What’s the Real History Behind the Swiss Army Knife?

The bright red sides of this famous utility knife have been around for over 125 years.

  Was the Swiss Army Knife really for the military?

Besides watches and other mechanical amazements, Switzerland has produced a lot of items you might not realize, including the world's most famous utility knife.

The history dates back to 1890, and initially involved two different manufacturers. The Swiss military issued a new weapon requirement, seeking a utility knife that it could give to its soldiers. Like most military outfits, they already had pocket knives, but they were used more for defense and combat

According to the website Locked 'N Loaded, a Swiss cutler named Karl Elsener from the town of Ibach came up with a design he felt would serve the purpose. He already worked as a cutler, someone who makes, repairs, and maintains knives, or cutlery.

The first version, known as the Soldier's Knife Model 1890 featured a blade, reamer, can opener, and a screwdriver. A reamer is a tool that enlarges openings. However, this first one was larger and considered bulky. But then in 1897, Elsener created the Officers' and Sports Knife, using the now-famous spring mechanism found on the item.

This version began to look like the ones we see today. It also added a second smaller blade and a corkscrew.  Due to the demand, two manufacturers began to build them.

   Two companies built the same knife, but gave it different names

Victorinox and Wenger began to build the same knife, but due to copyrights, they gave them slightly different names. According to Locked 'N Loaded:

"To differentiate themselves, Victorinox used the motto "The Original Swiss Army Knife," while Wenger used "The Genuine Swiss Army Knife." This friendly rivalry continued for nearly a century."

But the knife was relatively unknown in the US until soldiers returning from World War II brought them back, and the demand exploded. Versions of the knife began to be copied by US makers, but the Swiss versions also sold rapidly as well.

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The knife became so widely popular the term Swiss Army Knife is now even applied in language to someone or something that performs a lot of duties very well.

In 2005, the two companies merged, and by 2013 the Wenger name was phased out. Victorinox remains as the official maker of the knife. Some collectors say if you have an older Wenger version, it's worth quite a lot.

So, yes the world's most famous utility knife did actually begin with the Swiss Army.