Character Pocket Knives

Before the 1930s, advertising was aimed at adults - parents, homemakers, or breadwinners. Children were passive consumers who received what adults chose for them.
But, as the Great Depression forced companies to compete for every cent, and new forms of entertainment like comic books and radio serials created direct lines to children’s imaginations, a new customer was found. Marketers realized kids were powerful influencers in family spending, known as “nag power.” If you could win the child’s heart, you often won the parent’s wallet.

One such company was the Imperial Knife Co., who capitalized on the popular children’s shows of the 1950s/60s with their Character Pocket Knives. Their patented “shell handle” design — a thin sheet of metal crimped over a base frame, reduced costs dramatically and allowed decorative printing under a thin layer of celluloid. Suddenly, everyday pocket knives featured cowboy heroes, comic stars, and TV legends — from Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers to The Lone Ranger and Red Ryder. For just a few dimes at Woolworth’s, a young “cowboy” could carry the same knife his hero did. Many were displayed on cardboard counter cards or in glass cases near registers — marketed as “A Cowboy’s Pocket Pal” or “Every Boy’s Favorite Pocket Knife.”

Actor William Boyd, who played Hopalong Cassidy, was the first entertainer to personally license his image for mass merchandising. He took a failing film series and turned it into a brand empire. By 1950, there were over 100 Hopalong Cassidy products — lunchboxes, dishes, watches, and pocket knives. Boyd’s success proved that a character could sell anything, not just toy related.
That opened the floodgates for Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, Gene Autry, and Disney to do the same.

These pocket knives sit at a crossroads:
They’re artifacts of when marketing stopped speaking to parents about children and started speaking directly to children themselves.