Making of The Mercator K55K German Knife - Solingen, Germany

This was the first pocket knife I ever owned. They were brought back to the United States by GI’s after WWII. They really caught on and by the late 1950s when Solingen had begun to rebuild they began to be imported in large numbers. I have found documents in the Solingen city archive with this knife design going back to the mid to late 1800s. But, I believe it may be older than that. The patent has been bought and sold over the years. It is now owned by Otter-Messer and can still be bought today. It is a simple, elegant design that has withstood the test of time.