First, sorry… but to me that handle on Col. Salvo's knife looks to have been modified. It does not appear to have been a manufacture anomaly. It looks like it was crudely shaved down because nothing else on the handle is similar. If Col. Salvo was left handed, I’d call it "case-closed, preponderance of evidence.” But that's not very important and reasonable people can disagree.
Jack, do you have any of Bob Hunt's books? If so, you can look through the photos of earlier brown micarta Astros, and see some of the same type of exaggerated and irregularly beveled scales as on the Salvo knife. It is not an anomaly, just the way some were made. I am not saying that Mr. Salvo could not have modified his handle, I just think it came that way from RMK.
But more importantly, I'm having a hard time assimilating the idea that no sheaths were EVER furnished for the original knives, absent unequivocal documentation. There is contrary evidence. And it is resonable to assume that once the need was established, they were supplied with the rest of the first batch of <30< blades.
Gaddis states that sheaths were requested for the first
20 knives to NASA. Whether they were delivered with sheaths I do not know for a fact, but one could ascertain that they were, as model "C" sheaths would be a stock item for the model 15.
And even more importantly, there is some evidence about who furnished those sheaths, possibly/probably including the one for Lt. Col. Salvo’s knife.
From Wickersham’s book P. 58-59, he discusses the role of Mr. Jimmy Stockman, local leather-shop, who possibly made the sheaths in question exactly from a template from a Heiser sheath. He says Bob Gaddis is the one who discovered the role of Mr. Stockman who made quite a few specialty sheaths for Randall during this time, when Heiser could not meet the need for limited edition custom work.
Jack, this is where the disconnect takes place. How do I say this tactfully, and I probably can't, so PM me if you require more info. You may be able to deduce a bit from the link Ron provided.
Here is a quote from p. 59, referring to an interview with Bob Stockman, son of Jimmy Stockman: “ ... several of the original seven Mercury Astronauts later stopped by his father’s leather working shop to thank him for the quick turnaround time and quality of the sheath manufacture…"
I have never seen an early Astro in a Stockman made sheath. Stockman sheaths are very crude relative to Heiser and Johnson. The Salvo knife sheath is NOT a Stockman.
Furthermore, the reason this sheath is an exact copy of a Model C Heiser, except with a Randall stamp, is also discussed at length, with some documentation, and reasonable deductions. Mention is made of much confusion in the collector ranks about seeming Heiser sheaths, some unmarked, others with different threading and with Randall stamps during this time period. Those sheaths are traced to Mr. Stockman in the book. His son explained that they disassembled Heisers, used them as templates for the specialty sheaths.
This information has been covered and refuted more than once. Stockman probably made no more than a couple of hundred sheaths over a short period of time, maybe 3-4 years.
Note the cross-wise direction of the Randall stamp on Lt. Col. Salvo’s sheath. The existence of this Randall stamp is also documented as being applied to some otherwise apparently-Heiser sheaths, as early as 1960, preceding the general adoption of it later.
Wickersham’s speculation about why the new stamp was created also seems reasonable. He notes that following the last merger of Heiser with some conglomerate, a truly awful logo was adopted, and Randall apparently hated it, and created his own stamp, that was applied to unmarked Heiser’s for a time. And it was also applied at the Randall shop to the sheaths made by Mr. Stockman... who made the sheaths for the astronauts.
The 8-rivet model C sheath (including the riveted keeper) was apparently made (by Heiser, copied by Stockman) for a definitive period of time, late 50s until very early 60s. The riveted keeper was then dropped and when Johnson took over, the sheath construction was shortly thereafter changed to using the large throat rivets. I confess i don't know if Johnson ever made a model C with a keeper rivet.
In any case, the time window to acquire Col. Salvo’s knife AND the Heiser-looking sheath with cross-wise Randall stamp was very small. The most reasonable explanation is that this is one of the sheaths made by Jimmy Stockman, from a Heiser model, stamped in the shop with the Randall stamp. And that it was provided with the knife…
According to Pete Hamilton, other ex-employees from the period, as well as more recent RMK associates, sheaths have never been stamped in the Randall shop.
According to Gaddis, only one sheath was made by a "local maker" for the first Astro prototype sent to Gordon Cooper. This knife did not have a hilt, so I surmise it was a simple sheath with a leather tie keeper similar to the first Ward Gay sheaths. One could glean from this that Stockman was the maker for this one sheath.
I do not believe Stockman ever made a riveted model “C” sheath of any kind. IF in fact the conversation you quote from Wickersham’s book actually took place as stated, any sheaths made by Stockman for astronauts were probably very simple sheaths.
I have a hard time envisioning a man with Col. Salvo's responsibility driving over to Randall…on pre-Interstate back country Florida roads, during the height of the 24 hour days of the Mercury program, just to acquire a sheath for his personal knife.
Any more so than the astronauts themselves doing the same if necessary? I am unclear where this improbable scenario came from. Why would Salvo have to drive anywhere to get a sheath for his knife when he could get one with the knife when ordered?
Whatever you all think of Wickersham’s book, it seems reasonably well footnoted, with all the major collectors and authors credited, including many who are on this board.
Uhhhh, no, that is patently false.
To me, the note about the Astronauts thanking Stockman for the sheaths seems to be an important clue. But there is more, the possiblity that the knives were supplied without sheaths, but that the sheaths were provided shortly thereafter, and if so, with all subsequent knives.
Why? Well ... I wonder about the meaning of the “thank-you” statement to Jimmy Stockman - "...for the quick turnaround..." It could indicate he quickly filled a specific need of the Astronauts, one reasonable deduction would be to provide a carry mechanism during survival training? Whatever the answer, Stockman apparently made at least 7 sheaths, during the Mecury program, one for each Astronaut... and he was out of the sheath business shortly thereafter when Johnson took over supplying Randall with sheaths.
Purely supposition based on Wickersham's comments. If you read the link in Ron's post, you will get a better handle on what the situation is. Again, anyone that truly wants to research RMK's needs to
start with Bob Gaddis' book. I cannot stress that enough.
Finally, compare Col. Salvo's sheath with the one displayed with Grissom's "personal" knife... they are identical, except for the handle shaving on Salvo's, and I'd bet the back of that sheath has the Randall stamp.
Regards,
The sheath on Grissom’s Orlando forged blade is a Johnson. It is the same as Salvo’s sheath. Both Grissom and Shepard carried one of the NASA Solingen knives on their flights, that is why their personal knives still exist. The other two went to the bottom with the Grissom knife being recovered as we know.
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