Aus "Levine`s guide to knives and their values" (vierte Ausgabe):
Seite 180:
CURVED JACKS AND CONGRESS JACKS
The "curved jack" handle die is similar to the curved regular jack except that the curve goes the other way. The inside of the curve is toward the back or spring side of the knife.
Curved jacks that have all four Corners squared and that are equal-ended, or only slightly tapered, are called "congress jacks." The congress shape is ordinarily a pen knife handle die, but some firms, I guess just to be different, made congress jacks as well. All congress knives and just about all curved jacks have sheepfoot master blades.
Small markedly tapering curved jacks with rounded ends were sometimes called "sway-back jacks," although the term "sway-back" also referred to the "swell-center congress," a pen knife pattern. Sway-back jacks were popular in the 19th century but had pretty much gone out of production by 1910.
Medium-sized curved jacks (3,5 to 4,25 inches long) were often called "New England Whalers.'" These, and most larger curved jacks, were designed as sailors' rope knives.Also, some firms used curved jack handles for their "pruners“. Both prunners and sailors' knives are covered under Special Purpose Jack Knives.
Seite 242:
CONGRESS AND TOBACCO KNIVES
The "congress" knife is curved like a crescent. lt usually has squared Corners, although a few have rounded Corners. Congress knives can have two, three, four, five, six, or eight blades. They always have a sheepfoot master blade.
The largest congress knives are from 3,5 to over 4 Inches long. These large congress knives were often called "tobacco knives," because they were favored for carving bite-sized chews from plugs of chewing tobacco. Larger whittlers of various shapes were also sometimes called tobacco knives. True tobacco knives never have a manicure blade.
lt seems that the congress knife appeared on the scene some time in the first third of the last century. lt is one of the earliest patterns created specifically for the American market. Knife fanciers have long speculated oin the origins of the names "senator" and "congress" for the shapes they refer to, but no solid evidence has yet surfaced.
Not only is the congress a purely American pattern, for most of its history it was a purely southern pattern. Until a generation or two ago, you Gould hardly find one west of the Rockies or very far north of Mason and Dixon's line. English firms and the big northeastern cutlery manufacturers such as Remington and New York Knife Company made congress knives in large numbers, but they mainly distributed them through wholesalers in the Southeast.
An appealing feature to Look for an congress knives, one also found an barlows and other patterns male for the southern market, is fancy bolsters. Fancy bolsters are often accompanied by fancy handle materials such as pearl.
On the night he was shot, April 14,1$65, President Abraham Lincoln was carrying a six-bladed ivory-handled congress knife. This knife is now on display in the Library of Congress. lt is marked WILLIAM GILCHRIST' S CELEBRATED RAZOR STEEL.
Claus.
(Ich bin etwas in Eile und habe das nicht mehr Korrektur gelesen)
