Let Us Again Take A Step Back In Time
To The Age Of WWI Trench Warfare
War is not a pretty, delightful thing. It comes with a lot of heartache, pain, suffering and sacrifice. Both good and bad things are spawned by the act of war.
But, that's NOT what I am here to write about today. Rather, I would like to share a piece of war history with you. A piece of history I found in my past WEEKEND EXPEDITIONS to thrift stores galore!
I figured The Weekend Community would be a great place to post this, since it was found on a Saturday Morning, many a moon ago. ALSO.. @galenkp aka G-Dog, will get a kick out of it (I think)
Again I Am Sorting Through "Stuff" ..
As most of you may be aware, I had been doing a little house keeping as far as collectables goes. I've been rooting around in the stash of junk I have collected over the years, and primarily from a "I have to buy that crap" stage I went through. I still, on occasion, keep my eyes peal for deals, but not nearly as often do I react to them by pulling out my wallet.
Today's post is some more of the same.. although this time, I am not so ready to part with my item. On display for you today, I have a 1917 WWI Knuckleduster Trench Knife.
This type of trench knife, often called a knuckle duster, is also referred to as model 1917 or M17. A company called Landers, Frary and Clark [LF&C] produced this knife for the U.S. armed services. Even though they call it a knife I believe it’s more of a blunt blade, due to the fact it does not have any sharp edges, and you have to use it in a stabbing like motion. This knife was built for very close combat types of situations.
From what I read, it was not that popular and eventually became obsolete and replaced with a slew of other weapons developed around this time, the era of trench warfare.
The blade, roughly 10 inches long or 26 cm, is triangular in nature. It is fatter at the base and becomes pointed toward the end.
The blade is attached to a wooden handle that is carved to fit a soldiers grip.
There is also a curved piece of metal, that surrounds the knuckles. This piece of metal has 6 pyramid like protrusions (pressed into the steel) along its edge. These little pyramid like pop-outs would protect the knuckles and be used in close combat as a means of inflicting bodily damage through the act of punching.
What Kind Of Condition Is My Knife In? ..
The one I own, isn’t in too bad of shape. I say this even though one can clearly see noticeable wear. There are dents, some rust, pitting, a crack in the wood, etc. All of this I can forgive, being that it may have been in service at some point, and for the sole fact that it is over 100 years old now.
The Text - U.S. ~ LF&C ~ 1917 .. Is still visible
There Are Still A Few Thing's I Would Like To Know ..
I sort of alluded to the fact that I am not ready to part with this piece of history. I am not quite ready for a few reasons. The first one is that I have NO CLUE what value to put on it, and where it would be best to list it for sale. If I find a group or person who knows his WWI stuff, I would think they could give me a rough estimate and even point me in the direction of a buyer.
Secondly, I really want to get it looked at to make sure it's legit (original). There are companies out there today that make really impressive replicas of these trench knives, which are used as collectors pieces and for reenactments. I want to make certain this one is the real thing. Given it's condition, leads me to believe it's legit, but assuming is not a wise choice.
Third thing I ponder is whether or not to buy the scabbard (holster or sheath) for it. The knife had a scabbard when they were issued, but when I found this piece in a thrift store (of all places), it did not have one. I found a few original scabbards, which I could purchase to accompany my piece. Would that raise it's value? And would I be able to recoup the cost of the additional purchase? Both good questions.
Ebay has a few scabbards for this knife, listed on their site
"US WW1 Jewell 1918 Scabbard Sheath for Trench Fighting Knife"
Photo 1 Source Ebay <~> Photo 2 Source - Ebay
Holy crap they are asking a lot!! $450 USD!!!
There are several watchers for both listings, making me consider that this is a normal problem for people who own these knives (not having the accompanying scabbard). Maybe that is why the prices are so steep.. lots of knives and no scabbards.
What To Do? What To Do? ..
I suppose that a little more research won’t hurt. There’s no hurry for me to perform the research, the due diligence that this investigation requires. I don’t own a lot of World War I or World War II artifacts, I may be limited on just a few. I’d have to think about that for a second. That should tell you how many war artifacts I own from that era. Lol. That may be one of the reasons behind why I would eventually want to part with it. I just don’t collect it in that way. I do have several other knives but nothing quite like this one.
Somebody out there may be searching .. for something like this to add to their fast collection of world war one items. Eventually we may meet up, talk about this knife and how I stumbled across it, about how they’ve been looking for quite a while for one of these, and finally agree on a price. I’m not ruling that scenario out totally. I like to be well informed before I make decisions on selling things I have little to no knowledge on. This type of thing has bitten me in the past and I don’t like to make the same mistakes twice, if you know what I’m talking about.
So what do you think of this knuckleduster?
Does anyone out there know anything about this knife? Maybe they have a scabbard they’re willing to part with that goes with this knife? Less than $450 maybe?? LOL. Anyhow if you know anything about this 1917 knuckle duster trench knife, I would be happy to hear from you.
When and IF I ever do decide to sell this, I am thinking the funds will make for some good investing fiat.. Silver?? .. We'll see!
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
― Albert Einstein
I thought it was appropriate to include this photo of Pepper (RIP), since the quote I thought of was one involving sticks. He would always find one and bring it to me to throw.
Also I can't resist to share one of my pieces of art too. Since the quote is an Albert Einstein quote, my blind contour drawing appropriately named 'Einstein' will fit here perfectly!
Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!
All words, pictures and art pieces are the sole property of B D Miller Gallery, unless otherwise noted and credited, and are not to be reproduced or copied without the prior written consent of B D Miller Gallery.
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