Charles elson, the fourth son of the shoemaker Baltehasha elson Ott, is determined to be a tool worker.
after living as a worker for several years in TUTTLINGEN (place name) in southern Germany, he returned to his hometown at the age of 24, and in 1884, he opened his own factory in IBACH (place name) near SCHWYZ (place name) in Switzerland.
At that time, there was hardly any industry in SCHWYZ (place name) area, so many young farmers were forced to emigrate to North America, Australia or New Zealand.
In order to create new employment opportunities, Karl elson initiated and founded the Swiss Knife Industry Mutual Aid Association in 1891, the main purpose of which was to manufacture soldiers' knives that the Swiss army had to buy from SOLINGEN.
In October, 1891, the Association manufactured the first saber for the Swiss army.
Since then, Karl elson has started to make other pocket knives with exquisite designs. Instead of numbers, he used names such as student knives, officer knives and farmer knives to distinguish them.
Soldiers' knives are bulky and heavy, so Karl elson made a light and beautiful knife especially for officers. This knife not only has all the blades, awls, can drivers and screwdrivers on soldiers' knives, but also has a small blade and a corkscrew.
This new model with six blades on two springs is called "officer's knife" by Karl.
this design was officially registered on the 2nd of the monthly report in 1897.
This convenient multifunctional pocket knife quickly became very popular and began to receive more and more orders from abroad.
The function of the knife is constantly improving, and soon tools such as wood saw and scissors are added to the knife.
soon, a bottle cap screwdriver was added to the big screwdriver, and a small screwdriver was added to the can screwdriver.
Then, nail file, toothpicks, tweezers, a metal saw with a metal file, a descaler with a hook spit and a ruler, a cross screwdriver, a key ring and a magnifying glass were added to the knife.
Today's Swiss army knife can have more than 1 combined functions.
among all kinds of sabers, the "flagship" is the "Swiss champion" with 31 functions.
The total weight of all tools and tool box of this knife does not exceed the planned 95g (6.5oz), so it is easy to carry.
both the new york Museum of Modern Art and the German Museum of Applied Art in Munich have collected "Champion" of VICTORINOX as "Boutique of Industrial Design".
"Swiss Champion" is composed of 64 independent parts, which need to go through more than 45 processes in the production process.
in 199, after Karl elson's mother died, he took his mother's Christian name VICTORY as his trademark.
stainless steel was invented in 1921, so after IBACH (place name) made a stainless steel knife, the word INOX was combined with VICTORY to form the trademark of VICTORINOX that has been used to this day.
with more than 95 employees, VICTORINOX is the largest industrial enterprise in SCHWYZ (place name) and the largest tool manufacturer in Europe.
In 1945-1949, VICTORINOX pocket knives were sold in large quantities to special shops of the US Army, Navy and Air Force, which also made Swiss army knives famous all over the world.
for American officers and soldiers, the name "Offiziermesser" is too difficult and too evasive, so they call it "Swiss Army Knife" for short.
Now this name is well known in English-speaking countries and regions.
it is called "Couteau Suise" in France and "Schweizer Messer" in Germany and Austria, all of which refer to Swiss knives.
President LYNDON B.JOHNSON of the United States once presented 4, pocket knives engraved with his initials to his guests at the White House.
Later, Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush followed this tradition.
Swiss diplomats and senior military officials often present Swiss army knives to the host countries they visit.
Swiss army knives are particularly attractive to pilots.
In 196, after FRANCIS GRAY POWERS, the pilot of the U.S. U2 reconnaissance plane, was shot down over Russia, the Russians made all his belongings public, including the famous Little Red Swiss Army Knife.
The Nigerian Air Force has ordered a large number of Swiss army knives with curved blades, which can be used to cut the ropes that bind parachutes to escape when the tide is gone.
since 1976, the german army also bought sabers from IBACH (place name), so the Swiss "+"was printed on the olive green scabbard.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States has also reserved the Swiss Army Knife as the standard equipment on the space shuttle Columbia.
"Swiss Army Knife" is often copied in foreign countries such as Germany, France, Spain, the United States, Japan and China, but the quality is not as good as the original.
Unfortunately, however, many foreign copies were printed with Swiss crosses, which had to be stopped through the mediation of Swiss ambassadors and court orders.
criminals put crosses on sabers to confuse the real ones, but only two Swiss manufacturers, VICTORINOX and WENGER, have been officially authorized to use crosses on sabers.
At present, there are two main brands of authentic Swiss army knives in the world, namely, Vinos Enterprise, which was built in 1884 under the Alps in central Switzerland, and Vigo Enterprise, which was founded in 1893 in Droemont, Switzerland.
the Swiss army knives produced by them are similar. The difference in trademarks is that Vinos has the national emblem of the Swiss cross embedded in the shield, while Vigo has the cross embedded in the rounded square. In addition, the names Victorinoxswitzerland and WengerDelemontSwitzerland are engraved on the lower end of its main knife respectively. Without these inscriptions, it is definitely not an authentic Swiss army knife.
when it comes to the price of Swiss army knives, it is naturally not low.
An authentic Swiss army knife should be above 1 RMB, while a Swiss champion with more than 3 functions is at least above 3 yuan. However, if we think that it is a commodity that can be used for our whole life, naturally we won't think that its price deviates from its value.