Bush Knives

Two machetes or "bush knives":

The top one has a 15 inch blade and was given to me by my dad, who had it with its scabbard since I was a kid.  It is made by Collins & Co., as is the longer one below which I found at a yard sale.  The "Legitimus" trademark is stamped on both machete blades:

Collins & Co. was located in Collinsville/Canton, Connecticut.   Starting in 1826, they made various edge tools, as well as hammers and wrenches.  During the U.S. Civil War, they were one of the smaller producers of swords used during this conflict.  In the 1920's, shoddy imitations offered by competitors under their name led them to develop and use their Legitimus crown and arm logo.  In 1940, when British suppliers had their hands full meeting British Army needs, Collins & Co. were awarded the contract to produce "bush knives" for the Canadian Army, which they designated as model number 1250.  These were intended to be carried on tanks and vehicles in offensive actions in Europe.  I can't find anything about what the longer model 1131 (1181?) was intended for.

The machete below also turned up at another yard sale:  

Beautiful tooled leather scabbard stamped "M Mateco, Habana, Enna Y Concha."  Unfortunately, some previous and moronic owner must have attempted to pry something with the blade, since the end is snapped off.  The blade is stamped "Corona" and W.K.  "Acero Diamante" means "diamond steel" in Spanish.  Others ones with this name offered on the web have their place of manufacture attributed to El Salvador. 

In fact, the crossed swords and crown "Corona"  logo above indicates that the blade was made by Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie of Solingen, Germany.

The steel is interesting on it.  Ribbed, almost as if it were beaten by a hammer on an anvil, which it may have been.