- Joined
- Sep 1, 2013
- Messages
- 1,766
This post is both a thank you and a bit of short story (or perhaps a long story). Whether or not it is a good story is up to you the reader, but in my mind the key to any good story is a great protagonist which I feel this story has - you see, the recipient of my thank you and the protagonist of this tale is none other than our very own Primble.
I suppose the story begins sometime back many months ago with a post about the origin of usernames, an old John Primble display case, and remembrances of days long past but clearly not forgotten. In the months that followed, a few knives were passed back and forth and the beginning of a friendship was formed.
Skipping forward in time to last month, some of you may recall that Primble posted one of his patented 'thank you' threads replete with beautiful photos for a package that I had sent to him. That thread can be found here for anyone interested: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1219419-A-sincere-thank-you-to-Old-amp-in-the-Way-from-Primble.
The package that I had sent him was the result of much friendly disagreement, but ultimately we had reached a tacit agreement that I could send him a smooth ivory bone sheep's foot Charlow that he was missing from his collection in trade for some yet to be named object that he felt I would like and appreciate.
Now every good story needs a few unexpected twists and turns, and the first such event in this story I suppose occurred when I snuck an extra knife into the package I sent Primble. That knife was an old John Primble India Steel Works Dogleg Jack that I thought would make a decent addition for his display case. This of course resulted in a bit of good natured grumbling and threats of retaliation; but some things are simply meant to be, and in my mind, that old Dogleg was meant to be in his collection.
The passing back and forth of knives paused briefly as Primble plotted his revenge, but we stayed in contact. And this 'thank you' post/story has as much or more to do with what occurred during that time as it does with any knives that he's traded or gifted me.
In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Into each life some rain must fall." This is true for each of us, and without going into detail, I'll just say that my umbrella has seen plenty of use these past few weeks. During that time, Primble patiently listened to me vent, contacted me frequently to see how things were going, and constantly offered encouragement. And again, it's those actions and his concern for which I'm most grateful.
He has remarked in the past on how similar our tastes in knives are, and in this I think he is utterly correct. So what originally began as nothing more than a mutual interest has become a genuine friendship, and for that and all that Primble has done for me, I am sincerely thankful. You see folks, our protagonist is many things: a gentleman first and foremost, a talented photographer, a collector of fine traditional knives, a generous soul, and at times... a stubborn old mule (I know that he'd likely think of himself more as a Kentucky thoroughbred, but trust me on this one).
Most importantly to me though, he is my friend - and a very good one at that. 
Now, my understanding is that the final ingredient for a good story is a satisfying conclusion or a surprise ending, or perhaps both. And as this is a knife forum after all, shouldn't we also have a bit of knife content?
Yesterday, when I came home from work I found a USPS Priority Mail package waiting for me. Inside, I found a wonderful hand-written note from Primble in which he generously relieved me of any duty to thank him for the contents of the parcel he sent. I also found his George Wolstenholm IXL whittler and original pocket slip that I had longingly admired. This was the 'trade knife' that he intended to send me in exchange for my smooth ivory bone sheep's foot Charlow. I didn't know what he had in mind at the time, only that he thought I would like it - and on that count he was more than right as I absolutely love it. The IXL is easily now one of the very nicest knives in my collection. Included in the bundle with the IXL, he had also enclosed two terrific old coins (a Standing Liberty Quarter and a Buffalo Nickel) for the two knives that I previously sent to him.
The next item I removed was a beautiful leather pocket slip that he commissioned from Barry (gunstockjack) for me.
As I was smiling and admiring Barry's craftsmanship, I remembered that in his note he had said "I've include a small old knife - sneaked it in the box. It's nothing special - just an old knife I've grown tired of already." So I peaked back in the box and found one final parcel wrapped up at the bottom of the box. Now he had been threatening to sneak something into the package in revenge for the old Dogleg Jack that I snuck into his package previously, so I was not completely surprised, but nor was I prepared for what I found when I finished unwrapping that parcel.
A pristine 1940-64 XX red bone Case Peanut. Now Primble knows that we share an affinity for old Case knives and I own a few that I think are decent examples, but the Peanut he sent me is by far the nicest example of old Case red bone that I've ever seen. The scales in my opinion are just extraordinary; and my jaw is still sore from when it hit the floor after looking at that Peanut and handling it for the first time. So as you can see, it would appear that my friend is also a world-class 'sneak', but trust me when I tell you that I mean that as a compliment.
Primble - thank you for these wonderful items and most of all thank you for your friendship! You said in a previous message that you hoped that some of the items you were sending would bring a smile to my face and they did that and much more. You managed to dazzle me with your kindness and generosity, and daze me with your gifts... and you almost got away with it!
You see folks, I now recall that aside from the traded for knives (my Charlow and his IXL), I snuck an extra item (the old Dogleg Jack) into the package sent to Primble. But in my dazed state, he in turn almost managed without my noticing it to sneak two extra items into the package he sent to me (the Peanut and the pocket slip from Barry). Which means...
- To Be Continued
I suppose the story begins sometime back many months ago with a post about the origin of usernames, an old John Primble display case, and remembrances of days long past but clearly not forgotten. In the months that followed, a few knives were passed back and forth and the beginning of a friendship was formed.
Skipping forward in time to last month, some of you may recall that Primble posted one of his patented 'thank you' threads replete with beautiful photos for a package that I had sent to him. That thread can be found here for anyone interested: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1219419-A-sincere-thank-you-to-Old-amp-in-the-Way-from-Primble.
The package that I had sent him was the result of much friendly disagreement, but ultimately we had reached a tacit agreement that I could send him a smooth ivory bone sheep's foot Charlow that he was missing from his collection in trade for some yet to be named object that he felt I would like and appreciate.
Now every good story needs a few unexpected twists and turns, and the first such event in this story I suppose occurred when I snuck an extra knife into the package I sent Primble. That knife was an old John Primble India Steel Works Dogleg Jack that I thought would make a decent addition for his display case. This of course resulted in a bit of good natured grumbling and threats of retaliation; but some things are simply meant to be, and in my mind, that old Dogleg was meant to be in his collection.
The passing back and forth of knives paused briefly as Primble plotted his revenge, but we stayed in contact. And this 'thank you' post/story has as much or more to do with what occurred during that time as it does with any knives that he's traded or gifted me.
In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Into each life some rain must fall." This is true for each of us, and without going into detail, I'll just say that my umbrella has seen plenty of use these past few weeks. During that time, Primble patiently listened to me vent, contacted me frequently to see how things were going, and constantly offered encouragement. And again, it's those actions and his concern for which I'm most grateful.
He has remarked in the past on how similar our tastes in knives are, and in this I think he is utterly correct. So what originally began as nothing more than a mutual interest has become a genuine friendship, and for that and all that Primble has done for me, I am sincerely thankful. You see folks, our protagonist is many things: a gentleman first and foremost, a talented photographer, a collector of fine traditional knives, a generous soul, and at times... a stubborn old mule (I know that he'd likely think of himself more as a Kentucky thoroughbred, but trust me on this one).
Most importantly to me though, he is my friend - and a very good one at that. Now, my understanding is that the final ingredient for a good story is a satisfying conclusion or a surprise ending, or perhaps both. And as this is a knife forum after all, shouldn't we also have a bit of knife content?
Yesterday, when I came home from work I found a USPS Priority Mail package waiting for me. Inside, I found a wonderful hand-written note from Primble in which he generously relieved me of any duty to thank him for the contents of the parcel he sent.
I also found his George Wolstenholm IXL whittler and original pocket slip that I had longingly admired. This was the 'trade knife' that he intended to send me in exchange for my smooth ivory bone sheep's foot Charlow. I didn't know what he had in mind at the time, only that he thought I would like it - and on that count he was more than right as I absolutely love it. The IXL is easily now one of the very nicest knives in my collection. Included in the bundle with the IXL, he had also enclosed two terrific old coins (a Standing Liberty Quarter and a Buffalo Nickel) for the two knives that I previously sent to him.
The next item I removed was a beautiful leather pocket slip that he commissioned from Barry (gunstockjack) for me.
As I was smiling and admiring Barry's craftsmanship, I remembered that in his note he had said "I've include a small old knife - sneaked it in the box. It's nothing special - just an old knife I've grown tired of already." So I peaked back in the box and found one final parcel wrapped up at the bottom of the box. Now he had been threatening to sneak something into the package in revenge for the old Dogleg Jack that I snuck into his package previously, so I was not completely surprised, but nor was I prepared for what I found when I finished unwrapping that parcel.
A pristine 1940-64 XX red bone Case Peanut. Now Primble knows that we share an affinity for old Case knives and I own a few that I think are decent examples, but the Peanut he sent me is by far the nicest example of old Case red bone that I've ever seen. The scales in my opinion are just extraordinary; and my jaw is still sore from when it hit the floor after looking at that Peanut and handling it for the first time. So as you can see, it would appear that my friend is also a world-class 'sneak', but trust me when I tell you that I mean that as a compliment.
Primble - thank you for these wonderful items and most of all thank you for your friendship! You said in a previous message that you hoped that some of the items you were sending would bring a smile to my face and they did that and much more. You managed to dazzle me with your kindness and generosity, and daze me with your gifts... and you almost got away with it!
You see folks, I now recall that aside from the traded for knives (my Charlow and his IXL), I snuck an extra item (the old Dogleg Jack) into the package sent to Primble. But in my dazed state, he in turn almost managed without my noticing it to sneak two extra items into the package he sent to me (the Peanut and the pocket slip from Barry). Which means...
- To Be Continued
, mule-ish, generous
, and pleasing
