A Handful Of Toothpicks

[Swordfish]

A handful of some of my American minis.

Often, these were given out at officer parties. Other times, they were given as gifts from manufacturers, similiar as was done in Germany.

Most of these are older, with the USMC officer being the most recent, constructed in the 1970s I believe (not sure though). The USMC examples are not very easy to locate, especially for vintage exmples. Note the US Amry M-1902 saber mini with the crossed cavalry sabers attached to the scabbard. This is one of my favorites, and this is one of the older minis I have.

Believe it or not, there is a collectors market (In American of course) for these. They are not cheap, per se, and some pieces sell for $60-$100 each. The USMC is probably the most vauble mini I have and I had to purchase it from a fellow sword collector in our hobby who's active at some of the other forums.

I'd like to see some other collectors mini American swords.

Tom

[StuG]

Hi Tom, these are really great looking miniatures. What length are they?
Tom

[Swordfish]

Thanks Stu.

The average length is probably 6"-8" in length. The vary a little. Some are fancier than others, and some are more detailed than others. I like how many come with a portepee.

Tom

[Chuck Alan]

I never knew there was such a thing as minis like this made as representations of swords here in the USA. Now that I think about it, no reason why they shouldn't be. Somehow I thought it was just a Solingen/German thing. Nice to see them.

On a related note, I have a mini meat cleaver made by F. Dick. It has the same logo as seen on the early SA daggers with the (>>>----------> F. Dick ) logo as well. It was made for the
A.Jordan & Co. in New York and is about an inch in length. It looks as though it could have been made as a fob for a key ring or something like that as there is a loop on the end of the handle......interesting.

Chuck

[Swordfish]

Hi Chuck-

To the best of my knowledge, the miniature American sabers, particularly the M1902s have been around since the '20s. I don't have any steadfast documentaiton to date the minis, but this is just what i've seen and subsequently was told by more advanced mini-Aermican sword collectors. It would be interesting if someone wrote a book or created a reference on the topic, since the area seems bare open at this point.

Tom