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 For the first time, knife collectors and historians have access to a knowledge bank of knife photos and descriptions, historical documents, catalogs and articles related to these legendary cornerstones of the American cutlery industry.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 knowledgeable 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 The Daniels Family, last owners of the company have graciously donated all related historical documents from the old Queen website.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.

⇒ See just below for a  Historical Knife Spotlight article on Queen Cutlery’s slim trapper pocketknives, patterns #11, #11EO and #24. 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.

November 30, 2020

This month the Historical Knife Spotlight is focused on Queen Cutlery’s # 11, # 11EO utility and # 24 slim trapper knives. At a quick glance, the patterns look essentially the same, but there are subtle and not-so-subtle differences.

All of these knives have the same visual cues: tapering, with a serpentine curve from the narrowest point at the pivot and curving upward at the wider end of the handle. Some might call this a dogleg pattern but we have not seen use of that term in Queen Cutlery documentation. All have nickel silver bolsters at either end and brass liners in the frame. All have clip blades with a nail nick. All were made with stainless steel “Queen Steel” blades.

Despite many similarities these knife patterns also have strong differences. Most obvious is the fact Queen # 24, with two blades of approximately equal length, fits the accepted definition of a Trapper. In addition to the clip blade, # 24 is also equipped with a long spey blade, pivoting at the same end. It is thicker by roughly 1/8th inch. This knife has two backsprings and a third brass liner, which account for the increased thickness. In contrast, # 11 and # 11EO have just the one clip blade, two brass liners and a single backspring.

Another big difference is the length of the knives. While # 11 and # 11EO are 4 1/8 inches closed, the # 24 pattern is an even 4 inches. This would not be very obvious if you were viewing examples on a knife show table. Frankly it’s not even all that obvious looking at a # 11 and a # 24 side by side. Queen catalogs are consistent in stating these lengths but it appears to this observer that the difference is more like 1/16 inch, with the the # 24 being a bit longer than the specified 4 inches.

Patterns # 11 and # 11EO differ only in that # 11EO is an easy-opener knife. As the photo shows, there is a semi-circular recess in the handles and liners roughly midpoint on the length. This feature makes it easier to open the blade when, for example, the user is wearing gloves.

Pattern # 11 appears in our first Queen Cutlery catalog, in 1947. At that time and through most of the 1950’s it was referred to as a “Switch”. This name doesn’t mean switchblade but rather has been most often applied to the “Tickler” or “Texas Toothpick” pattern. From the 1959 catalog catalog onward the name used has been “Utility knife”. In the first catalog appearance in 1947 # 11 was offered with Rogers bone handles, as in the accompanying photo.

For a short period in the late 1950’s burnt orange imitation winterbottom bone handles were used. More common though, were versions in Winterbottom bone and imitation winterbottom bone (Delrin).

The last appearance of # 11 Utility was in the 1982 catalog by which point it was only offered with imitation winterbottom bone handles and the length was noted as 4 inches. Queen also made # 11 knives as a promotion for Colgate Palmolive’s Irish Spring soap. A photo of this knife appears  

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.