At the age of five Ernest "Mooney" Warther found his first pocketknife and began whittling.  As a teenager he began carving in Walnut wood and bone.  He became frustrated with store-bought knives because they would not stay sharp while carving hard materials like walnut, bone and ivory.  So, in 1902, Ernest "Mooney" Warther began making his own knives.  He researched what was the best steel to use and he created his own techniques for grinding the steel blade so it would keep its sharp edge.

One day while tempering the steel blades, Mooney thought that if this carving knife would keep its edge and remain sharp while carving ebony and ivory, it would certainly make a great Kitchen Knife.  Therefore, in 1902, at the young age of 17, Mooney crafted the first Kitchen Knife for his mother and soon she was showing it to her friends and neighbors.  The town folk were impressed and Mooney received many orders, hence, the Family Knife Business was born.  As word spread about how great the knives were, so did his knife business.  By 1923 Mooney quit working in the steel mill and devoted his time to his hobby of carving and making Kitchen Knives as his livelihood.

Ernest Warther taught the art of knife making to his two sons.  His youngest son Dave started making knives when he was only 12, and when he returned home from WWII at the age of 19 (1945), he took over the E. Warther & Sons Knife Business; this allowed Mooney more time to spend on his hobby of carving.

Dave expanded the knife making business in the 1950's by tapping into corporate gift programs at companies like Ford, Hedrich Blessing, and Timken.  Beginning in the early 1940's Ernest Warther and his sons were using the name and stamping the knives E. Warther & Sons but it was not until 1954, when Dave officially incorporated the business as E. Warther & Sons Inc.

By the early 1960's E. Warther & Sons grew beyond the confines of a one 10'x15' workshop and at the same time Mooney had so many carvings that a new museum and knife shop was needed.  In 1962 Dave built the museum on the main floor of a 40x40' building with the E. Warther & Sons knife shop in the lower level.

Today, we still use the same specifications and techniques Mooney created. We use American Made High Carbon Tool Steel that is Rust Resistant.  Our steel has to be Hand-Rolled on an Old-Style Hand-Operated Mill.  This type of steel allows us to temper it to a high degree of hardness (58-60 Rockwell C) without being brittle.  We grind and polish each knife to a convex grind, which can only be accomplished by hand.  No Automated Machinery is used.  The purpose of the convex grind is its ability to retain a Razor-Like Edge with just a light honing.  This method was common in the early 1900's but has been lost by most knife manufacturers today.

The Warther's are in their third and fourth generation of Knife Makers now. Dave, Dale and other grandchildren continue the family business of producing Outstanding Kitchen Cutlery with the same techniques and fine craftsmanship Mooney developed over 100 years ago.