Bulacan knife

[Ian]

I purchased this one online and will probably not see it for a month or two given the disruption to international freight. It is a surprisingly well documented knife with an interesting embossed inscription on the leather sheath. As you can see from the pictures, the sheath shows:

COMMONWEALTH BOLO
P <PHILIPPINES SHIELD WITH EAGLE> I
MEYC- <PHILIPPINES SHIELD WITH EAGLE> BULACAN
F. MANEZ <PHILIPPINES SHIELD WITH EAGLE> PROP.

I interpret this as the name of a company or store (Commonwealth Bolo), Philippine Islands (PI), the name of a Town and Province (Meycauayan, Bulacan -- I found several abbreviations of that city's name to Meyc.), and F. Manez Proprietor (Prop.).

On the blade is stamped "FM" deeply adjacent to the hilt (presumably the proprietor's initials), and the number "392." A similarly stamped number "392" appears on the sheath where the belt keeper crosses at an angle. It's not clear what "392"means. It might be a military number or it might be a model number for that particular blade.

The Commonwealth of the Philippines was created in 1934 and was displaced by the Japanese occupation in 1942, to be replaced in 1946 by the Republic. So I'm thinking that "Commonwealth Bolo" refers to an entity that was operational between 1934 and 1942, placing this knife in the immediate pre-WWII period. The knife and sheath are in near mint condition despite being 80 years old.

It's not often we get such excellent information from a sheath--Manufacturer, Proprietor, City, and a fairly narrow time frame. According to a Filipino friend, the city of Meycauayan was a center for industry and blade making, but the blade making tradition died out there in the 1980s and 1990s, and no known panday continues to operate in the area.

Ian

[Sajen]

Hi Ian,

Now I know who bid me out by this one! Great and most interesting bolo by the from you well explained reasons!

Regards,
Detlef