Camillus Cutlery Company

The company that was to be the forerunner of this cutlery giant was founded in Camillus, New York, along 9 Mile Creek in Camillus by Charles Sherwood as the Sherwood Cutlery Company. It was originally used as grains mill from the fist half of the 19^th century. In 1894, Sherwood’s company made its first shipment of knives, a total of thirty dozen pieces. The small cutlery manufacturing operation lasted only a couple of years before the factory was leased to Robeson Cutlery Company. Sherwood remained as manager during the two-year occupancy and reopened his business in 1901.

Some twenty years prior to Sherwood’s venture, Adolph and Nathan Kastor had formed a hardware wholesale and knife importing business known as A. Kastor & Brothers. The 12-year old Adolph Kastor, son of a Jewish family from Wattenheim, Germany, immigrated to New York in 1870 where he started to work for his uncle Aaron Kastor in his hardware supply business, Bodenheim, Meyer & Company. He was first put in charge of cow chains but gradually worked his way up to the firearms and cutlery department.

In 1873, Bodenheim, Meyer & Company lost one of its founders and restructured as Meyer & Kastor. Due to poor sales figures, Meyer & Kastor had to close doors in September 1876. Only a few weeks later, Adolph Kastor started his own company, Adolph Kastor and Brothers on Canal Street in New York City, where he imported and distributed German made knives.

The Kastor business grew to the point that it had become the country’s largest knife importer, but the 1897 Dingley Tariff Act passage caused a substantial increase in the cost of his imported knives. Wanting to avoid the Tariff, Adolph Kastor & Brothers purchased Charles Sherwood and his small knife manufacturing business in 1902 and renamed it Camillus Cutlery Company. Pocketknives were always the firm’s primary product, and during World War I Camillus produced marlinspikes, surgical scalpels, and a folding knife/spoon combination for the Red Cross as well as the American, British, Canadian and Dutch forces.

After the war, the firm returned to commercial pocketknives and a new Camillus salesman, Albert Baer, was hired in 1922. The company introduced stainless steel to their production line and started making collectible character knives, which honored famous people such as George Washington, Babe Ruth and Buck Rogers.

Other large contracts, such as KENT knives made for Woolworth’s, would become a major portion of the company’s business. Within those first years, Baer was successful in landing the large Sears & Roebuck account and Camillus began manufacturing the Sears STA-SHARP brand. 

 

During World War II, Camillus shipped more than 13 million knives of various styles to the allied forces.  In 1942, U. S. Marine Corps officers Colonel John M. Davis and Major Howard E. America working in conjunction with cutlery technicians at Camillus developed what would become the USMC 1219C2 Combat Knife, otherwise known as the USMC Mark 2 Combat Knife or Fighting Utility Knife. After extensive trials, the 1219C2 prototype was recommended for adoption, and Camillus was awarded the first contract to produce the 1219C2 for the Marine Corps. Camillus made more 1219C2 / Mark 2 Fighting Utility Knives than any other knife manufacturing producing the model during World War II. During the war, Camillus also made many other fighting knives for U.S. Forces, including machetes, multi-blade utility knives, TL-29 Signal Corps pocket knives for signalmen, electrician’s mates, and linesmen, and combination knife / marlinspike pocket knives for use by the U.S. Navy in cutting and splicing lines.

Albert Baer remained with the company until 1941. More new products were introduced to the market, and in 1947, Camillus began to manufacture a full line of official folding knives for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

Camillus adopted a number of its own brand names and stampings and large quantities of knives marked CAMILLUS/CUTLERY CO CAMMILUS NY/USA, CAMCO, SWORD BRAND, STREAMLINE, MUMBLY PEG and HIGH CARBON STEEL U.S.A. have been sold over the years.

Although these brands have been slow to achieve desirability in the collector market, the company has been the major contract manufacture of dozen of other brands that are in demand. Brand stampings such as O.V.B KEEN KUTTER, DIAMOND EDGE, VAN KAMP HARDWARE, HENRY SEARS & SONS, and BUCK are but a few that reflect the manufacturing capabilities of this cutlery giant. During the Vietnam War, Camillus again manufactured a large number of knives for the armed forces, for instance a pilot survival knife, a USMC Combat Knife and a four blade utility knife. After the Vietnam War, the company continued its growth by adding more new pieces to their already wide product range. In 1963, Camillus was sold to the Baer family of New York and purchased the firm on behalf of his two daughters.

In 1991, Camillus purchased the rights to the WESTERN brand name. This Boulder, Colorado Company had been making knives since 1896.  Other brands produced by Camillus in recent years include Becker Knife and Tool, CUDA, and a resurrected O.V. B.

In 2001 Camillus collaborated with custom knife maker Jerry Fisk, the only knife maker to be declared a Living National Treasure, to produce a Bowie knife. That same year, Camillus began a partnership with custom knife maker Darryl Ralph to produce a line of titanium framed tactical folding knives.

Since the turn of the century, Camillus Cutlery saw its revenues decline due to stiff overseas competition and alleged poor management practices. As a result, employee implemented a four-day workweek after the normal factory shutdown at Christmas 2005. A few months later, Camillus’ management proposed large wage and benefit cuts. Workers didn’t agree and the company was subject to months long striking. In response management locked the workers out for several months. In November 2006, the striking employees ultimately accepted the original contract offer but the company only retained 15 of the 78 union members and laid off the rest.

The lock out ultimately took its toll on Camillus as customers dried up and the company subsequently filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors on February 28, 2007. Operational control of Camillus Cutlery remained mainly within the Baer family. On September 18, 2007, the product brand names and intellectual property of the company were acquired by acme United Corporation in a bankruptcy auction for $200,000.

In May 2009, Acme United re-launched Camillus at the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. The traditional Camillus knives were almost entirely replaced by new modern knives with durable handles and titanium carbonitride coated blades. One of the few knives remaining from the old Camillus line is an updated version of the “Cuda”, which is a folding knife with a one-hand opening mechanism. It features titanium carbonitride coated blades and ergonomic G-10 fiber handles.

In 2001, Camillus expanded its product range by introducing several new knives, including the Yello-Jaket and Lev-R-Lok. These two knives were also manufactured by the old Camillus and are still very popular among knife enthusiasts. In addition, a new line of knives featuring VG10 steel blades was launched. In December of 2011, Acme United signed an agreement with Les Stroud to build and sell Camillus survival knives and tools, co-designed and promoted by the outdoor adventurer, known from the TV series, Survivorman. The Les Stroud signature line was launched during the 2012 SHOT Show, held in Las Vegas, Nevada and consists of several knives and other survival tools.

It is unclear whether or not the company’s brand names will survive, but it’s highly doubtful that knives will ever again be manufactured in the “cutlery town” of Camillus, New York.

Update: The Camillus building burned down on February 12, 2013. Workers were working there in the afternoon, when something happened and the building erupted in flame.

Sources

Official Price Guise to Collector Knives, 15^th Edition by Houston Price and Mark Zalesky