Mercator knife
The Mercator knife (also Kaiser Wilhelm knife or K55K knife ) is a pocket knife . The simple construction has a carbon steel blade . The knife has been produced in very large editions since 1867 and is considered a classic.
Originally a product of Heinrich Kaufmann & Söhne, Indiawerk , it has been produced by Otter-Messer in Solingen since 1995 . For marketing reasons, the Latin term Mercator was chosen, which is a direct translation of the term merchant. The abbreviation K55K is stamped on the knife . The first K stands for the manufacturer Kaufmann, the 55 stands for the house number of the company address and the second K stands for cat. The cat was the manufacturer's brand animal back then.
In both world wars it was often part of military equipment, so that it was assumed that it was an official piece of equipment, which was not the case.
After the Second World War, the knife found widespread use in the USA. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Mercator knife was considered the most widely used weapon in the Bronx .
literature
- Messer Magazin, August / September 2020 issue, p. 75
Individual evidence
- ↑ C. Houston Price, Mark D. Zalesky: Official Price Guide to Collector Knives . Random House, Inc., 2008. ISBN 0-375-72280-7 , ISBN 978-0-375-72280-6 . Pg 138
- ↑ Wolfgang Peter Michel: Trench Daggers: Military Combat Knives of the First World War , 2017, ISBN 978-3-8423-7719-6 , p. 61.
- ↑ Geoffrey Canada: Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence . Beacon Press, October 13, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8070-4462-9 , pp. 58– (accessed March 14, 2013). , Pp. 58–32 (accessed March 14, 2013).