I just came across an invoice for a knife repair. The invoice was passed on to me some time back from a good friend and customer. I forgot to pass it on at the time but found it interesting and thought you might enjoy seeing it. It’s dated January 20, 1899 from the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company.
A little research tells me that $.25 would have been roughly the hourly wage of a blacksmith in 1899. A quarter sounds like a bargain in todays dollars. In 1899 it would have had to have been a pretty special knife or a person of ‘means’ willing to pay for the repair.