Fight’n Rooster

Frank Buster trained Tennessee Walking horses for Waggoner Oil Company in Carthage, Tennessee and in his spare time he would paint the service stations owned by Waggoner. There was one station he wished of owning and before he knew it, he got the chance. He borrowed $1,200 and it cost $1,100 to fill the gas tanks, $50 to have the lights turned on, which left him with $50, no stock and no cash register. The station across the street was doing quite well so Frank asked his buddy Henry Armstrong, a local farmer, what it was that he was doing wrong. Henry told him that the store across the street did not want men sitting around playing Rook; Frank said to bring them over. After that you could find many men sitting around playing Rook, drinking Coca-Cola, throwing horseshoes, and trading knives.

The Frank Buster Cutlery Company was formed in Lebanon, Tennessee, and the first knives stamped with the Fight’n Rooster brand were produced in 1976. Their blades front or mark side tang was stamped with two fighting roosters and the words SOLINGEN or GERMANY underneath. The reverse side tang was stamped FRANK BUSTER CUTLERY CO. GERMANY. The logo introduced by these early knives has become recognized and respected by collectors from most parts of the country. In 1982, the rear tang stamping was changed to FRANK BUSTER CELEBRATED CUTLERY / GERMANY and the front tang stamping retained the logo with the name FIGHT’N ROOSTER above the two roosters. Although the mark side stamping remains the same, knives produced after 1994 are marked FRANK BUSTER & SON CELEBRATED CUTLERY / GERMANY.

The company has been very active in making special knives for a large number of regional knife collecting clubs and in supplying the regular Fight’n Rooster line to collectors through dealers who participate in knife shows and mail order business. Most Fight’n Rooster knives have been made in traditional styles and a large variety of handle materials have been used. Especially significant have been those that have reintroduced colorful celluloid handles such as Christmas tree, Waterfall, and Candy Stripe. A number of limited issues have used old parts that have been found in European factories.

In consideration of the needs and desires of collectors, Buster has kept the quantity of his knives low and the quality high. Recognizing that statistics are important to collectors, the company has maintained records of the numbers of each knife produced and the year of production. Noteworthy among the company’s other activities within the collector market has been encouragement and support of participation by women and youngsters in a hobby that has too often been considered one for men only.

Limited production of each release has been the company’s policy since it’s beginning. The majority of the near 2,000 different knife variations released have been made in quite limited numbers. No small number have been limited to 100 or 150 knives and some have been produced in numbers up to 600, most are limited to 200 of each pattern and or handle. The majority of Fight’n Rooster knives have etching on the master blade. Although some are etched in black with the brand and logo, finding a Buster made knife with elaborate and multicolored blade etching is not unusual. With so many variations of the theme of accepted old patterns, a complete listing is not practical. The company has published two editions of a book listing Fight’n Rooster knives in the early 1980s, describing them and stating their collector values. A more recently published third book pictures and offers collector values of more than 1,500 Fight’n Rooster knives with countless color illustrations. Since values range from tens of dollars to thousand of dollars and their production listing is so extensive, these books are the collector’s best source of exact pricing information.

Fight’n Rooster Celebrated Cutlery has won 10 awards in international competition. These awards included Knife of the Year Award, Best Imported Knife of the Year and Best Investment Knife of the Year.

Frank Buster was inducted in to the Cutlery Hall of Fame in 1987. This cutlery Hall of Fame was started in 1981 by American Blade Collectors and is limited to one to three inductees yearly. The Hall includes such famous people as Dewey Ferguson, Bill Scagel, Bill Moran, Bo Randall, Al Buck, Jim Parker, Henry Baer, Buster Warenski, Maury Shavin, Bruce Voyles, Pete Gerber and others. Not bad for a country boy who lived in a two room country house and drove an old Ford Falcon with holes in the floorboard.