I bought this early Randall carving set recently. The seller estimated it to be early 1950s. I've been doing some research to see what I might be able to learn.
The first thing I noticed was that for a set, the two pieces did not seem to match well. The spacers are different. The pins, or bolsters, are of different sizes. The fork is stainless and the knife is not.
It also looks to my eye that the stag handle on the knife is more aged than the handle on the fork.
Looking into this, with internet research and reviewing old Randall catalogs on line, I learned that the type of hilt — small, nickel silver — was introduced in 1948; an even smaller, silver hilt was used earlier — and continued until 1963. While there is no mention of a matching fork in the 1948 catalog, it is mentioned in the accompanying text in the 1952 and 1953 catalogs, and picture of the fork is first shown in the 1954 catalog.
Interestingly, the spacers on the knife and the fork, as shown in these early catalogs, like on my set, don't match.
The 1954 catalog is also the first catalog mention I found of the availability of stainless knives. I have not found anything on whether forks were offered in tool steel as well as stainless, so I suppose they may all have been stainless. (But forks were offered in 1952 before mention of stainless availability...)
The small nickel silver hilt is present on the carving knife in the 1963 catalog, but has been replaced with a larger nickel silver hilt in the 1965 catalog. (I think the pin/bolster is also still visible in 1963, but is gone by 1965.)
And in the later catalogs I looked at, 1963 and 1965, the spacers on the carving knife and the fork, still don't match.
I think the matching, knife and fork, of spacers as standard practice for carving sets must be a later practice. The newer sets I have seen online all seem to match.
(That said, I did come across a beautiful carving set from the pinned handle era that had matching spacers, so I guess at times they matched. Scroll down in this knifetalkforums Randall sub forum thread Knife Of The Week Model 6!!!!!! - Knifetalk Forums)
My take on this is that the knife could date anywhere from 1948 to 1963 or 1964, but I favor the earlier years based on the age/color of the stag. I think the fork is likely 1954 or later, since it is stainless. Since it has a pin as well, I'm guessing 1963 is also the latest likely date. (One can't see the pins in the fork handles in the catalogs because of how the fork is positioned.) While the knife blade shows it has been well used, repeatedly sharpened over time, the fork shows little signs of use. But, forks are not sharpened, so not sure if that signifies anything.
I think the knife and fork may have been purchased together, or may have been purchased separately, and put together as a set at a later date.
Observations and comments welcome.
(For those interested in researching their Randalls, this is a useful site: https://www.randallmadeknife.com/)
The first thing I noticed was that for a set, the two pieces did not seem to match well. The spacers are different. The pins, or bolsters, are of different sizes. The fork is stainless and the knife is not.
It also looks to my eye that the stag handle on the knife is more aged than the handle on the fork.
Looking into this, with internet research and reviewing old Randall catalogs on line, I learned that the type of hilt — small, nickel silver — was introduced in 1948; an even smaller, silver hilt was used earlier — and continued until 1963. While there is no mention of a matching fork in the 1948 catalog, it is mentioned in the accompanying text in the 1952 and 1953 catalogs, and picture of the fork is first shown in the 1954 catalog.
Interestingly, the spacers on the knife and the fork, as shown in these early catalogs, like on my set, don't match.
The 1954 catalog is also the first catalog mention I found of the availability of stainless knives. I have not found anything on whether forks were offered in tool steel as well as stainless, so I suppose they may all have been stainless. (But forks were offered in 1952 before mention of stainless availability...)
The small nickel silver hilt is present on the carving knife in the 1963 catalog, but has been replaced with a larger nickel silver hilt in the 1965 catalog. (I think the pin/bolster is also still visible in 1963, but is gone by 1965.)
And in the later catalogs I looked at, 1963 and 1965, the spacers on the carving knife and the fork, still don't match.
I think the matching, knife and fork, of spacers as standard practice for carving sets must be a later practice. The newer sets I have seen online all seem to match.
(That said, I did come across a beautiful carving set from the pinned handle era that had matching spacers, so I guess at times they matched. Scroll down in this knifetalkforums Randall sub forum thread Knife Of The Week Model 6!!!!!! - Knifetalk Forums)
My take on this is that the knife could date anywhere from 1948 to 1963 or 1964, but I favor the earlier years based on the age/color of the stag. I think the fork is likely 1954 or later, since it is stainless. Since it has a pin as well, I'm guessing 1963 is also the latest likely date. (One can't see the pins in the fork handles in the catalogs because of how the fork is positioned.) While the knife blade shows it has been well used, repeatedly sharpened over time, the fork shows little signs of use. But, forks are not sharpened, so not sure if that signifies anything.
I think the knife and fork may have been purchased together, or may have been purchased separately, and put together as a set at a later date.
Observations and comments welcome.
(For those interested in researching their Randalls, this is a useful site: https://www.randallmadeknife.com/)
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