Queen Cutlery Show knives
David Krauss, Bruce Godlesky, Brian Guth, Dan Lago
Introduction
As Queen Cutlery’s production of highly collectible knives expanded during the 1990s—including John Primble reproductions, Winchester reproductions, and especially the highly successful Case Classic series—a growing number of Queen enthusiasts became interested in supporting and promoting this aspect of their hobby. This article summarizes the origins of the Queen knife shows and focuses on the limited-edition “show knives” produced for those events, from the inaugural show in 1999 until Queen Cutlery declared bankruptcy in 2018.
Because this is a first edition of this research, readers should understand that little official documentation from the former Queen Cutlery Company has survived. Consequently, this article is based primarily on the authors’ collections, their attendance at the shows, conversations with longtime collectors, and the limited information published by Queen Cutlery and the Queen Collectors Club during those years. We welcome corrections, additional information, or photographs that will help improve future editions.
History of the Queen Knife Shows
The Queen Collectors Club, LLC, was established in late 1998 by Michael Sullivan and Howard Drake. The first issue of the Queen Collectors Quarterly Newsletter (Volume 1), published in February 1999, announced that the club would sponsor its first summer knife show on Friday and Saturday, July 16–17, at the C.A.A. Hall of Saint Titus Roman Catholic Church in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The newsletter also noted that Queen shows would be held in odd-numbered years, while the Case Collectors Club would continue holding its factory shows in even-numbered years.
The concept behind the Queen Collectors Club and its Titusville show was to cultivate a dedicated collector community modeled after the highly successful Case Collectors Club and the Case factory shows that had been held in Bradford, Pennsylvania, since 1981. Sullivan and Drake believed Queen Cutlery deserved similar recognition among collectors.
The inaugural 1999 show emphasized Club membership and promoted the idea that collecting Queen knives was every bit as rewarding as collecting Case knives, which many collectors considered Queen’s primary competitor. Numerous collectors displayed outstanding Queen collections at the show, with awards presented for several exhibits. The show also attracted many knife dealers offering Queen knives alongside other cutlery brands.
The first show proved to be a considerable success, generating enthusiasm throughout the collecting community. Although no commemorative show knife was produced that year, Queen was already earning a reputation for exceptional quality through its annual Schatt & Morgan series, the limited File & Wire editions, and numerous Robeson-branded knives. By 1999 these products had already begun attracting serious collector interest.
It is important to understand that the Queen Collectors Club was an independent limited liability company (LLC) owned and operated by Michael Sullivan and Howard Drake. The club organized and managed the shows with the willing cooperation of Queen Cutlery, whose management recognized the mutual benefits of supporting an active collector organization without assuming the responsibility or costs of operating one themselves.
Unlike Case Cutlery, Queen did not initially have a company-owned collectors club. Instead, the independently operated Queen Collectors Club filled that role. The enthusiasm generated by the club and its shows enhanced Queen Cutlery’s reputation and helped bring greater recognition to the company’s expanding line of collectible knives.
The biennial Queen shows quickly became the premier gathering for Queen collectors. Although not strictly limited to Queen knives, many dealers did offer both contemporary and vintage Queen products; collectors bought, sold, and traded among themselves, and many local residents brought older Queen knives to the show in hopes of selling them. During the early years it was not uncommon for widows to arrive carrying bags of knives that had belonged to their late husbands.
Shortly after the success of the first show, Queen Cutlery’s parent company, Servotronics, decided to establish its own official collectors club, known as “Queen’s Own.” The reasons behind this decision remain unclear. Unlike the independently operated Queen Collectors Club, the company-sponsored organization received little apparent support from Servotronics in Buffalo and proved short-lived. The Queen’s Own Club produced only a single commemorative knife before disappearing after approximately one year.
Meanwhile, the Queen Collectors Club continued to publish quarterly newsletters through the U.S. Postal Service and offered members a number of special factory-order (SFO) knives that were available only through advance subscription. This was before internet communication became commonplace among collectors, and printed newsletters served as the primary means of sharing information and ordering a club knife. See Queen-Cutlery-collectors-SFO-knives-7-11-2020.pdf for more specific information on those knives.
Beginning with the second Queen show, Queen Cutlery produced officially commemorative show knives in limited quantities. These knives were separate from both the Queen Collectors Club SFO offerings and the brief time of Queen’s Own Club’s only issue. Although QCC SFO knives might be distributed during the shows, they were not considered “show knives” because they had been ordered months in advance by club members. In our view, a true Queen show knife is one specifically etched to commemorate the event. Queen occasionally offered other limited-edition knives at the shows, such as the “Dollar Knife” produced with three different handle materials, but these are also outside the scope of this article. It has also been noted by those who collect Queen cutlery that it was not unusual for Queen to use overruns of some SFOs to make additional knives, often sold to distributors as “seconds”. It’s not unlikely that overrun blades marked for certain shows would show up on a non-show knife from time to time simply as way for Queen to use up inventory. The authors have seen some examples of this for 2001 and 2007 show knives). This writer attended those shows and recalls purchasing the proper show knife for each year. The book that chronicles the history of Schatt & Morgan and Queen Cutlery, American Pocketknives was published in 2001 and I was close to what was going on at the factory during the first decade of the 21st century.
The relationship between Queen Cutlery and the independently operated Queen Collectors Club remained friendly and mutually beneficial throughout the Servotronics years. Company representatives maintained a display at every show featuring current production, while factory employees, craftsmen, and management regularly attended and interacted with collectors. Over time, the shows became reunion events for many dealers, collectors, and Queen employees who returned year after year.
With the exception of the inaugural 1999 event, Queen produced a commemorative show knife for every biennial show. These limited editions typically numbered 100 pieces or fewer, making them considerably scarcer than the annual Schatt & Morgan Keystone Series, which generally consisted of editions of 600 or fewer. According to longtime collectors, profits from the sale of the show knives helped finance the company’s annual employee picnic.
Only the officially etched Queen show knives are illustrated in this article. As originally planned, the shows were held biennially from 1999 through 2011. The first four shows took place in the Saint Titus School gymnasium. After the property was sold in 2005, the shows moved to the Pleasantville Volunteer Fire Hall, where they were held from 2007 through 2016.
Following Daniels Family Cutlery’s purchase of Queen Cutlery in 2012, the shows became annual events. Free factory tours remained a popular tradition on the day preceding each show. The Daniels family hosted the annual shows through 2017, with most held at the Pleasantville Volunteer Fire Hall. For reasons unknown, the final company-sponsored show in August 2017 was relocated to Timber Lake Lodge on State Route 8 between Titusville and Franklin.
Four months later Queen Cutlery would close for the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, never to reopen, and Daniels Family Cutlery declared bankruptcy in January 2018.
Although the Queen factory is silent and emptied of its cutlery making equipment, the tradition of the Queen knife show continues. Independent organizers who have no affiliation to the former company have successfully continued the annual Pleasantville show each August, preserving an important gathering place for Queen dealers and collectors, ensuring that the company’s legacy remains alive within the collecting community. Examples of yearly show knives follow.
Knives by year
1999, No Knife offered.
2001 Show Knife. Copperhead (#41) single blade, with Queen Steel shield, Winterbottom bone, mirror polished blade. Edition of 75. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2001 Show Knife show as a set. Four, single blade toothpick (#20) knives handled in various colors and patterns of jigged bone. bright polished blade, and keystone shield. Edition of 75. Each knife could be purchased individually or in combination with the other knives shown here. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2003 Show Knife. Copperhead, single blade (#41) with mirror polished blade and Sheffield jigged Mother of Pearl, edition of 100. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2005, Show Knife. Schatt & Morgan Miniature Toothpick (#112) with mirror polished blade and Rogers Bone handle, with Keystone shield. Edition of 200. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2007 Show Knife. Schatt & Morgan (#18) single spear point mirror polished blade with jigged bone and Keystone shield. Edition of 100. (There may have also been a smooth bone option for that year’s offering.)
(photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2009 show Knife.) Schatt & Morgan serpentine jack (#042109) in jigged red bone, two mirror polished blades with keystone shield. Edition of 150. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2011 Show Knife. Pint Barlow? or Horticulturists? knife per Queen literature (#XXX97?) with single spear point with mirror polished blade, “S&M” stamped bolster with Rosewood handles. Edition of 100. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2013 Show Knife. Stag Half whittler (#46) with Wharncliffe main blade and oval shield Both blades mirror polished. This is the first Show Knife after Daniels Family Cutlery purchased Queen Cutlery, showing an increased preference for stag handles and annual shows. Edition of 100. (photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2014 show knife. A Schatt & Morgan daddy Barlow (#71) File and Wire shield with jigged bone handles and large spear point blade, both blades mirror polished. The secondary clip blade shows the etch for the knife. Edition of 100. This was the largest pocketknife used as a show knife and over runs can sometimes be found without the show knife etch. (photo ©Dan Lago 2026).
2015 Show Knife. A stag-handled two-bladed “Skate key” knife (#18?). Blades with satin finish. This knife pattern harkens back to the early 20th century when “presto-lite” knives were used in turning gas on in headlight for early autos. During the Daniels era, Queen marketed the knife heavily (and erroneously) as a “skate key” knife and made several versions in small editions. This show knife was listed as an edition of 50. (photo ©David Krauss 2026)
Our article about this knife and its history can be found at: Queen-Presto-light-and-skate-key-knife-4-6-2022.pdf.
The advertisement poster for the Skate key knife, showing two versions; Stag with a heraldic shield (but without the show knife etch) and a rarely seen version using a #69 Barlow frame, using a Queen-labeled bolster with an “easy-open” notch on the stag handle. The advertisement poster came with the show knife version. Note actual Show Knife on top of the poster.
(photo ©David Krauss 2026).
2016 show knife. A Schatt & Morgan Stag Mini Trapper (#51) with a Keystone shield and mirror polished blades. The knife etch shows a new name for the annual Queen Show – “Historical Society Gathering.” In its last few Catalogs, and in its final two shows, Queen was apparently trying to emphasize its’ historical roots. Even people who were at this show in Pleasantville, and who bought this knife, did not realize at the time that the name of the show had been changed by the Company. We have found no evidence that a “Queen Historical Society” had been announced or existed at that time. (photo ©Dan Lago 2026).
2017 Show Knife. A camp knife, (no catalog number) with brown jigged bone and mirror polished blade. (photo ©Brian Guth 2026).
The camp knife pattern was made by many cutlers including Queen City Cutlery in the period after 1922 to World War II. It was very similar to the “outers” knife, but with the addition of a bottle opener and screw driver. It was the only fixed blade ever used as a Queen show knife, but did represent a link to a much earlier time in Queen’s history.
The camp knife was the last show knife. Once again, it has the show name “Queen Historical Society” but with “Tours and Show” replacing “Gathering” from the previous year. As noted above we assume that “Tours” refers to the long standing, popular pre-show Queen cutlery factory tours in Titusville where knives had been made in the same building since 1902; a veritable working museum.
All Queen Show knives were quality pieces, carefully finished and released in relatively small numbers, primarily to collectors who attended the shows. They are a favored aspect of remembering the camaraderie of those who attended those shows and are a unique part of Queen high quality knife production from the 1990s and early 2000s.
It is unfortunate that there was no actual development of a “Queen Historical Society” from 1916 forward until company closed up the business as 2017 ended, before declaring bankruptcy in January 2018. The Shows, the dealers, and the collectors continue the legacy.
