World War 1 on the Western Front soon devolved into nightly trench raids to eliminate sentries, capture prisoners, and gather intelligence. The traditional US Army long edged weapons proved nearly useless in the narrow confines of the trenches, leading to the introduction of the Mk. 1 knuckle knife in 1918. Produced by the legendary Landers, Frary, & Clark of New Britain, CT, it featured a double edge dagger spearpoint blade, a cast darkened bronze handle with integral finger loop “knuckles”, additional “spikes” on those knuckles for added punishment to a foe, and a “skull crusher” pommel. After the Great War, a small number of surplus Mk. 1 knuckle knives were acquired by an enterprising outdoor supply company in the Pacific Northwest named “Seattle Tent & Awning Company”. For Christmas of 1923, Seattle Tent & Awning sent these knives to their favorite customers as a show of goodwill. Before shipping them to their beloved patrons, they engraved the left side of the handle with “COMPLIMENTS OF / SEATTLE TENT & AWNING / CO.” in beautiful fashion. When encountered today, which is a rare occasion, the handles on these “Seattle Tent & Awning” knives have usually worn down to the bare bronze, and the lettering thus appears close to flush with the handle and without any contrast. When originally engraved on the brand new surplus knives, however, the handles still retained their crisp darkened bronze finish, and the engraving process deeply displaced the surface metal, leaving the lettering a bright shimmering gold in comparison to the rest of the hilt. An example of the “Seattle Tent & Awning” Mk. 1 knuckle knife is prominently featured on page 29 of M.H. Cole’s excellent reference work “US Military Knives Book IV”, and the description reads “The gold engraved lettering was deeply cut.” These “Seattle Tent & Awning” knuckle knives remain incredibly scarce and desirable today. This US WW1 “COMPLIMENTS OF SEATTLE TENT & AWNING CO.” Engraved LF&C M-1918 Mk. 1 Knuckle Knife is in Excellent Condition, with some light scratching, scabbard wear, finish abrading, and pitting at each side of the blade, and with some light scattered age wear evident. Otherwise, the knife is in excellent shape, with no other damage. Most interestingly, it features a 6 11/16” double edge dagger spearpoint blade that retains approximately 97% of the crisp, original blued (black oxide) finish, sports the classic, crisp cast darkened bronze handle with integral finger loop “knuckles” with “spikes”, and is beautifully engraved along the left side of that handle with “COMPLIMENTS OF / SEATTLE TENT & AWNING / CO.”. It’s “U.S.” stamped at the right side of the handle, along with the model year, “1918”, and its maker and date, “L.F&C-1918”, boasts the original blackened steel “skull crusher pommel”, and is complete with the original US WW1 LF&C M-1918 Mk. 1 Scabbard in Very Good Condition, with some loosening to the prong at the upper front, some light loosening to the prong at the lower front, those prongs lining up very close to straight but just slightly askew, and with some light overall scratching, finish abrading, spot patina, and age wear evident. Otherwise, the scabbard is in fine shape, with absolutely no dents, cracking, or other damage to the tough steel construction, which retains approximately 85% of the original blued (black oxide) finish. Most interestingly, it’s marked at the front throat with its matching maker and date, “L.F.&C. / 1918”, bears the original darkened brass securing prongs at front, and the set is a beautiful example of an extremely rare, original US WW1 “COMPLIMENTS OF SEATTLE TENT & AWNING CO.” Engraved LF&C M-1918 Mk. 1 Knuckle Knife. This is THE finest “Seattle Tent & Awning” Mk. 1 knuckle knife we’ve ever seen offered for sale.