With many observing Father’s Day, it seems fitting that two of the “granddaddies” of the knife industry, Buck and Case, have been in the news recently. In Buck’s case, a passing of the torch of sorts occurred when the company announced its completed transition to a new logo.
When I first heard Buck would be changing its logo, I was skeptical. With today’s emphasis on the importance of maintaining company “branding,” why change your logo?

According to Buck officials, the anvil at the top of the new logo, along with the date Buck was established, symbolizes the 107-year heritage of quality craftsmanship by the American family business, as well as the company’s dedication to making knives in the USA. From the time Hoyt Buck hammered out his first blade in Kansas up through World War II when he made knives in Idaho, his anvil was his essential tool. In fact, today his anvil is on display in the company museum at the Buck plant in Post Falls, Idaho.

Despite my initial misgivings, after studying the new logo, I think the Buck brain trust did the right thing. The logo is similar enough to the old one to maintain the company’s “look,” and even enhances it with the anvil and establishment date. Hoyt would approve.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the report that Case laid off 78 more workers effective April 1 underscores just how bad the worldwide economic slump has been and how it has affected the knife industry. When a cutlery icon such as Case is feeling the pinch, you know things have been tough.

The April workforce reduction came mere weeks after the company’s layoff of 31 employees in January. The announcement followed what reportedly had been 10 years of continued business growth at the Bradford, Pennsylvania, cutlery manufacturer.

“We know our sales are being affected by the country’s continuing economic slowdown,” Case CEO Tom Arrowsmith said. “Our inventories have been building as product orders have slowed, making this reduction a necessary measure now.”

Case reportedly will be providing the laid-off employees with unemployment filing assistance and job training guidance. According to one source, the combined 109 job reductions in January and April comprised about a third of the company’s total workforce before the layoffs.

On the other hand, there is cause for hope in Bradford. “We believe sales will improve as the economy regains strength and consumer confidence is restored,” Arrowsmith opined. Meanwhile, Ed Jessup, Case vice president of sales and marketing, said the company added more than 400 retailers to its nationwide authorized dealer network and achieved increased sales last year.
If you can afford one, buy a Case knife for dad for Father’s Day. It would be nice to see Case be able to hire back the folks who lost their jobs.

All of which brings us to the April 13 announcement by eBid, a 10-year-old online auction site, that it has banned “collectible swords and knives.” According to an eBid release, “After reviewing the effectiveness of our keyword alert system for dangerous knives and bladed weapons, it has been decided that this will be a never-ending cat-and-mouse game with the sellers of these items. The sale of all knives, swords and machetes is now not permitted on eBid.”

Anytime you see words like “dangerous,” “illegal,” “deadly” and “weapons” used to describe inanimate objects such as knives, you know that some bleeding heart blade-o-phobe is about to have a myo-cutlery infarction. Aren’t things bad enough in this economy without eBid making things worse for some knife enthusiasts?

However, rather than wasting anymore ink on the e-boobs at eBid, suffice it to say that instead of sending any business their way, buy a knife from Case or Buck—or from any knife company or knifemaker, for that matter—and help the cutlery industry and its many employees get through this rough patch. Besides, you’ll just have one more cool knife to add to your collection.