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Comment by Jan Carter on July 5, 2014 at 13:34

The tang is visible here

http://www.iknifecollector.com/photo/img-1028-1?xg_source=activity#...

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on July 5, 2014 at 12:37

Did a little more snooping-The tang stamp you show in your other photo closely resembles some I have seen on Robert Klaas Daggers he made for the Germans in  early WW2-Also found another folding camp scalpel by another maker from the same period which has very similar blade and handle characteristics-That, and the probability that the handle is Bakelite would date it to the late 1930's to very early 40's- Google "testing for Bakelite" and there are several ways to check that will not hurt the handle- One is to just  rub your thumb rapidly over the handle til it starts getting warm by friction- sniff and if it smells like formaldehyde it is probably Bakelite- There are some other simple tests like this you can also do

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on July 3, 2014 at 15:39

I get more intrigued the farther I dig- Per a phone conversation with Steve, he thought the handle was Bakelite possibly- Bakelite was patented in 1909 which narrows the search further- IMHO. I believe it may be a folding scalpel/traveling doctors knife- The unusual tab for releasing the blade is also a puzzler- This is NOT your typical $3 flea market find !!

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on July 3, 2014 at 13:56

Check out his photo of the close up tang- It is a Robert Klaas (sometimes spelled Klass) founded in 1834 and still in business after 175 years- later associated with Kissing Crane and Hen & Rooster-Later Parted ways with Kissing Crane and now China made- This predates all of this- This knife is before the cranes were actually "kissing"- Probably no later than 1930 and possibly much earlier- Klaas introduced the Stork brand, later changed to Crane because he didn't think their were any storks in Germany- Later evolved to the Kissing Crane brand- More to follow as I find it !! LOL

 

Comment by John Bamford on July 3, 2014 at 9:51

Corn knife , maybe ?