MTFCA Forum

A friend alerted me to this letter opener on evil-bay: item number 275926977807
the best of the fuzzy, poor quality photos is included here. Never seen anything like it before and contacted the seller asking how he was able to associate it with Ford Motor Company. He replied that his source of info was "Ford history." He was not specific. My guess is this letter opener is an advertising piece for a radio station - 1917FM, or perhaps some other business using that logo. The seller claims that others, identified as Ford Motor Company have also been sold, although I could find no evidence of that.
What are your thoughts?
Terry

To me it looks like a piece of WW1 trench art, a letter opener made from a piece of shell casing. The numerals have a European font or flavor. The FM is a soldiers initials. Copper letter openers with initials or location and date were very common. The copper and font is the main clue to me. On the other hand, it may just be a simple monogrammed letter opener of the time. I doubt it has anything to do with Ford.

This is my opinion but that doesn’t look like a Ford item that was produced by Ford. It’s probably original to the era but I doubt it’s an official Ford product. I think the seller on EBay just supposed that it is.

But I could be wrong. Maybe Ford had those for his employees and as a promotional item?

The seller doesn’t provide any documentation. By the late teens Ford was big enough to have a clear distinct logo. Could it be just because it has that logo it’s for a Model T? But again what do I know. Anytime something is for sale on EBay it’s not always correct for what’s being advertised. It happens more than you think.

Fairbanks Morse, Factory Mutual?

Could stand for a number of companies.

Once you've seen a piece of Trench Art, it is pretty hard to mistake

Knowing what I do about the history of the Ford logo/emblems I was pretty sure it wasn't related to ford Motor Company. So far, the seller has not provided anything to back up his claim, so I'm going with trench-art or a non Ford product of some kind. Typical evil-bay stuff. Fakes, frauds and funny stuff every day of the week there. Buyer beware!
Terry

Terry
When the seller said it was Ford history it’s another way of saying the old “official” saying about Model T’s. (All Model T’s were black.). And the thought process is “doesn’t everybody know that?? “ And it maybe worth $1000.00 dollars if you keep it long enough.

The list could go on!

That looks like Art Deco to me. It’d put the object in the 1930’s.

Could be the '30's, but it was on its way out by then in Europe and on the decline in USA. Origins of Art Deco go back in Europe and especially France to well before 1917 following the Art Nouveau movement (which this thing could be attributed to, also). As a young watchmaker, it was common in the 1970's to see watches (the cases) and other stuff with the same architectural or stylistic qualities that dated to easily before 1917. Due to the vintage of the watch's movement, that pre-17 date of the style being either in its development or accepted by then is a pretty sure thing. If it is authentic trench art, "1917" is easily a commemorative date or an actual "made on" date. France is at the heart of the Art Deco movement and was well established by the time of the Great War following immediately on the heels of Art Nouveau...and honestly there isn't enough detail on the object to define Nouveau from Deco... it's an either/or thing.

Unless there is a "Product of *choose a country*" stamped on the back, we'll never know.

BobD wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 02, 2023 4:43 pm

Fairbanks Morse, Factory Mutual?

Could stand for a number of companies.

Fairbanks-Morse?

Freddie Mercury:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAQP3OsvUjQ

Fiona Ma? Ferdinand Magellan? Fred Myers?

Lots of "FM"'s, none of them Ford Motor... There are numerous referenced rademarks for the Ford Motor Company... this one, sadly, is not one of them.

My guess is someone's initials... after that would be Fairbanks-Morse.

If I was to go with the logo idea, I would think of companies that often handed out letter openers to executives and customers. Banks. Farmers and Merchants State Bank would be the first on my list. They have been around since 1897. The banks headquarters is in Archbold, Fulton County, Ohio. The item is being sold from Ohio. Just spitting in the wind.

https://www.fm.bank/about-farmers-merchants-state-bank/

1917 is in the era of WW1. It could be associated with that era.