Queen Cutlery History is a comprehensive, informative resource for anyone interested in Queen City Cutlery Company and its successor, Queen Cutlery Company. In addition the website features information on the related companies, Schatt & Morgan and the Dollar Knife Company. For the first time, knife collectors and historians have access to a knowledge bank of knife photos and descriptions, historical documents, catalogs and articles related to these legendary cornerstones of the American cutlery industry. Our only focus is on knives made in the USA.

In 2018, having produced high quality cutlery using traditional methods for 96 years, Queen Cutlery closed its doors for good. The curators of this website, David Clark, Linda and Fred Fisher and Bob Welch, had previously served as the Queen Cutlery Historical Committee and are now joined by Carl Bradshaw. We are supported in this effort by knowledgable Queen and Schatt & Morgan collectors from across the USA. The Daniels Family, last owners of the company have graciously donated all related historical documents from the old Queen website. We are grateful to Jan Carter, of iknifecollector.com for contributing the web domain.

⇒ We have looked back into the Historical Knife Spotlight Archive to focus on an article about the Queen  # 44 Short Frame Folding Hunters. Previous Spotlight articles can be found in the Spotlight Archive. The entire collection of 2020’s Historical Knife Spotlights are now available in articles for you to check out and download. 

⇒ All new Collector Questions & Comments appear here on the home page.

⇒ The Tang Stamp Guide has been updated yet again, to version 9 (October, 2023) – and now contains details on 101 stamps and markings! The guide also includes a supplement with the stamps used on hatchets, razors and scissors. Additionally, the earlier supplement on Dollar Knives, Robeson and Tuna Valley knives is also included. We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions. Contact us here.

Our first Knife Spotlight of the new year is aimed at Queen Cutlery’s # 44 short-frame folding hunter. As you will see, the short frame # 44 was created by Queen to save a big order, and there is a bit of a story to it.

Queen introduced the # 44 “Heavy Duty Big Pocket Knife”, also referred to as a folding hunter, in their 1954 catalog. The style and frame are essentially the same as the # 39 which had been launched in 1952. While # 39 was a two-blade folding hunter, # 44 had just one big saber-ground clip blade. Both knives measured 5 1/4 inches, closed length. Both were big, heavy knives suitable for use by hunters.

Pattern # 44 continued to appear in Queen catalogs through the 1950’s, ’60’s and into the ’70’s. In the 1972-1978 catalog 50, it is also present and is described as having “Queen Stag” handles. You may interpret this to be what’s commonly known as imitation Winterbottom bone. Import restrictions on foreign-sourced bone and increased demand for bone dust from other industries put pressure on the Winterbottom Bone Company such that they sold out to one of their customers in 1968. These factors and the associated cost increases led Queen Cutlery to transition to injected molded Delrin plastic handles (aka. Imitation Winterbottom bone) in the 1970’s. Starting with the release of the 1980 catalog Queen began referring to these handles as “Delrin Stag”.

The 1980 catalog showcased another change to the # 44 folding hunter. It 

became a lockback knife, designated # 44L, and was described as having Delrin Stag handles. By 1995 it had been re-designed as a button lock, pattern # 44B. The last appearance of #44B as a 5 1/4 inch folding hunter was in the 1999 catalog.

So, with this background information in mind, let’s move on the the # 44 short frame. We have noted the Winterbottom Bone Co. was sold off in the late 1960’s. This event and the increased cost of the bone handles led Queen to start buying imitation Winterbottom bone handles from the Rogers Corporation. In 1984, one of Queen’s cutlery dealers, who’s name we’ve forgotten, approached the factory to commission a limited run of traditional # 44’s but with genuine Winterbottom bone handles. Queen did have some leftover stock of Winterbottom bone but when they checked inventory they discovered the slabs were too short to fit onto the 5 1/4 inch frame of # 44. This dilemma meant they might lose out on a significant sale.

Rather than pass up this order, Queen’s management exhibited a “can-do” attitude and proposed a solution. It turns out the bone handles in stock would almost fit the # 44 and they would fit if the knife were made just 1/8 inch shorter. To make this work they had to shorten the frame by 1/8 inch and, with the dealer’s agreement, they went ahead and did so.

The Queen # 44 short from was made in

The most comprehensive and extensively researched guide to Queen and Schatt & Morgan tang stamps and blade markings ever published has just gotten better! Version 9 (October, 2023) of the guide is now a 19 page document which displays over 100 distinct tang and blade markings used by the cutleries over a span of 126 years. Two supplements have been integrated into the Guide. One covers hatchets, razors and scissors. The other details additional brands made by Queen, Dollar Knives, Robeson and Tuna Valley. 

This Guide was created by our editors and a group of collectors following the 2018 closure of Queen Cutlery. Markings on knives in their various collections, both tang stamps and blade etches, were photographed, in color and (with few exceptions) are included here. 

In addition to the photos, an illustration of the stamp or etch marking is included . This is followed by a description and an accurately estimated time span during which that marking was used.

 To view and download, just click the adjacent image.