Letter opener info?

[Raven31557]

I have a letter opener that I think is just stainless steel.
There are no markings on it at all, just design engraving.
There is a lot of pitting on both sides.
I know it isn't worth much, if anything at all.
I'm just curious.
It was my grandparents.
Can anybody make a guess of when is was made?
I'm thinking 1960's.

[mart]

Is that tarnish on it ??  If so it is not stainless steel !!  Could be silver plate,,cant see the pattern well enough to tell much !!  Looks earlier to me !!

[Raven31557]

You're absolutely right. It can't be stainless. I wasn't thinkg.
The black marks didn't come off with silver polish.
The black marks are very rough.
I really need to get a better camera.

I zoomed in the original pict and cropped it into 2 halves.
I has a lovely pattern.
I hope it shows better here.

[ghopper1924]

I agree with your assessment, Raven, the graphics look like 1960s.

[Raven31557]

I agree with your assessment, Raven, the graphics look like 1960s.

It was my grandparents, so the choice was either 60's or late 50's.
 
Thanks for the confirmation!

[KC]

IT could very well be older.

What are the dimensions of your piece?

Search antique silver paper knife!  They also made book marks (although majority have a clip section built into the blade - many were made without that section.)

[Rauville]

If I were to take a wild guess, I would think it might date back to the Aesthetic Movement period (maybe towards the end: 1900-1920).

[mart]

Could have been older when your grandparents got it !! 

[cogar]

In our early days of collecting we found a sharp bladed item in a box of auction “junk” and thought it was an ornate “letter opener”.

But not so, ….. and were we surprised. ……. it is a ……. “steel (ink) eraser”.

Like the bottom one in this AD but with a very ornate handle, to wit:



Here is another “ink eraser” that could mistakenly be called a “letter opener”, to wit:



Now I'm not saying that the posted item is an "eraser" .......... but 

[mart]

Now how does that work ??

[Rauville]

Now how does that work ??

Basically intended as a "scraper" when writing or drawing on natural or paper vellum. Many of the older drafting tool sets included one, in case a mistake had to be corrected.

[cogar]

Now how does that work ??

Mart, ..... like Ruville said, ...... you "scrape" the writing with the "sharp" blade ..... but it only "works" well for "lead pencil" writing ...... and for "ink pen" writing if the ink doesn't soak into the paper that you are writing on. 

[KC]

I had forgotten about paper scrapes!  Thanks for the reminder!

Raven31557 just have to throw another cherished item that most people don't know what it is when going through old family items and mistakenly selling them for cheap.  It is a page turner for some but is truly a paper knife!  Back when they had big volume family bibles and dictionaries these were used to help turn mass amount of pages - However, they are truly paper knives used to cut through "uncut pages" of books that was very common in printing at that time.  They are VERY collectible.



Also, this is a fairly good article about collectible office/stationary items that many people don't know what they are today. 
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-mystery-of-the-phantom-page-turner/

And this one that explains that a Paper Knife Is Not A Letter Opener and why!
https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/a-paper-knife-was-not-a-letter-opener/

[Raven31557]

IT could very well be older.

What are the dimensions of your piece?

It's 9" long and weighs a couple of ounces.
You could definitely hurt somebody with it!!

My grandparents got married in 1938 and managed an apartment building in the '40's.
All sorts of stuff got left behind when people moved out.
I'm now in possession of a wedding band inscribed from 1901!!