the RWB handles based on irregularities in the celluloid. I have yet to see a perfect design pattern on these handles. Some of the stripes waver; some stripes start center and wander right or left; some appear smeared and some are blotched. That is the way they were made and apparently they were accepted as they came out. Each RWB had its own personality. It is my belief that ALL RWB knives were made between 1921 and 1929. Please remember that the Depression occurred in 1929, so it is unlikely that a non utilitarian knife would be made during a time of financial hardship. I also suspect that the RWB knives were popular in the early 1920's following the War. Although this article concerns itself with the utility pattern RWB knives, there were other RWB pocket knife patterns made, but the utility pattern seems to have been far more common. The most collectible of the Red, White and Blues are certainly the Schrade Cut and the Remington. However other companies also made this design. The next most popular specimens bear the IKCO tang stamp. This was the early mark for Imperial Knife Company. Imperial made both three blade and four blade utility pattern RWB knives. Those knives that I have seen have a shield placed in the center of the handle that bears the word "SCOUT". This is yet another attempt to lure business away from the official sanctioned knives offered by the scouting organizations. The IKCO knives do not have five point stars on them. I have a Hartford Cut Co. RWB knife that looks suspiciously like it was made by Imperial. It was also suggested that Boker was a maker of the RWB, but I have yet to see one. German-made RWB knives were also made (Wadsworth), and it might be interesting to research when those knives were introduced into the American market place and what implied statement they were attempting to make. The Syracuse and Royal Brand names also appear on these knives. The red white and blue knives are one of my personal favorites in the world of collect. There is a charm about them that makes you want to stick it in your pocket and walk down the street whistling the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful. I have also noticed that I have NEVER seen a mint version of this knife. RWB's were bought to be used, carried and shown. There are many that I have that look to have been overly loved. But ya ain't a gonna find them in any other shape. Dear Elayne has a Remington RWB in her purse. Some kind soul put new life into it by welding another blade onto the main blade which had been broken in half. It isn't your "collector pretty" but it is "PRETTY" and it works good too. A LISTING OF RWB UTILITY KNIVES I have attempted to list the variations in patterns and makers of the RWB that have come to my attention. This list only includes the utility "scout" type knives. Please note that the RWB designation refers to stripes that run full length on the handle. The R&W denotes that there is a blue field on the handle. Brand Blades Description Model Size ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.A. Fisher Co N.Y. 4 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout Shield" ?? 3 5/8" Bridge Cutlery 4 R&W stripes w/star on blue field ?? 3 5/8" E. Weck & Sons 4 RWB stripes w/star ?? 3 5/8" Hartford Cutlery Co 3 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout Shield" ?? 3 3/8" IKCO 3 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout Shield" ?? 3 3/8" IKCO 4 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout Shield" ?? 3 5/8" Imperial Knife Co 3 R&W stripes - Blue field "Scout" shield ?? 3 5/8" Imperial Knife Co 4 R&W stripes - Blue field "Scout" shield ?? 3 5/8" Remington 4 RWB stripes w/star R3335 3 5/8" Remington 4 R&W stripes w/star on blue field R3335 3 5/8" Remington 4 R&W stripes w/star on blue field R4235 3 3/8" Royal Brand 4 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout" Shield" ?? 3 5/8" Schrade Cutlery 4 RWB stripes w/star 9464US 3 5/8" Schrade Cutlery 4 RWB stripes w/star (no shackle) G9594US 3 3/8" Shapleigh Hardware 4 R&W stripes - blue field - DE in diamond ?? 3 5/8" Syracuse 4 RWB stripes - "Scout Knife" shield ?? 3 5/8" U.K.& R Co. Utica NY 3 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout" Shield" ?? 3 5/8" U.K.& R Co. Utica NY 4 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout" Shield" ?? 3 5/8" Union Knife Works NY 4 R&W stripes - blue field "Scout Shield" ?? 3 5/8" This listing is not considered complete. There are also numerous variations of a given pattern for the variation collector. For example the Remington RWB can be found in the one or two piece can opener styles and with both long and short pull nail nicks. It appears that the E. Weck RWB was made by Schrade. There are also pocket knife patterns other than utility knife patterns that were made, however these would be outside my collecting field. Neither Case nor Winchester made a RWB utility knife and any knives that are found should be treated with doubt. Likewise there were NEVER any Official Scout RWB pocket knives made.  This Hartford Cut Co. was probably made by Imperial. Bail is missing,
the can opener damaged, but this is still a great speciman
showing the variations of imperfections of the celluloid handles.
The stripes are crooked and the blue field is minimal.  IKCO knives were made by Imperial Knife Co. They can be found
as either 3 or 4 blade knives and are only fair quality.
Most IKCO knives show heavy use and abuse. 
MISC INFO ON THE RWB The RWB is sometimes called the flag handled knife, however that term is not found in older catalogs. It should be assumed that "Flag Handled Knives" is modern collector terminology. I have difficulty with this term, since I have a semaphore flag handled knife and also a knife with a Boy Scout carrying a flag. All can be classified as "flag" knives so this term can be confusing. Therefore I have limited myself to RWB or R-W-B or just good ole Red, White and Blue knives. The majority of the RWB utility pattern knives have the standard main blade nail nick; however the Royal Brand, IKCO and Remington can be found with the long pulls on the main blade. I have yet to see a genuine three blade Remington RWB knife, but I have seen several non- Remington frames with Remington blades placed in them. Seems like the Remington blades command more money than Imperial or IKCO. On the subject of collector market today: I consider one of these knives found today in a rough as used condition a real find. It must be remembered that the target market for these RWB knives was the youngster. Boys and girls that had one of these knives would be prone to use these knives rather than put them in drawers and save them for Sunday only. This would account for the always "used" specimens found. Therefore rough and abused is correct. Any knives that are machine polished to shiny are less desirable to me and do not represent the true historical aspects of this pattern knife. To clean is acceptable; to machine polish and dismantle for the sake of pretty is sacrilege. To restore to original is acceptable, but to restore to glitter is not. A few other names that can be found on RWB handle knives that are not utility pattern pocket knives are: Valley Forge, Standard Knife, Wilbert, Hartford Cut Co, Utica, Clearcut and Imperial (IKCO). There may be a plethora of names out there on the RWB knives, as they seemed very popular as contract knives. My thanks go out to J.C. Joiner, Frank Vacca, Michael Yoh and Bernard Levine for their help and encouragement on this article. If you desire additional information on the history of Remington knives please refer to THE BEST OF KNIFE WORLD VOLUME 2. This article will help in period identification of Remington knives.