Schrade Walden Craftsman 9540 Red folding guard

This is a Schrade Walden Red Craftsman switchblade with folding guards made in Walden, NY around 1950. These were made for Sears and were featured in at least the 1951 Sears summer catalog. These were originally etched "CRAFTSMAN" over the model number "9540", but it was an acid etch which were fragile and usually got rubbed off with some use. This knife has none of the original etch remaining. The tang is marked "Schrade Walden NY".

The knife measures 4 1/4 inches closed and 7 1/8" open with red synthetic scales and brass liners. The blade has some loss from use/sharpening, but still 90% full with some pitting on both sides. The knife functions well with blade tip sitting deep when closed, good snap and average lockup with very little up and down movement. The scales are in very good condition with no shrinkage, but there are some black spots on the rear scale that can be seen in the pics. Overall a nice working 70+ year old Craftsman.