Christy Knife Company, American made in Fremont

FREMONT — A childhood duty led to a dynasty for four generations of a Fremont family.Russ Jackson "R.J." Christy started the Christy Knife Company on Arch Street in 1891.In its heyday at 905 Dickinson St., the business employed about 400 people.Today the knives are handmade by one man — Hal "Randy" Christy, great-grandson of the founder.The road to a legacy family business, however, began when R.J. was a teenage. His chores included slicing the family's freshly made bread. The available knives squished the bread.R.J. grew up to be a machinist who created a knife with a serrated blade to slice bread.Syracuse resident Joseph Burns is credited with inventing the serrated knife in 1919. Randy, however, will always claim the inventor of the serrated blade was R.J.R.J. invented the business mainstay, the Christy Pocket Knife, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary."R.J. dreamed of the pocket knife one night, woke up and sketched it," Randy said.The family still has the wooden prototype."It was a big seller. It was sold in the military PX to a lot of soldiers," Randy said.They still build the pocket knife, handmaking a couple hundred a year.They have a commemorative edition for its 80th anniversary with rose gold color for $34.95."I get a lot of calls. 'My dad just passed away and I found this knife in his desk or in his tackle box. Can you tell me about it?'," Randy said.Everything they made, including kitchen cutlery, shaving razors and surgical blades, was manufactured in Fremont using materials from the United States, he said."I am loving it. I do this to keep the family legacy. It's important. It was my dad's life work and I am making it my life's journey," Randy said.Unfortunately, it looks as if the company may no longer have a Christy at the helm when Randy retires. No one else in the family is interested in taking over.Facts about the Christy CompanyEvery owner of the Christy Company was the second son of the second son.Line of successionRuss Jackson "R.J." ChristyDanny Lamar "D.L." ChristyEarl Bradford "E.B." ChristyHal Randolph "Randy" ChristyAt one time, Fremont was home to several companies specializing in culinary equipment, including Clauss Cutlery, Henkel, Jackson Shear Works and Crescent Manufacturing.Standing in the workshop at his home, the Christy Knife Company president Hal R. Christy works on handles for the pocket knife on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. The Christy Company's 80th Anniversary pocket knife is displayed at the workshop located in Fremont on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. Wooden and metal prototypes on display at the Christy Knife Company workshop in Fremont show the history of the company on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. Hal R. Christy, president of the Christy Knife Company, works on several handles of the company's pocket knife on Tuesday, August 30, 2016. Christy is celebrating it's 80th year of manufacturing hand-crafted pocket knives. A historical display shows all the products the Christy Knife Company has produced since operations started in 1891. Starting with bread knives, the company later moved into razors and surgical knives before inventing their pocket knife in 1936.