We love our pocket knives.
Of course we do, this is a knife forum, and a subform for those of us who get exited at the sight of nice jigged bone, old yellowed stag, or even a nice exotic wood like ebony or rosewood. Where would Buck be without those dense but beautiful tropical hardwood scales on the 110 all those years? Or Case, with that old school chestnut bone?
It's been a few years, but I remember reading that way back in the 1930's, Remington did a study, and they figured out the average life of a pocket knife was like 2 years. Two years. The\ats' a mere 730 days. Not a very longtime by any standards. To me, it's a waking nightmare thinking of all those old Case XX's, and Remington trappers, and John Russell Company Barlow's being reduced to scrap metal in just 730 days, give or take a week. I can only wonder what kind of owners those knives had, that they died so quick. Now it seems like we buy a nice Case or GEC, and it gets at least that long being fondled, cherished, and only grudgingly used for cutting something. We collect them, horde them, yet would be loth to take one and scrape the gasket off a cast iron top end, or use as a can opener by punching and cutting the metal top off a can of chill.
I remember the dime stores I'd go in back when I was kid, when they still had soda fountains where you cold get a cold Coke in a tall glass for a nickel. Up near the cash register were standup cardboard display stands of the 'necessary' things a person needed. Nail clippers for a quarter, plastic combs for a dime. And standup displays of pocket knives. These ere almost always a small serpentine two blade jack, thin carbon steel blades, and as the 50's wore on, crimped on shell handles of painted sheet metal. They were cheap, cut good, and a pocket knife was considered a 'necessity'.
Those knives were actually used hard, and I guess the Remington study must have held true then. These were the disposable knives of their day. They weren't meant to be cherished, just used hard, and when it came time to toss it in the trash can, you just bought a new one when you stopped off at the corner drug store for a pack of Chesterfields or a small tin of aspirin. And the local Army-Navy surplus store had bins of TL-29's for 75 cents a pop, or the German Mercator 55's for 99 cents a pop. Boys bought them, threw them at trees until they broke, and that was it. Growing up, I don't ever recall many people cherishing their pocket knives like we do now.
I guess I only think about this now because of my neighbor, Tom. Tom is one of those guys who could kill a pocket knife in a year or two. IN fact, I saw him do it today. One of those little peanut size black plastic handle lock blades they sell at the corner gas and go, for something like 2.99. The small reprocessed tuna fish can blade is partly serrated, and can saw through a peanut butter sandwich pretty well. But Tom likes them, and thinks I'm nuts for spending more than 2.99 for a pocketknife. This moring, I watched him break it without a thought in the world. Getting ready for Superbowl Sunday, scarping his grill and prying off the rusty vet cap, there was a metallic "tink" sound, and there was his little knife with a flat end on the blade. Tom's only comment was, "Huh, now it makes a decent screw driver!"
Thinking of this, made me think about our knife obsession, and the disposable knife. Are there still people who buy knives with the thought of using it too oblivion? Do the trusty old workhorse's, the sodbuster, still get used for hard work,? The French Opinel was born as working peasant knife, and certainly some French day laborer or farmer didn't have a lot of money to spend on a knife, so he bought what he could afford and used it hard, like his counter parts in Germany with the Herder's sodbusters. I understood from some real French guys, that the Opinel was actually bought in numbers of two or more a great deal of the time, knowing that they were to be "used up." I can't see that happening with a nice GEC.
And the old John Russell Barlows, were a knife that I wonder if they were bought with the idea of a year or two life span. They came from the factory pretty rough, with saw cut bone scales and iron bolsters and liners. Some Kansas farmer or Texas cowpoke would use it as the cutting tool it was meant to be. Those old pictures of a knife worn down to a sharpened toothpick always make me smile. Some working man got his moneys worth out of it, for sure.
Today, we don't seem to have as many disposable knives as there used to be. Opinel is still around, and they make a fine cutter if you're careful with them. Case still has the sodbuster, but it's grown in price tag. I'm not sure if it's still as usable like in the old days, when you cold buy a wiring peasant knife for the price of a few beers at the corner pub. The old Mercator is now about 30 bucks or so, similar in price to a Case sodbuster. But we still have the Svord peasant knife!
I wonder if we are living in an age of affluence and the day of the disposable pocket knife is past?
Of course we do, this is a knife forum, and a subform for those of us who get exited at the sight of nice jigged bone, old yellowed stag, or even a nice exotic wood like ebony or rosewood. Where would Buck be without those dense but beautiful tropical hardwood scales on the 110 all those years? Or Case, with that old school chestnut bone?
It's been a few years, but I remember reading that way back in the 1930's, Remington did a study, and they figured out the average life of a pocket knife was like 2 years. Two years. The\ats' a mere 730 days. Not a very longtime by any standards. To me, it's a waking nightmare thinking of all those old Case XX's, and Remington trappers, and John Russell Company Barlow's being reduced to scrap metal in just 730 days, give or take a week. I can only wonder what kind of owners those knives had, that they died so quick. Now it seems like we buy a nice Case or GEC, and it gets at least that long being fondled, cherished, and only grudgingly used for cutting something. We collect them, horde them, yet would be loth to take one and scrape the gasket off a cast iron top end, or use as a can opener by punching and cutting the metal top off a can of chill.
I remember the dime stores I'd go in back when I was kid, when they still had soda fountains where you cold get a cold Coke in a tall glass for a nickel. Up near the cash register were standup cardboard display stands of the 'necessary' things a person needed. Nail clippers for a quarter, plastic combs for a dime. And standup displays of pocket knives. These ere almost always a small serpentine two blade jack, thin carbon steel blades, and as the 50's wore on, crimped on shell handles of painted sheet metal. They were cheap, cut good, and a pocket knife was considered a 'necessity'.
Those knives were actually used hard, and I guess the Remington study must have held true then. These were the disposable knives of their day. They weren't meant to be cherished, just used hard, and when it came time to toss it in the trash can, you just bought a new one when you stopped off at the corner drug store for a pack of Chesterfields or a small tin of aspirin. And the local Army-Navy surplus store had bins of TL-29's for 75 cents a pop, or the German Mercator 55's for 99 cents a pop. Boys bought them, threw them at trees until they broke, and that was it. Growing up, I don't ever recall many people cherishing their pocket knives like we do now.
I guess I only think about this now because of my neighbor, Tom. Tom is one of those guys who could kill a pocket knife in a year or two. IN fact, I saw him do it today. One of those little peanut size black plastic handle lock blades they sell at the corner gas and go, for something like 2.99. The small reprocessed tuna fish can blade is partly serrated, and can saw through a peanut butter sandwich pretty well. But Tom likes them, and thinks I'm nuts for spending more than 2.99 for a pocketknife. This moring, I watched him break it without a thought in the world. Getting ready for Superbowl Sunday, scarping his grill and prying off the rusty vet cap, there was a metallic "tink" sound, and there was his little knife with a flat end on the blade. Tom's only comment was, "Huh, now it makes a decent screw driver!"
Thinking of this, made me think about our knife obsession, and the disposable knife. Are there still people who buy knives with the thought of using it too oblivion? Do the trusty old workhorse's, the sodbuster, still get used for hard work,? The French Opinel was born as working peasant knife, and certainly some French day laborer or farmer didn't have a lot of money to spend on a knife, so he bought what he could afford and used it hard, like his counter parts in Germany with the Herder's sodbusters. I understood from some real French guys, that the Opinel was actually bought in numbers of two or more a great deal of the time, knowing that they were to be "used up." I can't see that happening with a nice GEC.
And the old John Russell Barlows, were a knife that I wonder if they were bought with the idea of a year or two life span. They came from the factory pretty rough, with saw cut bone scales and iron bolsters and liners. Some Kansas farmer or Texas cowpoke would use it as the cutting tool it was meant to be. Those old pictures of a knife worn down to a sharpened toothpick always make me smile. Some working man got his moneys worth out of it, for sure.
Today, we don't seem to have as many disposable knives as there used to be. Opinel is still around, and they make a fine cutter if you're careful with them. Case still has the sodbuster, but it's grown in price tag. I'm not sure if it's still as usable like in the old days, when you cold buy a wiring peasant knife for the price of a few beers at the corner pub. The old Mercator is now about 30 bucks or so, similar in price to a Case sodbuster. But we still have the Svord peasant knife!
I wonder if we are living in an age of affluence and the day of the disposable pocket knife is past?
I best be off, but will have this as food for thought!
