Topic: ‘Nutbrown’ glass knife RD 836133 – precise registration details, please

[agincourt17]

A clear press-moulded glass fruit of cake knife. Approximately 9 inches long. The handle has an embossed geometric decorative design, and the junction between the handle and blade is embossed with ‘Reg, No. 836133’ , ‘NUTBROWN’, and ‘PAT APP’.

(Permission for the re-use of these images on the GMB granted by Margaret Wiles).

Presumably the glass would have to be tempered in some way.

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Thomas_M._Nutbrown
gives the following information:
Thomas M. Nutbrown - Maker of kitchen and general household products, of Walker Street, Blackpool. Telephone: 3360. Telegraphic Address: "Nutbrown, Blackpool"
1937 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Can-openers, Potato Chippers, Cooking Tongs, Fish Turners, Sink Strainers, Gas-lighters, Pastry-making Utensils, Kitchen Spoons, Beater-Whisks, Butter Pat Makers, Serrated Knives, Safety-claw Forks, Knife Sharpeners, Jet-black, and other labour-saving products.
1939 Patent - A new or improved knife for cutting fruit or other soft substances - see below.

http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=worldwide.espacenet.com&II=9&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=19401224&CC=GB&NR=530921A&KC=A :
 530,921. Knives ; glassware. NUTBROWN, Ltd., T. M., and NUTBROWN, T. M. July 6, 1939, No. 19657. [Class 30] [Also in Group XXIII] A knife for fruit, vegetables, butter, and cheese is moulded entirely of glass with an integral handle a and blade b, the cutting edge of the knife lying substantially in the same direction as the handle. The blade is bevelled and is ground to form a cutting edge c, and the handle is ornamented.

The patent is illustrated, being just as in my photos.

RD 836133 is not listed at http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/regnos10.htm but it should have been registered between May and July 1939.

Is RD 836133 listed in the Blue Book? If so, would some kind GMB member let me have the precise registration details, please?

Glass knives of this kind were not uncommon in the 1930s and 1940s. Table knife blades were normally carbon steel at the time, prone to rusting, and turned dark from the acids in different foods. Glass knives were often advertised as not discolouring or staining when cutting acidic foods, and as being clean and sanitary in use. This is the first example I have encountered with a British design registration, though I have seen several other examples from America that were not dissimilar.

Fred.

[keith]

Hello Fred,only 836131/2 I'm afraid for Dubarry Perfume Co.1939 and then 836137 for Coty (England) ltd,1939,

[Anne]

Dated 5/7/1939, Fred, but that number isn't in the Blue Book. There are numbers either side of it on that date though... this  is definitely one to ask Paul to look into for us.

I remember seeing Nutbrown on kitchen items when I was little - I didn't know about the Blackpool connection though.

[Lustrousstone]

My mother still uses her Nutbrown ceramic rolling pin with wooden handles and spindle...

(Can anyone explain why my fingers insist on typing label le and handle el?)

[agincourt17]

Here is an American-made CRYST-O-LITE glass knife ( ‘Always Clean – Always sharp – ready for slicing’) with its original box. Very similar to the Nutbrown knife apart from the decorative motif on the handle.

(Permission for the re-use of these images on the GMB granted by daisyway10)

and a DUR-X clear glass knife (Patent D 112059) by Didio Bros, Buffalo NY, USA with yet another variation in the motif on the handle. I’ve also seen examples of these DUR_X knives in pink, blue, and green glass.
(Permission for the re-use of this image on the GMB granted by kimscoffeecorner1)

plus a Vitex-Glass knife in pink glass (whose variation on a theme seems to be three stars on the handle.

(Permission for the re-use of this image on the GMB granted by ursmilee99).

Fred.

[agincourt17]

This pattern clear glass knife was sold by the Kitchen Novelty Company of Atlantic City, New Jersey, but actually made by Akro Agate glassware of Clarksburg, WV. The handle on these knives is devoid of ornamental motifs but instead is shaped into a series of shallow facets. These particular knives were also know in green glass and a pinkish-amber glass.
(Permission for the re-use of this image on the GMB granted by bbcon37).

... finally, a clear glass knife with a markedly difference in the shape of the blade and the handle (which is a plain, squashed cylinder) , marked ‘B.K.C.’ and ‘Patent 12.14.20’. I’ve actually seen a clear glass knife in this shape (but unmarked) that had enamelled decoration of citrus fruits on the handle.
((Permission for the re-use of this image on the GMB granted by cruzlady777).

So much, then, for the protection against copying that patenting a design in the US was supposed to provide – just slightly change the decorative motif on a handle or the shape of the handle or blade, and off they went into production!

Fred.

[Paul S.]

quote............"(Can anyone explain why my fingers insist on typing label le and handle el?)".................

I do the same on occasions - maybe there's more words that use 'el' than 'le' ........   an affliction which I think is a small price to pay - for those few very clever people like us -  who otherwise are very modest and full of humility.

but, yes, I do wonder why  -  some deep Freudian meaning I expect.