Founded in Little Valley, New York about 1902 as a jobbing firm, several different companies made pocket knives and razors for them, marking them with the Case name. As the business grew, it was decided to move the operation to Bradford, Pennsylvania.
On March 27, 1905, the company purchased property in Bradford. The members of the firm at that time were, W.R. Case, J. Russell Case, and H.E. Crandall (Crandall was a Son-in-Law of W.R. Case). H.N. Platts of the C. Platts Sons Cutlery Company of Eldred, Pennsylvania joined this firm in late 1904. When the factory was built in Bradford the equipment from Eldred was moved to the Bradford operation. The name was changed to W.R. Case & Sons in 1905.
Platts left the firm in 1911 to start the Western States Cutlery in Boulder, Colorado. H.E. Crandall sold his cutlery firm to W. R. Case & Sons and became an officer of the firm in 1912. In 1914, the Case Brothers Cutlery Company of Springville, New York was in severe financial difficulties, and W.R. Case & Sons purchased the “Tested XX” trademark from them.
In addition to the markings listed, this firm also produced a knife marked Standard Knife Company. These knives were made about 1920-1928. Kinfolks made the Standard knives on contract from 1926-1928. In 1970, Case added a row of 10 dots to the USA marking. One dot per year was dropped from this marking, making it possible to date these knives to the exact year they were made. In 1980, the “S” in the markings was changed to the light-ening bolt “S”, and the dots started at ten again.
c 1902-present