When looking on the internet, there is a lot of misinformation and semi-information on a lot of the knife companies. While doing some research I obtained copies of a couple of newspaper articles from Holyoke, Mass. Below I have summarized some of the information from these articles. Since Pal produced so many knives for the military in WW2 I thought this might be of some interest to collectors.

 

Pal Blade Company purchased the cutlery division on January 17, 1941 from Remington-Dupont which had been located at Bridgeport, Connecticut. Remington sold the cutlery department in order to utilize the existing Bridgeport plant space for the production of munitions ( I believe for the production of the Model 1903 rifle for the British government - GMC).

Pal leased a 100,000 square foot facility in Holyoke, Mass. located on the west side of Bigelow Street between Appleton and Cabot Streets. This building had been the A building of the Farr Alpaca Company. Interestingly enough, part of this building in the 1800s had been the home of the Henry Seymor Cutlery Company, makers of shears and scissors.

Removal of the machinery to Holyoke began on February 4, 1941 with the move scheduled to be completed within 30 days. By March 1^st they planned to be in operation with two shifts employing 300 workers, many of them women. Plans were to have 450 employees within 3 months, and they were advertising that the company would be the largest cutlery manufacturing company in the United States. Full production was to begin in June, 1941.

At the time, Pal Blade also had factories in Plattsburg, New York, Montreal, Canada, Newfoundland and South America. Owners were brothers Abraham Mallman of Montreal and Joseph Mallman of New York.

The above information was taken from the February 3, 1941 Holyoke Transcript-Telegram

During World War 2, the plant was converted to make bayonets, sheath knives, and pocket knives for US forces. Following the war, the name was changed to the Pal and Personna Blade Co., Inc. Other company plants were located in Montreal, Canada, Plattsburg, New York, Barranquilla, Columbia and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

By December, 1945 the plant had been converted to peace time products and expanded their product line to include many items which had been unavailable during the war and for which there was a large market. Under the Pal name they produced pocket knives, paring knives, slicing knives and kitchen utility items in the moderate price range. The Personna items included gift sets, carving sets, carving knives and kitchen knives in the higher price brackets.

Employment in 1946 reached 950 workers on two shifts. 7:00 AM to 4:45 PM (3:45 PM for the women workers) and another shift from 3:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The plant worked 5 ½ days a week, closing at noon on Saturdays. At the time the plant operated on two floors of 90,000 square feet each. The first floor contained most of the assembly lines and production tables, while the basement was occupied by store rooms, a maintenance shop and one work room where paring knives were made. (Note – the building no longer exists - GMC)

The above information was taken from the December 4, 1946 Holyoke Transcript-Telegram

 

Several years ago I had a short correspondence with a gentleman who had been a salesman for Pal in the early 1950s. He said that they did not continue to sell the sheath knives to any extent following WW2 since there were other products that were in much higher demand.

 

It is likely that the sheath knife market was depressed after the war since many servicemen brought their knives home with them.

Gary, Great bit of research on your part. Helps explain the two origins of PAL knives, Plattsburgh,NY and Holyoke, Mass. during WWII.

Regards,

Ken

Thanks for the research Gary

Thanks Gary that's a nice summery for PAL. I've been told (?) that as the Remington machinery wore out they decided not to re-tool and continued to pursue their other products. If I'm to understand it correctly the razor blade part of their business still exists today, as part of a bigger company. They have been bought and sold many times.

Gary,

Great info, thanks. Sounds like you're on your way to another book...

Jim

Thanks Gary that's a nice summery for PAL. I've been told (?) that as the Remington machinery wore out they decided not to re-tool and continued to pursue their other products. If I'm to understand it correctly the razor blade part of their business still exists today, as part of a bigger company. They have been bought and sold many times.

 

You are correct. By 1953 the machinery and tooling had worn to the point where it needed to be replaced. By that time sales of the cutlery end of the business had dropped to the point that the Holyoke factory was closed. Pal Blade Company of Plattsburg was acquired by American Safety Razor in 1953. From the Personna website: "Our commitment to deliver innovative products began 135 years ago when the Kampfe Brothers introduced the first safety razor manufactured in the United States. In the early 1900’s, we introduced the GEM razor and became the GEM Safety Razor Company. By 1919 we were the American Safety Razor Company, (ASR). We acquired the Pal and Personna names and moved production to Verona, Virginia in 1953. In the next decade we became part of Phillip Morris and secured the Burma Shave brand."

Gary- Good info! Thanks! SKIP

Gary

 

Great information ! Thank you

 

Tony

great info Gary thanks

I worried about reviving this ancient thread and I hope that no one is offended, but I have a simple question about the PAL-RH 36 knife and this looked as good as anywhere else.  Does anyone know what the timeline that Pal put their logo on the leather sheath for the 36.  I have seen two recently.

Some years ago I tried to follow-up on Gary's information on PAL, but basically there are no records available on the internet, and I am not aware of any books that chronical PAL during the war.  That being said, looking at the sheath for the RH 36 with the PAL in an oval, my guess would be that the sheath's would be marked once full production was reached by the summer of 1941.  The RH 36 was one of PAL's bread and butter knives made after buying the factory from Remington and most likely the marking would be part of the marketing of the knife before the War.

To add to the above discussion, I dug up my copy of the guide to Remington Sheath Knives 1925-1940, and the sheath for the RH 36 was marked with the Remington logo, so it is again, likely that PAL just continued the practice.

So that others in the future may know exactly what the PAL sheath marking was for the RH-36 the image below illustrates it well.  The PAL slogan says "The Hallmark of Fine Cutlery".

 

Regards,

Charlie

 

 

Thanks to everyone for their replies!  I was amiss in not posting a photo.  

 

Would you think that the marking of the sheath would have been early war, later abandoned as an unnecessary step in production?  I have handled a lot of RH-36s and viewed even more of them (they are one of my favorites) but the marked sheaths are few and far between as far as I can tell.

The PAL 36 as well as others would have been an off the shelf item already in the commercial market at our entry into the War.  One of the first things the Government did was buy  as much of the existing stock of knives they could get.  Soon the Government took over control of raw materials and manufacturing to be certain that the war effort was prioritized. Thats pretty much everything from battle ships to match sticks.

A friend of mine recently showed me an interesting knife.  It is obviously a Service fighting knife, in the original sheath.  There is webbing attached to the sheath.  The sheath markings are “NORD - 4723 B.M. Co T VP”.  The blade is intact with no visible issues.  The blade has engraving:  “U.S.N. Mark 4” and “RH PAL Made in USA 35”.  My research is discovering that there could be a collectible legacy for this knife.  Any idea what my Buddy has been given?  Thanks. 

 

SgtMaj, Your buddy has has a : RH PAL Made in USA 35. It should also be marked : U.S.N. Mark 1  on the other side of the blade...I collect PAL knives and have this particular knife in my collection.

Can you say which Sailors' ratings would have been issued this knife?  Ship's Company, Sea Bees, Corpsmen, etc?  Was it a first year initial issue at the time?