Discussion at work

Ed T

Ed T

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Apr 23, 2002
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I had an interesting discussion at work today. I was working on a project with one of our vps. I have known him since I started there 17 years ago. I remembered that he grew up in the Chicago area, so I asked him what knives he remembered as a kid in the hardware stores there. He said a lot of Old Timer and Uncle Henry knives. I had thought that perhaps there were more varieties the closer you got to the east coast. I remember reading that some brands were more common in the south.

After that, he kind of lit up and talked about his first knife. He had saved up and bought a scout knife with the scouting emblem. He kind of smiled and admitted that he carried a pocket knife still despite the looks or comments in our workplace.

So here is my question for the night;

Where did you do your window shopping as a kid and what was available?

For me it was Beck's Hardware in Prosser WA. Uncle Henry, Old Timer, and KABAR.
 
Helmstaders ( sp? ) Downtown McKeesport PA...remember getting my first scout knife there.
Cant for the life of me remember the name of the sporting goods store in the same plaza.
heck getting old...
 
Ed T said:
He kind of smiled and admitted that he carried a pocket knife still despite the looks or comments in our workplace.

So here is my question for the night;

Where did you do your window shopping as a kid and what was available?
Click to expand...

Just curious, what kind of knife does a VP carry? Did he show it to you?

As to your question about window shopping, I did mine at Ace Hardware in Tequesta, FL., or Mr. Sportsman on Indiantown Rd. over in Jupiter, FL. Both places had full displays of Schrade (UHs and OTs) and Case knives. For some reason, I always prefered Schrade. Probably has to do with the time period (I was born in 1968, so I came of "knife age" amid what, IMHO, was Case's low point for quality). I've since come around to Case and have a few, including the peanut in my pocket right now.

While these two were my mainstays for drooling over the knives - I could ride my bike to 'em - I also knew about every place in Palm Beach County that carried knives. Vic's Hardware carried Chicago Cutlery, Colonial and Imperial. There was a Hoffritz in the WPB mall that carried EVERYTHING, and some luggage store that carried SAKs. Tuppens, about the best outdoor sports place there was when I was a kid, carried a bunch of Bucks and Gerbers. I can still remember standing there in my Converse high-top All-Stars and t-shirt and cut-off shorts, and the knife lust I felt in my young heart looking at all that steel! :D

Great thread. Brings back a lot of memories. Funny, I remember as a kid I had a "sure-fire method" for telling if a knife was a good one or not: The good ones said Schrade, Buck, Camillus, Gerber (remember back when Gerbers were good!?), Victorinox or Wenger, period. As I said earlier, I only came around to Case later in life, and I never heard of a Queen as a kid in South Florida.
 
In the neighboorhood in London.
A small local sports shop.

Rodgers pen knives and sheath knives.
They had a board with knives wired to it.
I still have my Scout sheath knives with Stag handles (over 40 years ago)
 
my first one was a push button, i found when i was around 8 years old.
hid it from mom but she found it any way.
you know she got rid of it, and now i have over 300 knives to take its place
vern
 
He didn't show his knife, but he said it was a Gerber.

Its funny you mention the intervention of your mom. My first knife was a UH stockman. It seemed to end up in a drawer in the kitchen most of the time.
 
The little hardware across the tracks from my house had the standard selection. Schrade, Buck and Gerber. I lost all my old pocket knives I had as a kid. That is unless my older brother confiscated them and they are sitting in his collection.
 
Growing up my dad and grandfather were avid knife and gun lookers and buyers. My dad use to take me to this mom and pop knife store that was a 10 minute drive from our house. We went about 2 times each month. I would spend a long time looking over every knife in my price range...usually 2 or 3 times. The owners were very patient with a youngster asking over and over again to see the same knives. My knives were probably $10 or so, but my dad always had me save my money and buy my own. While I was picking me out one, he would be picking himself one out also. Several of the knives I have of his were those very knives we went to buy together in the late 70's and early 80's.

Right now I can't even remember the name of the store or the family that owned it...but I do have a few old receipts in some of the boxes from back then, if I needed to find out.
 
A hardware store in Cambridge Maryland, near the old boat yard. They had a glass case with some pocket knives, with some Camillus and Imperial in there on the top shelf. But they had a stand alone display of Case knives that must have been just about every model they made. I used to just stand there and stare at them while grandad got what he needed. I used to try to imagine having my pick of them. My pick changed every time I was in there.

Now its an upscale eatery near a marina. How times change.:(
 
i window shopped at Bomberger's hardware in Manheim, Pa, where I grew up til 16. Also, at the Root's flee market that took place each Tuesday outside town. Lots of knives bought there I tell ya! (much to my mom's dismay.)

Brett
 
It's sad really. Home Despot has eliminated the small town hardware just like Sprawlmart has done to the mom and pop grocery.

I think my local hardware is a computer repair shop now.
 
Ault hardware store and an Army/Navy surplus store within a short bike riding distance from my parents home in Chattanooga. Both are gone now, but the memories remain. Old man Ault was great to us kids as were the guys in the Army/Navy store.
 
Tractor Supply Co. in Eldorado, IL. (still there BTW).

Growing up on a farm, most of my early pocketknife window shopping was at this place and other Farm Supply and "Feed-n-Seed" type stores.

And Case, Schrade and Imperial were the main names I saw.

When the family drove the 30 miles to K-Mart, Buck and Wenger showed up in the mix.
 
Local hardware store, I can't remember the name, Too old and senile I guess. They had Old timer, Uncle Henrey and Buck as far I remember. Steven
 
I don't remember window shopping for knives as a kid. The knives I got were from my grandfather, gifts, trades or found (serendipitously) while wandering the vacant lots that passed for woods in our area back in the day.
 
Surplus Supply Ace Hardware in Commerce City, CO. They used to be exclusively Govt. Surplus from nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Buckly Air Force Base...or 84 Lumber, they had a Hardware section with Knives on display.

Between the two locations I remember looking at Case, Imperial Schrade, and Buck. Back then I thought the Buck 110 was the coolest knife ever.
 
Campers village, and Canadian-Tire. My first knife was a wee slipjoint that seemed full sized to me, I found it on the sidewalk. Probaby the 1$ keychain type. Didn"t buy my own brand new-knife until I was about 16, but sure did some window shopping. Of course I had more than enough hand-me-down knives and was less than deprived.
 
Funny was just telling my new assistant the story - The Farmer's Market in Hicksville NY - had a hardware booth with Bucks and Gerbers. Bought a Buck 112 there for $9 when I was 10. The knife is long since gone but still remember it.
 
I grew up in Denver, Colorado.

There were 2 large sporting goods stores there (each with a few smaller branches). Dave Cook's and Gart Brothers. They later merged, and the large Gart Bros. is still there. They had a good selection of Buck, Puma, Case, SAK, Kabar, Gerber.

Target, back in those days, had a nice selection of Kabar, Western, Imperial, and Schrade-Walden.

And the local pawn shops had a bunch of cheap crap, with the occasional gem thrown in, like Christy knives.
 
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