Adolph Schlatter's Pocket Knife
For as long as I remember, my father had in a top drawer in his dresser this pocket knife that he told us belonged to his father, Adolph Schlatter. After his death, my brother John and I divided the few heirlooms our parents had; John got the knife. In 2024 (?) John sent the knife to me, wrapped in paper in a nice box. Here are photos of the knife.
Side view of the knife, opened.
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The handle is wooden.
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Five blades, from left to right: corkscrew, hawkbill, saw blade, short blade (tip broken), short blade.
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Note on the second blade from the right the name BAHR.
Close-up of blade with the marking BAHR. This is the only marking on the knife.
Knife folded, name BAHR on blade. 5-3/8 inches long.
Is Adolph's knife an early version of the Swiss Army Knife?
John and I had always noticed the similarity between Adolph's knife and the current-day Swiss Army Knife, with its many blades. I found a history of the Swiss Army Knife on this website: Swiss Army Knife History & Facts (Some Surprising Ones) - SwitzerLanding
In the 1880s the Swiss Army decided that they wanted every one of their soldiers to have a folding pocket knife.
The purpose of the knife would be for opening cans of food, having a small knife for cutting things, a reamer, and a screwdriver that worked with the M1889 Swiss service rifle. The rifles required a screwdriver for assembly and disassembly.
The first order for “Swiss Army Knives” totaled 15,000 units but at the time there was no Swiss company capable of fulfilling it. The Swiss Army contracted a German knife manufacturer called Wester & Co. to fulfill the order.
The company was based in Solingen, Germany, and delivered the order for the first 15,000 Swiss Army Knives ever in 1891. The knife didn’t have a fancy name and was simply called the Modell 1890.
The Modell 1890 came with all the tools the Swiss Army requested including a can opener, reamer, single blade, screwdriver, and with dark oak grips.
The German company of Wester & Co. didn’t hold the contract for the Modell 1890 knife for very long. Karl Elsener, of Elsener company, went after the contract and proposed that his company (who made surgical equipment) should be the supplier of the Modell 1890.
By 1891, Elsener was the sole provider of the Modell 1890 to the Swiss Army. But, in 1893, the Swiss Army also contracted Paul Boéchat & Cie to produce the Modell 1890 knives.
In 1896, Elsener improved the design of the Modell 1890 and added a spring mechanism that allowed tools to be held on both sides of the handle, doubling the number of tools that could be on the knife.
On another website I found this photo of an early Swiss Amy Knife -- 1890. This is the only photo I have been able to find of an early Swiss Army Knife. While the name BAHR is nowhere in the online Swiss Army Knife histories, the similarity between my grandfather’s knife and this original 1890 model is interesting.
Here are notes describing the background of this knife: The Simple, Elegant History of the Swiss Army Knife
The idea for the knives came about in the 1880s, when the Swiss military decided that it needed to give soldiers a simple, portable tool. At first, no suitable tool-producing factories existed in the country, so they had to outsource the work to Germany, but eventually a talented Swiss inventor, Karl Elsener, stepped up and manufactured something that fit the bill.
In 1891, Elsener’s tool was handed to military officers. It was popular, though some complained about it, so he went back to his shop and made it even better, adding a corkscrew to the mix. Since then, the device has largely remained structurally the same.
While Adolph's knife does have some similarities to the original Swiss Army Knife, I do not find the name BAHR in any of the online histories of the Swiss Army Knife -- BAHR could have made knives independent of the Swiss Army Kinfe, BAHR could have bid on the Swiss Army Knife contract -- lots of possibilities. I guess we’ll never know any more about Adolph’s knife.
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