trenchbuff Posted October 30, 2008 Share #1 Posted October 30, 2008 After searching a long time for an good example of this knife, I finally found one this Summer. These were made by the Anaconda Company in Montana and given to their employees who went off to war. This example was carried by a Butte, Montana soldier all through the Pacific as a member of the 163rd Infantry Regiment, 41st Division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldcop Posted October 30, 2008 Share #2 Posted October 30, 2008 Great knife. Never heard of this before. Thanx for the info and picture. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebladeslinger Posted October 30, 2008 Share #3 Posted October 30, 2008 Very nice knife. I've seen a couple of them sell this year and they seem to be going for a pretty high price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke41 Posted October 30, 2008 Share #4 Posted October 30, 2008 Nice one, I bought a couple a few years back when they werent worth much at all, prices on these seem to have jumped allot. Being in Silvey's book helped their collectability I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Trzaska Posted October 30, 2008 Share #5 Posted October 30, 2008 An extremely nice piece trenchbuff, great find. To clear up a few misconceptions if I may... Knives were made by employees of the Montana Power Company. The blades were ground at the Black Eagle Power Plant and the handles were cast at the old street car facility in Great Falls. All materials were donated or scrounged to keep the cost down, you see the price to the servicemen was free. All the knives made by the Montana Power Company employees were given to servicemen passing through the area on the troop trains, not just company employees. From the best recollections they made about 1200 knives and took them all to the troop trains stopping in Montana and gave them all away. All the best Frank Trzaska Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebladeslinger Posted October 30, 2008 Share #6 Posted October 30, 2008 An extremely nice piece trenchbuff, great find. To clear up a few misconceptions if I may... Knives were made by employees of the Montana Power Company. The blades were ground at the Black Eagle Power Plant and the handles were cast at the old street car facility in Great Falls. All materials were donated or scrounged to keep the cost down, you see the price to the servicemen was free. All the knives made by the Montana Power Company employees were given to servicemen passing through the area on the troop trains, not just company employees. From the best recollections they made about 1200 knives and took them all to the troop trains stopping in Montana and gave them all away. All the best Frank Trzaska Great info Mr. Trzaska. Seems like there is always something new to learn about military knives. Keep up the good work:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchbuff Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share #7 Posted October 31, 2008 An extremely nice piece trenchbuff, great find. To clear up a few misconceptions if I may... Knives were made by employees of the Montana Power Company. The blades were ground at the Black Eagle Power Plant and the handles were cast at the old street car facility in Great Falls. All materials were donated or scrounged to keep the cost down, you see the price to the servicemen was free. All the knives made by the Montana Power Company employees were given to servicemen passing through the area on the troop trains, not just company employees. From the best recollections they made about 1200 knives and took them all to the troop trains stopping in Montana and gave them all away. All the best Frank Trzaska Thanks for the great info Frank. I have heard bits and pieces of the story, but you're the first one who put it down so clearly. Much of the misconceptions, sad to say, came from vets themselves. I spoke to a gentleman this year who worked for Anaconda and also served in WW2. He swears you had to have been an employee of the company to get one. I was always a little skeptical of that, but what can you say when the Vet tells it to you. Sadly also, the Black Eagle Plant, the Anaconda Plant and the Street Car Facility are all gone now. Thanks again Frank!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke41 Posted October 31, 2008 Share #8 Posted October 31, 2008 One reason I suspect you see so few of these type knives today is that they were useful after the war as a regular knife. Most of these got tossed into tool tackle boxes after the war and were used up over time. They made 90,000 Murphy Combay knives during the war, yet they arent very common today, same reason I think, they ended up being used after the war, where pure fighting knives like a 1918 MK I didnt have any use for most people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gastrapsforme Posted August 24, 2014 Share #9 Posted August 24, 2014 Late to this thread but very neat. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlowe95 Posted January 11, 2022 Share #10 Posted January 11, 2022 just arrived on my door step today!!! Love these knives, made by great Americans! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlowe95 Posted January 11, 2022 Share #11 Posted January 11, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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