Albert Walter Gamage (1855-1930) was born at Hereford, the seventeenth child of Henry Gamage (a painter) and his wife, Tryphena nee Carr. In 1871, Albert was a draper at Kington, a market town near Hereford, but later that decade established himself as a hosier and outfitter at 128 Holborn, London. By the end of the nineteenth century, Gamage had expanded his shop at High Holborn into one of the capital’s major department stores. A. W. Gamage Ltd (it adopted limited liability in 1898) became known as the ‘People’s Popular Emporium’. It purported to be the ‘world’s largest sport and athletic outfitter’ and was also a major player in the mail order business, with a 900-page catalogue in 1911. Besides sporting goods, bicycles, and toys, Gamage sold a wide range of household goods and hardware. At 116-128 High Holborn, Gamages had a cutlery department and before the First World catered for the mass market in electro-plated tableware.  In 1913, for example, it had a special sale after buying up the stock of W. W. Harrison & Co Ltd in Sheffield (Evening News, London, 6 June 1913).

In the early 1920s, ‘Best Sheffield’ stainless steel table knives, dessert knives, tea knives, and cased cutlery canteens appeared regularly in Gamage’s newspaper advertisements. Stainless table knives, with Firth’s steel and ivorine (substitute ivory) handles was one popular line. Like other retailers, Gamage contracted with Sheffield cutlery manufacturers to supply him with ‘Gamage’ cutlery. The store’s cutlery buyer once stated that he had purchased stainless cutlery from a ‘substantial number of Sheffield firms’. For example, in 1920 Gamages had ordered 1,500 dozen stainless knives from Thomas Wilson & Co (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 1 May 1924). This was entirely legal. However, in 1924 Gamage was sued by Sheffield steel maker Thos. Firth & Co Ltd for falsely selling inferior cutlery marked ‘Firth Stainless’. Harry Brearley, the originator of stainless steel for cutlery gave evidence in the London court. He tested the Gamage stainless blades with vinegar and found their stainless characteristics wanting. He told the court that he did not think that they contained enough chromium. After a convoluted trial, most of the charges against Gamages were dismissed, though the firm was fined for issuing a card with the words, ‘Firth’s Stainless Cutlery’ (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 21 March, 21 June 1924). Gamages continued to sell stainless knives and other Sheffield cutlery, until it went out of business in the early 1970s.