I know, you're thinking old jackknife has finally gone around the bend and is ready for the rubber knife squad. But hang on a moment.
I've seen a great shift in things in my life, knives among them. Today I see young folks toting knives that when I was a kid would have been shunned as too weird, too punkish, too over the top. Men I grew up around carried old serpintine jacks, stockmen, peanuts, pens, scout patterns. I can't even recall one man carrying a lockblade. The only locking blade I recall when I was a kid was the screwdriver on the TL-29. The only other knives with a lock on them was those Eye-tal-yon switchblade things the drug store hoods with the leather jackets carried.
Today we live in the age of tactical. Tactical knives, tactical guns, tactical clothing, flashights, and so on. Yeah, clothing.
This whole thread came about because last night we were watching some old home movies that John had gotten transferred onto DVD disc. Some were Karen's father and his family down in Brantley County Georga, near Waycross.
There was film footage of Karens grandfather and his kinfolk. All were dignified southern gentlemen and ladies, and even though it was a weekend get together, they were dressed in what today would be called business attire. White shirts neatly pressed, ties, nice dress pants. Karen told me she remebered her grandfather even carrying a spare neatly folded white shirt in the car, so if the one he had on was soiled or sweated in because of the heat, he'd change into a clean shirt. I remember some of those kind of times when I was a kid. Men wore different kinds of clothing then. People actually kept thier shoes shined up and hair cut. There was a different standard then, and I wonder if the evelution in mens clothing had influence on the rise of larger knives in the pocket.
Unless you were some kind of sleeves rolled up blue collar worker, you wore at least what would be considered today, business casual. Even a clerk behind a counter in a 5 and 10 cent store had to wear a nice shirt and tie. Nobody, I mean nobody, wore blue jeans back then exept real ranch hands. My father didn't have one single pair of jeans his whole life. When he wasn't in his grey suit, he had on the ubiquitous Dickies style work pants in some dark non conspicious color. Farmers wore docker style work pants in khaki or dark green or even navy blue. Same for truck drivers, gas station mechanics, the milk man, and the plumber. And even they had nice shirts that buttoned up all the way, sometimes with a bow tie if a dangling tie would be a hazzard. But even on weekends, they put on a nice set of what we would call in this era of casual, dress clothes. And if I could point to one single style of pocket knife that was the knife of that era, it was the 3 and someting like 1/8 or 1/4, serpintine jack. A modest 2 blade little knife that just about eveybody back then carried, and somehow did everythiing in the way of knife chores they had to do.
Now we all know that some pants styles have little leeway for bulky/heavy knives. So I guess it's no wonder that the great depression/WW2 era men, all carried some kind of 3 inch or so small pocket knife in thier semi-dress pants that was the norm of thier day. It was big enough to do what had to be done, but small enough to carry without feeling like a rock in the pocket.
Fast forward to now, and I look around in a resturuant, and at least half the male patrons and thier better halfs are wearing either jeans, for the most part, or even those military looking cargo pants. Nobody dresses anything like what our grandfathers did, and time has moved on. Now, unless you're a doctor, lawyer, or banker, nobody has a real suit unless it's for weddings or funnerals. It's a casual world now. Old faded split at the knees jeans and scuffed Doc Martins are the order of the day with young people now. Maybe the clipped large folder with the black handles are the knife of the era now. It fits with the modern clothing styles.
Maybe nice jigged bone swaybacks and pearl or ivory handle pen knives went better with the times and clothing they were born in. A time when style and grace ment something. I was looking in an old book on the history of the Wright brothers. There were lots of old photo's of Wilber and Orville working in thier shop in Ohio. One in particular grabbed me. It was while they were working on thier third model glider, and they were there in the shop, sleeves rolled up. Wilber had a large pair of sissors or sheers in his hand and was cutting some white cloth, and Orville was holding up the bundle of cloth while Wilber cut. Both had on vest's, with white shirts, and ties tucked into the front of thier vests. Both looked like they could have rolled down thier sleeves, put on thier coats and went to church. I found myself wondering what kind of pocket knife they had on them.
Yesterday I was at a store, and the clerk had on a faded black t-shirt with a big skull on it advertising a rock band, (I hope) a semi mohawk haircut, a ring in his ear, nose, and lower lip. On the edge of his faded black cargo pants with the frayed edges was the bright steel of the stainless pocket clip of a tactical knife. Since it was a knife store, I suspect it was one of the most recent of the knife of the month issues. I looked around the store, and there were numerous cases of tactical knives, all looking so much alike I coldn't tell you one from the other. Off to the side, around the corner of the displays, was one single case with some traditonal knives in it on the bottom shelf. Some Case's, a few European imports. I asked about them.
"Oh yeah, like, the dude that owns the store keeps some. I guess the old guys like them." I was told by the young guy with the rings in his face. Never mind my white whiskers.
I guess somethings just go out of style like clothes.
I've seen a great shift in things in my life, knives among them. Today I see young folks toting knives that when I was a kid would have been shunned as too weird, too punkish, too over the top. Men I grew up around carried old serpintine jacks, stockmen, peanuts, pens, scout patterns. I can't even recall one man carrying a lockblade. The only locking blade I recall when I was a kid was the screwdriver on the TL-29. The only other knives with a lock on them was those Eye-tal-yon switchblade things the drug store hoods with the leather jackets carried.
Today we live in the age of tactical. Tactical knives, tactical guns, tactical clothing, flashights, and so on. Yeah, clothing.
This whole thread came about because last night we were watching some old home movies that John had gotten transferred onto DVD disc. Some were Karen's father and his family down in Brantley County Georga, near Waycross.
There was film footage of Karens grandfather and his kinfolk. All were dignified southern gentlemen and ladies, and even though it was a weekend get together, they were dressed in what today would be called business attire. White shirts neatly pressed, ties, nice dress pants. Karen told me she remebered her grandfather even carrying a spare neatly folded white shirt in the car, so if the one he had on was soiled or sweated in because of the heat, he'd change into a clean shirt. I remember some of those kind of times when I was a kid. Men wore different kinds of clothing then. People actually kept thier shoes shined up and hair cut. There was a different standard then, and I wonder if the evelution in mens clothing had influence on the rise of larger knives in the pocket.
Unless you were some kind of sleeves rolled up blue collar worker, you wore at least what would be considered today, business casual. Even a clerk behind a counter in a 5 and 10 cent store had to wear a nice shirt and tie. Nobody, I mean nobody, wore blue jeans back then exept real ranch hands. My father didn't have one single pair of jeans his whole life. When he wasn't in his grey suit, he had on the ubiquitous Dickies style work pants in some dark non conspicious color. Farmers wore docker style work pants in khaki or dark green or even navy blue. Same for truck drivers, gas station mechanics, the milk man, and the plumber. And even they had nice shirts that buttoned up all the way, sometimes with a bow tie if a dangling tie would be a hazzard. But even on weekends, they put on a nice set of what we would call in this era of casual, dress clothes. And if I could point to one single style of pocket knife that was the knife of that era, it was the 3 and someting like 1/8 or 1/4, serpintine jack. A modest 2 blade little knife that just about eveybody back then carried, and somehow did everythiing in the way of knife chores they had to do.
Now we all know that some pants styles have little leeway for bulky/heavy knives. So I guess it's no wonder that the great depression/WW2 era men, all carried some kind of 3 inch or so small pocket knife in thier semi-dress pants that was the norm of thier day. It was big enough to do what had to be done, but small enough to carry without feeling like a rock in the pocket.
Fast forward to now, and I look around in a resturuant, and at least half the male patrons and thier better halfs are wearing either jeans, for the most part, or even those military looking cargo pants. Nobody dresses anything like what our grandfathers did, and time has moved on. Now, unless you're a doctor, lawyer, or banker, nobody has a real suit unless it's for weddings or funnerals. It's a casual world now. Old faded split at the knees jeans and scuffed Doc Martins are the order of the day with young people now. Maybe the clipped large folder with the black handles are the knife of the era now. It fits with the modern clothing styles.
Maybe nice jigged bone swaybacks and pearl or ivory handle pen knives went better with the times and clothing they were born in. A time when style and grace ment something. I was looking in an old book on the history of the Wright brothers. There were lots of old photo's of Wilber and Orville working in thier shop in Ohio. One in particular grabbed me. It was while they were working on thier third model glider, and they were there in the shop, sleeves rolled up. Wilber had a large pair of sissors or sheers in his hand and was cutting some white cloth, and Orville was holding up the bundle of cloth while Wilber cut. Both had on vest's, with white shirts, and ties tucked into the front of thier vests. Both looked like they could have rolled down thier sleeves, put on thier coats and went to church. I found myself wondering what kind of pocket knife they had on them.
Yesterday I was at a store, and the clerk had on a faded black t-shirt with a big skull on it advertising a rock band, (I hope) a semi mohawk haircut, a ring in his ear, nose, and lower lip. On the edge of his faded black cargo pants with the frayed edges was the bright steel of the stainless pocket clip of a tactical knife. Since it was a knife store, I suspect it was one of the most recent of the knife of the month issues. I looked around the store, and there were numerous cases of tactical knives, all looking so much alike I coldn't tell you one from the other. Off to the side, around the corner of the displays, was one single case with some traditonal knives in it on the bottom shelf. Some Case's, a few European imports. I asked about them.
"Oh yeah, like, the dude that owns the store keeps some. I guess the old guys like them." I was told by the young guy with the rings in his face. Never mind my white whiskers.
I guess somethings just go out of style like clothes.
I was raised to dress nice for such things.
