Sodbuster???

I seem to remember something in the Bernard Levine forum that the term sodbuster was coined by Case knives, but the pattern itself was much older, Im not 100% sure but it was something to that affect.
 
Sod busters were workers in the old west. I think this is were the pattern got its name. In cowboy action shooting there is a whole group of people who dress as "sod busters" Let me see if I can find more. I may be wrong, perhaps the workers took there name from the knife.
 
In my part of the old west "sodbuster" is and was a truly vicous way to call somebody a "farmer". The conotation being, if you did any work that involved walking, it was deemed "unmanly" by the cattlemen and cowboys of the day, who refused to do any work that was not in the saddle including fencing....and gathering firewood.

This term was right up there in slurs with "sheep farmer", "goat roaper" "chicken rancher" and guaranteed to get somebody punched in the eyeball.

I expect the "sodbuster" model was designed to be a handy knife shaped for agricultural use, for a farmer who used a blade all day long and needed something that was cheap in case it got missed placed or broken. And I would also guess that it had to be inexpensive because farmers are not exactly known for their properity.

One of my favorite scenes in the great JohnWayne movie "The Shootist" was when the Duke was told to get out of the street by a would be local tough played by Bill McKinney.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0571853/

McKnney says, " Git out out the way you dumb bastard before I deliver you something to remember me by..."

John Wayne says..." Well, pardon me all to hell...."

And as Mc Kinney starts his milk wagon...Wayne finishes the statement by adding...
"....Buster."

Whew! Dang....

McKinney is all out of position to shuck his hog leg...and DEAD if he does. BUt he starts to not realizing he is cornered.

Wayne says, "TRY IT..." and the scene goes on without bloodshed...

So the term BUSTER...or sod buster....is not a term that sold a lot of knives in Wyoming.

Not many kids wanted to be seen carrying a sod buster knife.

O' course that was when we all had a Barlow or a stockman or a trapper in our pockets..and we played mumblety peg at recess.

Sorry to go off the topic.

Shane
 
Shockingly, Merriam-Webster defines sodbuster as "one (as a farmer or a plow) that breaks the sod". Link.

So I guess that the origin of the knife by that name is buried in there somewhere.

Gratuitous pic:
july192008013Medium.jpg


:thumbup:
 
Read somewhere one time or another that they were also known as "folding butcher knives" dont know if it's true or not But I do remember reading it.
 
I think I remember reading or seeing that when I was in highschool. I believe it was the name for people who were given land grants to start a new life in the midwest and they made houses with a "sod" roof because there wasn't much land to work with. Sod being the grass and mud. Houses could have been dug out of a hillside and thus the roof was actually sod. Sod buster is a slang term for a farmer, but would probably be taken as graciously as calling a police officer a "cop."

I'll see what else I can look up, perhaps on history channel.

This popped up through google for "sodbusters"
http://www.waywelivednc.com/1920-2001/sod-busters.htm

One of the top pictures looks like the plow stamped onto the case sodbuster blade.
 
these knives have been in my family for ages, my grandpa told me when i asked the same question that it was a farmers knife for cutting and laying sod but was used for everything a farmer would require. it was a handy knife for cutting up rope and tieing hay. pretty much a farmers tool. what i mean by cutting sod is it was kinda like a hoe. they would use it to bust up ground taht was really tough like midwest clay and plant there corn or whatever.
 
I did not know that is what you call that style. I have always liked them, very cool, thanks for digging up all of the info and pics.
 
This is what I remember about the name.
The term "sodbuster" refers to plowing, and thus farmers in general. There was certainly a bit of looking down on farmers in the old west, but the reason the knife was named that has to do with usage. A person who works the fields needs a knife for lots of things, and a good sized one at that. The fact that many farmers had no belt on, as well as the problems with a sheath knife getting snagged in plow reigns, made wearing a fixed blade a problem. The large folding knife (folding Butches knife) was the answer. It slipped into a pocket, was readily available, but not in the way. The term "sodbuster" came from its popularity with those who used it most. Also, a cowboy had a "real" fighting knife, a farmer (and thus a wimp) would only have a folding knife....not much good in a quick knife fight. A gentleman, or professional, would carry a small folding knife, often a bit embellished, to show his position and non-requirement of a weapon or a tool.
Stacy
 
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