Herter's went out of business in the 70's. Before that, for many years, they supplied outdoor and trapping gear through their mail order operation. The Herter's knives had a good reputation amongst outdoors people.
The bottom knife is my dad’s old Herter’s knife. He had it since before 1960. How long before is not known. The blade is 4 7/8” This knife has seen many decades of field use. It would still have its original handle, but for an unfortunate accident. Shortly after my first marriage, my new wife put this knife on a burner of the stove, forgot, turned the burner on high, and left the room. Fortunately, I was able to replace the handle. I still have the knife although the wife is long gone. I carved a couple of walnut slabs and bolted them on with brass bolts. A crude job but it has been holding up well and is probably good for another 50 years.
From the 1974 Herter's catalog, it appears to be the Herter's Canadian Fish Fillet and Camp Knife. The list price in 1974 was $2.67 for the knife, sheath, and accompanying booklet.
The knife on the top is stamped Herter's Improved Bowie Knife on the handle. The model by that name in the 1974 catalog has a bump on the top of the blade, so I suspect this knife is an earlier model. In 1974, the Herter's Improved Bowie Knife with sheath and book sold for $2.87.
Here is a little essay from one of the Herter's catalogs on his bowie.
How to Buy an Outdoor Knife by George Leonard Herter
An outdoor knife must be made for service--not show. Your life may depend
on it. Real outdoor people realize that so-called sportsmen or outdoor
knives have long been made for sale, not for use. The movies and television
show their characters wearing fancy sheath knives. Knife makers advertised
them and drugstore outdoorsmen bought them. [insert a picture that looks
something like a Marble Woodcraft or an old Western fixed blade here] Nothing
marks a man to be a tenderfoot more than these showy useless knives.
| How to Buy an Outdoor Knife
by George Leonard Herter An outdoor knife must be made for service--not show. Your life may depend on it. Real outdoor people realize that so-called sportsmen or outdoor knives have long been made for sale, not for use. The movies and television show their characters wearing fancy sheath knives. Knife makers advertised them and drugstore outdoorsmen bought them. Nothing marks a man to be a tenderfoot more than these showy useless knives. Here are some of the duties a true woodsman knife must perform: 1. The knife must stay sharp for long periods of time without shapening. The steel should combine the best characteristics of electric furnace quality high carbon 1095 steel and high carbon 440 B stainless steel. The blade hardness, known among steel experts as 56 Rockwell C, should not be affected by atmospheric moisture, salt spray, fruit acids or blood. It should withstand extreme temperatures without becoming brittle, no matter how cold it may be. A good steel knife blade will "blue" or darken itself with use, making it pratically rustproof. If knife blade steel is really good, it will cut through nails without bending over the edge. 2. The knife must be shaped so it is ideal for cleaning and skinning game of all kinds, from rabbits to moose. The best shape for this is the improved Bowie. 3. The knife must have a handle long enough so that it fits a man's hand so pressure can be put on the blade when desired. On nearly all outdoor knives the handles are emuch too short. The handle of the knife must be made to last a lifetime. Leather handles rot and mildew, stag handles crack, plastic handles crack and are highly inflammable. African mineral-type woods are best, and they will stand all kinds of weather for a lifetime and more. 4. The blade of the knife must not be hollow ground. Hollow grinding weakens a blade so that the edge will bend or break under heavy usage. A wedge edge is the strongest and most durable ever designed. 5. The blade of the knife must be hand forged in order to give the steel maximum strength and hardness. 6. The blade of the knife must not have a blood groove. A blood groove is strictly advertising and badly weakens the blade. Professional butchers do not use them. 7. The knife must be easy to carry and light in weight. The blade length must be 4 inches long. Four inches is the length established for a woodsman knife by over 200 years of experience. Blades shorter are all right for Boy Scouts, but not for serious woodsmen, Longer than 4 inches is unnecessary and adds weight. 8. The knife should have no hilt as it only adds weight. If the knife blade is properly designed, that is slightly indented, you cannot cut your finger no matter how hard you thrust. You need only thrust in a hand to hand combat with a man or a wounded animal. 9. The knife must be capable of slicing bacon and cutting bread. It must be a comfortable knife for eating and cutting cooked meat.
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Lest anyone be left with the impression that old George Herter was not
politically correct, I’ll quote the introduction to one of his recipes
from his Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices.
| Spinach Mother of Christ
by George Leonard Herter The Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ was very fond of spinach. This is a well-known fact in Nazareth today as it was 19 centuries ago. Her favorite music was that of the crude bagpipes of that time, and this is also a well-known fact. Her recipe for preparing spinach spread with Christianity throughout Europe. On the eve of Christ’s birth in the cave that was called a stable, her only meal was spinach. The early European immigrants from Germany, France, and Italy nearly all brought this recipe with them. This is a recipe for people who like a mild garlic flavor, it definitely is not for people who do not like some garlic. This recipe cannot be made from canned spinach. Canned spinach in no way resembles fresh or frozen spinach and in my opinion is fit for neither man or beast. Take six quarts of fresh spinach and carefully remove the heavy stems. If you use frozen spinach take two boxes. Boil the fresh spinach five minutes – no more. If you boil spinach too much it completely loses its original taste. If you use frozen spinach place it in boiling water. With a fork break up the frozen blocks as soon as possible. After the blocks are broken up and the spinach loose boil it for 1 or 2 minutes – no more or it is worthless. Take and put three heaping teaspoons of butter in a frying pan and melt it. Chop up four cloves of garlic and put them into the melted butter. Fry them with medium or low heat until slightly brown. Frying the garlic in butter entirely changes its odor and flavor making it quite mild. Take the drained spinach and mix it in the butter and fried garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Originally the spinach was pestled to a puree. Today take your food mill and pass the spinach through it making a puree. Serve as a main dish with bread and butter or as a vegetable with a regular meal. Today in Belgium and Germany a little nutmeg is sprinkled over the top
of the puree. This however was not in the original recipe.
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George also had another book called How to Get out of the Rat Race and
Live on $10 a Month. It had a recipe for getting sustenance from sawdust.
Although in my poorer days I went so far as to experiment with creating
recipes from chicken food, I never went so far as to try growing edible
yeast in a sawdust matrix per George’s instructions.