Johann Abraham Wüsthof's Solingen "”Shears factory, steel and iron works”" is first mentioned in local records in 1814. The factory, one of many of its kind at the time, operated out of a so-called ‘Kotten’, a small grinding workshop with water-driven grindstones. In the early years, Wüsthof worked on commission for larger firms and did not yet have its own trademark. Johann Abraham's son, Eduard Wüsthof, introduced pocket knives as a second mainstay product in 1836. The 1869 company directory listed the firm's purpose as "”Factory and warehouse for all kinds of forged shears, pocket and penknives, daggers, table knives and forks, bread, vegetable, butcher knives, etc.”"