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Everything you need to know about Multi-tools and cutlery Swiss Army Knife 1891 Swiss Soldier’s Knife 1897 042_100_Manual_e_S_02_11 7.4.2008 7:39 Uhr Seite 2 Contents History of Victorinox Ibach A. History Pages A1 – A13 In the 19th century Switzerland was still one of that time, it was an adventurous undertaking the poorest countries in Europe. Unemploy- for a craftsman to build up a factory using indu- ment forced many Swiss to emigrate. strial methods, and required almost superhu- B. Tables Pages B1 – B8 Confronted with this situation, the mastercutler man determination. Karl Elsener, son of a hat maker, wanted to The soldier’s knife was very robust but relative- C. Explanations to our Catalogue Pages C1 – C15 create jobs. However, since he did not wish to ly heavy. Karl Elsener therefore developed a Part 1 – Pocket-Tools build a factory, he founded the Swiss Cutlers’ lighter and more elegant knife for officers, Part 2 – Cutlery Association, with the objective of cooperating which had even more functions. He called this to produce knives for the soldiers of the Swiss new model of pocket knife, which had only two army in Switzerland. springs for six tools, the «Officer’s and Sports D. Technical informations Pages D1 – D10 The first delivery to the Swiss army was made Knife». He had it legally registered on June 12, in 1891. Some 27 fellow cutlers participated, 1897. E. Neutral test reports Page E1 but gave up because a German firm was able to However, unlike the soldier’s knife, the produce knives more cheaply at its industriali- «Officer’s Knife» did not become part of the zed plant in Solingen than was possible for Swiss army’s official equipment – which is why F. Keyword Index Pages F1 – F2 craftsmen working by hand. Only the initiator, Victorinox writes the name «Officer’s Knife» in Karl Elsener, persevered, but lost all his money quotation marks. Nevertheless, this did not hin- in the process. Relatives came to his rescue by der its success. Army officers bought the knife granting him a loan to avoid bankruptcy. themselves at cutlery stores, and this versatile Later, following the success of his «Officer’s pocket tool rapidly became a favorite everyw- Knife», he was able to repay the loan to his here. relatives. Furthermore he also paid his sup- Thanks to an inheritance from Bulgaria, the pliers and creditors, voluntarily and without any Elsener family were able to purchase the obligation, the 50 % they had agreed to forego Mühlematt property in 1939, on which the new at the time, including interest and compound factory building would be built in later years. interest. Under the circumstances prevailing at In the Second World War (1939–1945), the represents practical high quality products, inspired by the ingenuity of the Original «Swiss Army Knife». Core philosophy of the VICTORINOX Family «Our efforts to offer consumers around the world functional and practical high quality products at affordable prices, gives our lives deeper meaning and adds joy and satisfaction to our work.» Schwyz at the end of the 19th century: in the foreground on the left the home and business-house and the workshop of the founder Karl Elsener. A1 042_100_Manual_e_S_02_11 7.4.2008 7:39 Uhr Seite 4 The ancestors and descendants The founder The grandfather of the company founder, Peter Oswald Elsener, came from Zug to Schwyz at the age of 25 in 1816 and set up a millinery. As a 5-year-old girl his wife, Annamarie Wiget, was buried in the Goldau mountain slide (500 dead) on September 2, 1806 and was rescued from the rubble after 14 hours. Her mother died trying to save her youngest child. Annamarie Elsener-Wiget Peter Oswald Elsener-Wiget 1801–28.9.1847 11.1.1791–2.7.1850 Peter Oswald’s son, Balthasar Elsener, added a furrier’s business to the millinery and felt pro- duction. His capable and energetic wife Victoria, née Ott, ran the hat shop in the family home at the Ochsenplatz. She was full of energy and drive but was also warm-hearted and helpful. After her death her son Karl chose her first name Victoria as the brand name. Victoria Elsener-Ott Balthasar Elsener-Ott 13.10.1836–1.7.1909 14.8.1826–3.12.1893 On September 5, 1885 Karl Elsener, the com- pany founder, married the Schwyz-born Josefa Holdener, and the eldest son Carl was born on 31 July 1886, followed by five boys and two girls. Josefa died during the birth of the last child at the age of 34. Karl Elsener-Holdener often went on Saturday outings with his children, nieces and neighbors’ children. They were very fond of him. Josefa Elsener-Holdener Karl Elsener-Holdener 17.1.1861–16.8.1895 9.10.1860–26.12.1918 Carl Elsener married on 19 May 1921. His wife, Elise Gut, worked for a whole 62 years in the office of the knife factory from early morning until late at night. Carl Elsener served his apprenticeship in Ibach and Clairemont-Ferrand in France. He with- stood the crisis years of the 1930s without a single redundancy, despite the fact that his competitors in Solingen received 15 % export bonuses from the state. Karl Elsener, 9.10.1860–26.12.1918 Elise Elsener-Gut Carl Elsener-Gut He played a key part in the development of founded the company in January 1884 and in 1897 created the original «Swiss Army Knife» which 23.12.1900–13.10.1991 31.7.1886–22.5.1950 stainless steel for knives from 1921 to 1934. later became famous all over the world. A2 A3 042_100_Manual_e_S_02_11 7.4.2008 7:39 Uhr Seite 6 The home and business-house until 1934. Until 1969 there were only cheap foreign poc- VICTORINOX’s record is exemplary in terms of ket knives with red handles and the Swiss environmental protection and recycling, and we Office, shipping department and sales room on the 1st floor and production on the ground floor. emblem on sale in the Swiss Souvenir Trade. have even carried out some pioneering work. We did not succeed in preventing the foreign Thus we need virtually no heating oil to heat the This building is more than 500 years old. manufacturer from marking his pocket knives plant and the 100 flats adjacent to it, thanks to with the Swiss emblem. large investments in a vast heat recovery instal- After the court ruling he could however be for- lation. Due to specific overdimensioning of the ced to do so. The Souvenir trade was used to ventilation pipes, filter, heating and cooling trading with cheap souvenir articles and it is for areas, the energy consumption for the ventila- this reason that we created the Elinox-series tion could be reduced from 150 to 70 kwh by (today’s EcoLine). Later on, to our surprise, the equal performance. Plants capable of recycling higher-priced VICTORINOX pocket knives pro- an annual 600 tons of sludge were developed nosedive of exports was offset by a surge of On May 22, 1950 the unstinting creator died an ved to be the better sellers than the lower-pri- on our initiative and thanks to our cooperation. contracts for domestic shipments, in particular untimely death, at the early age of 64 years. ced Elinox-series also in the Souvenir trade. to the Swiss army (soldier's knives, bayonets From that time on, Mother Elise Elsener, who and officer's daggers). The 117 staff on the had already thrown herself wholeheartedly into For many the VICTORINOX «Swiss Army Knife» payroll at the outbreak of war climbed to 199 the service of the firm as her husband's right- On January, 2 1979 the individual enterprise has become an indispensable and useful com- by the end. hand helper, took up the weighty task of run- «Messerfabrik Carl Elsener» was changed into panion as well as a symbol for Swiss quality. During the early war years, the two sons Carl ning the business with her sons Carl and the family owned corporation «Victorinox AG». The Swiss souvenir traders confirm that the (in 1939) and Eduard (in 1942) joined the firm to Eduard. «Swiss Army Knives» are the best-selling sou- become the third generation to prepare to take Steadfast efforts to rationalize and update pro- Out of regard for the specialised trade, in parti- venir articles. up the responsibilities of management. duction processes, tuning capacity to moun- cular the Swiss Master Cutlers Association, the The knife has been successfully put to the test The many workshops strewn through nine old ting demand, made it possible to offset at least Ecoline pocket knives were produced from on expeditions to the arctic ice of the North buildings were proving an increasing drawback part of the annual rise in wage costs and keep 1979 to 1994 with a different form of the logo Pole, on the highest peak on earth, Mount to rational manufacturing. prices down. This enhanced competitiveness and with light-red handles for a large-scale Everest, in the tropical rain forests of the The spacious halls of the new factory built in and was instrumental in promoting the steady Swiss distributor. Amazon, and elsewhere, and in situations of 1943 enabled production capacity to be quickly expansion of exports year on year. Until 1991 VICTORINOX was growing in a most extreme danger and great need it has even expanded. satisfactory way, however the competitive proved to be a lifesaver. Building a new factory created a heavy debt More and more interest was received from pressure from the Far East made business dif- A small brochure available in English, French, burden.

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