donbosco
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We sold pocket knives at #BonleeHardware. Deddy collected them and I inherited those treasures. I remember men with knives as part of daily life. It even seemed like the farmers and workmen competed to see who could be first to brandish their blade whenever the need arose to cut a rope or sharpen a stob or peel an apple. In 1964 when I started first grade little boys carried knives. I distinctly remember that during recess in the second grade we played a version of mumbly-peg that involved steely nerves and standing wild rabbit still while classmates tossed their knife into the ground by your foot - the closest without hitting being the winner. I also remember, and some will not believe this, that one little boy came shoeless some days.
I seem to remember a general “no more knives out at school” order went out - we were getting older anyway and integration had upped the tension all around. I stopped taking a knife to school at any rate and I don’t remember seeing one on a student until I got to high school and then as a covert thing. What weapons were stashed in the parking lot is a different story of a very different time.
But down at the hardware everybody had their knife - and Deddy carried his at all times. He even had a small, fancy model that was for church, or hospital visiting, or going to the funeral home. I had an identical one. Imagine - a church knife. But I still have mine and I have Deddy’s — as well as many of his ‘everyday’ ones. I also have his collection. There are some beautiful ‘Old Timers’ there. I think it is safe to say that a Barlow 3.5” black handle was his favorite. I remember well how he held his knife tightly in his left hand, the one with no fingers (he lost them in a molasses mill at 13) and opened it. The Barlow had a handle wider at the non-pivot end and I think he could get a tighter grip on that between his thumb and the half-hand he had left. By the time I came along he figured all those types of things out many years before. (He never figured out a baseball glove though so catch wasn’t a thing for us - he more than made up)
I still carry a pocket knife most of the time but I confess that it is usually the Church Knife I am bearing not the everyday work blade. It is much smaller, weighs considerably less, and fits well into my watch pocket. For at least 20 of the years I tended bar I carried a combo folding knife with bottle opener key fob on my belt. Once I left that profession I put that apparatus aside and returned full time to my pocket knife. I still keep that worn old knife contraption for the memories. don’t think I know many people that carry knives these days but it is hard to say since they’d tend to be hidden - POCKET knives after all. (Would love a show of hands)
Not long ago in an airport I came to the realization that I was packing my Deddy’s Church Knife as I reached the Security Checkpoint. Previously I’d been thoughtful about this - I never check baggage which means that after 9-11 I had to leave behind my knives when flying, most especially to Guatemala, where I go often. But this time it slipped up on me and there I stood before Airport Security, Deddy’s deadly Church Knife in hand. Horrified at the thought of losing the beloved hand-me-down and Imagining the worst for wielding a weapon — what I received instead was a slightly raised eyebrow, a mailer envelope where I wrote my address, and for the small sum of $20 cash paid over to the guard, they took my knife and returned it to me via US Postal Service. How much silver-haired old man harmlessness and white male privilege went in silencing alarms I’ll never know but I highly suspect such things were at work. I have to say that the guards looked like they understood - maybe they were pocket knifers too? To my relief, Deddy’s heirloom Church Knife did arrive, safe and sound in the post, two weeks later.
I seem to remember a general “no more knives out at school” order went out - we were getting older anyway and integration had upped the tension all around. I stopped taking a knife to school at any rate and I don’t remember seeing one on a student until I got to high school and then as a covert thing. What weapons were stashed in the parking lot is a different story of a very different time.
But down at the hardware everybody had their knife - and Deddy carried his at all times. He even had a small, fancy model that was for church, or hospital visiting, or going to the funeral home. I had an identical one. Imagine - a church knife. But I still have mine and I have Deddy’s — as well as many of his ‘everyday’ ones. I also have his collection. There are some beautiful ‘Old Timers’ there. I think it is safe to say that a Barlow 3.5” black handle was his favorite. I remember well how he held his knife tightly in his left hand, the one with no fingers (he lost them in a molasses mill at 13) and opened it. The Barlow had a handle wider at the non-pivot end and I think he could get a tighter grip on that between his thumb and the half-hand he had left. By the time I came along he figured all those types of things out many years before. (He never figured out a baseball glove though so catch wasn’t a thing for us - he more than made up)
I still carry a pocket knife most of the time but I confess that it is usually the Church Knife I am bearing not the everyday work blade. It is much smaller, weighs considerably less, and fits well into my watch pocket. For at least 20 of the years I tended bar I carried a combo folding knife with bottle opener key fob on my belt. Once I left that profession I put that apparatus aside and returned full time to my pocket knife. I still keep that worn old knife contraption for the memories. don’t think I know many people that carry knives these days but it is hard to say since they’d tend to be hidden - POCKET knives after all. (Would love a show of hands)
Not long ago in an airport I came to the realization that I was packing my Deddy’s Church Knife as I reached the Security Checkpoint. Previously I’d been thoughtful about this - I never check baggage which means that after 9-11 I had to leave behind my knives when flying, most especially to Guatemala, where I go often. But this time it slipped up on me and there I stood before Airport Security, Deddy’s deadly Church Knife in hand. Horrified at the thought of losing the beloved hand-me-down and Imagining the worst for wielding a weapon — what I received instead was a slightly raised eyebrow, a mailer envelope where I wrote my address, and for the small sum of $20 cash paid over to the guard, they took my knife and returned it to me via US Postal Service. How much silver-haired old man harmlessness and white male privilege went in silencing alarms I’ll never know but I highly suspect such things were at work. I have to say that the guards looked like they understood - maybe they were pocket knifers too? To my relief, Deddy’s heirloom Church Knife did arrive, safe and sound in the post, two weeks later.
