crockett said:
...and I'm not certain how common stag was as a scale material..
Stag was mentioned pretty frequently in 18th-century ads.
"The Pennsylvania Gazette
June 11, 1741
Just Imported from London and Glasgow, And to be Sold by John Barkley, at the Sign of the Bible in Second Street, Philadelphia. ”¦ Cutlery ware, wool sheers, capp'd and
stag horn pen knives, with white ivory and several other sorts ditto,"
"The Pennsylvania Gazette
February 11, 1762
Imported in the last Vessels from England,”¦ carving and table knives with silver and ivory handles, &c.
buck and stag do. ebony and horn do. cocoa and bone do. "
"The Pennsylvania Gazette
June 4, 1761
To be SOLD by JOHN HUGHES,.....brass kettles of most sizes, tomahawks with pipes, ditto with spikes,
buck and stag table knives and forks, bone ditto, cutteau knives, burnt bone ditto"
Some penknives were folders, of course.
"The South Carolina Gazette
August 23, 1773
BRIAN CAPE, Has just imported in the ship Palas, Captain Turner”¦ Fleams; Pocket Knives, ”¦.
Pen Knives, with 1, 2 and 4 Blades, Trade Knives and Forks;"
Spence