Fred Mitchell was apparently a cutlery retailer, who became active in Nelson – a small town near Burnley in Lancashire – in about 1927.  Two years later he advertised in Nelson newspapers. At ‘Fred Mitchell’s Cutlery Stall’, Cross Street Open Market, he offered ‘Mitchell’s Wonder Knife’, fitted with a special edge, which cut fresh bread ‘without wasting a single crumb’ (The Nelson Leader, 29 November 1929).  So that customers could fit their home up with labour-saving cutlery, he offered to take old knives, forks, and spoons as part payment for new stainless items. 

In 1929, Mitchell gave his Sheffield office address as 168 Broad Lane (a set of workshops part-occupied by Champion’s, the scissors maker). In 1932, however, Mitchell offered to sell his Cross Street stall. He told prospective buyers that he ‘has done, and still doing, good business’. The purchaser also had the sole right to his Wonder Bread Knife. Mitchell added: ‘Don’t let this chance go by. If I lived in Nelson, I wouldn’t part with it for six times the price at value’ (The Nelson Leader, 22 April 1932). 

Presumably, Mitchell had no takers, because in the following year he advertised again in The Nelson Leader, 10 November 1933. He told its readers that he was ‘back at his cutlery stall’, selling Xmas Presents in Stainless Cutlery (canteens, fruit spoons, salad servers, cake knives, fish eaters, and bread knives). Every article was made in Sheffield.

The Hawley Collection knife is marked Henry Street Works, which at that time was up for sale in Sheffield at a knock-down price. The Works would soon be occupied by Edwin H. Needham, a table cutlery manufacturer. Presumably, Mitchell’s knives would be ‘bought in’ from such a maker.  Fred Mitchell seems to have ceased trading from his cutlery stall in the early 1930s and his subsequent career is untraced. ‘Fred Mitchell’ is a relatively common name and it has so far proved difficult to identify him.