Gerber Knives

There are many things, of course, that give us reason to be proud of our grandfather, Dean Pollock, but one of the special things he did is to design the beautiful Gerber Knives. The following is from a letter Dean Pollock wrote 17 November 1958:

....give you a complete picture of my association with Gerber Blades:

Joe Gerber is the president and founder of this 47-year-old advertising agency, and I am one of the six partners. The blade business started in a rather casual fashion. Joe was disgusted (he disgusts easily) because he had tried to buy a carving set and couldn't get anything but a "two-bit blade with a ten dollar handle". He decided to have some blades made from real steel.

I was art director of the agency at that time and he turned to me for help. Out of my noodlings came an acceptable design, which I worked up into a wood pattern. We had a mold made for the handle and made the blades from high grade tool steel (hack saw blades, to be exact). He ordered 100 carving knives for agency Christmas presents. When these naked swords were laid down on his desk one morning we were appalled. It looked like the Philippine army had just surrendered and turned in its machetes. So we ordered 100 highly polished and beautiful walnut cases and succeeded in civilizing these wicked weapons. Joe waved a sword and knighted them Ex Caliber. He then wrote a light-hearted history which was printed in a leaflet and enclosed in each box. The carvers were an instant hit, and before we knew it we were in the cutlery business. Gerber Legendary Blades now has its own factory and does a nation-wide business.

I have continued to guide the Gerber designs, but I am not employed by the knife company. My relations with them have been the same as with any other advertising client. The Gerber Blades have twice been exhibited by the Museum of Modern Art among their "100 best designs of the year". Their success, I believe, has been due in part to design, but also to good management, smart merchandising and advertising.