Growing up in those years right after WW2, was like a different world. Life was way simpler than now, and I don't envy the kids that have to grow up in this complex world we have created.. There were not the many choices back then in most things.
Everybody drove a car. The only guys you saw with a truck of some kind were famers or tradesmen. There was no such thing as SUV's. If you needed a bit more room than a car gave you, then you got a station wagon. If once in a while the snow got too deep for the car to go, then you put chains on it and went. Yeah, life was simple.
Same with guns. Everybody had a .22. It was the standard, ubiquitous gun of the time. If you wanted something a bit bigger for serious defense, then you got a .38 revolver, either by Colt or Smith and Wesson. There was no Glocks, SIG's, or host of other tactical black auto's.
Then there were the knives. For some odd reason, there was a host of different knife patterns to choose from, unlike today where they all look very similar. The local hardware store had this huge display of Case knives. The neighborhood kids, myself included, would spend a great volume of time staring at the display behind the glass, thinking if we were rich, we could have any of them we wanted. It must have been on of the larger of the Case factory displays, because to our young minds it seemed like the King Soloman's mine of pocket knives. There were stockmen, trappers, muskrats, canoe's, serpintine jacks, sailors knives, sea scout knives, and pen knives of many shapes.
The last of course is called pen knives because in those days, it seemed like any small two bladed knife was called a 'pen knife' by the elders. The older men that we listened closely to for any gems of information that came our way. Men like the esteemed liers circle, or the hardware store loafers.
It was at this young age I got the lesson on how to pick a pocket knife. Sometimes as we were standing there transfixed by the wealth of cutlery in the Case display at the hardware store, a paying customer would come in. This was of note, because we would have to stand aside while he looked over the display with great gravity. Finally he would ask the clerk to see 'that one'. The one that for some reason caught his eye.
Sometimes a couple of different patterns would be tried out. The customer would try one in his hand, holding it different ways. Edge down, edge up, edge sideways, all the while with brow furrowed in deep thought, hand shifting around on the handle. Maybe a two blade serpentine jack, then a canoe, and maybe even a peanut. It seemed like the final choice was a very subjective thing on how it felt in hand. Of course the customer would look over the knife very carefully for fit and finish, but most men seemed like it was important how it felt more than how it looked. And most men of that time seemed wed to the small two blade jack of some sort, even if they did refer to it as a 'pen knfe'. It seemed to be the knife carried by office workers, milkmen, mailmen, and store clerks, and members of the liers circle. The kind of knife that could be dropped into the pants pockt and forgotton about untill needed. And in that day and age, if a man had pants on, he had a pocket knife in them. If they went hunting or fishing, then they carried a hunting or fishing knife for the occasion.
I once asked my dad why he carried his peanut. It seemed a little small even to my taste, and I wondered that he didn't carry a nice sturdy stockman or even a barlow. He kind of gave that enigmatic shrug of his, and said something I never forgot.
"Most times I have to cut somthing, I don't need a very big blade. And I don't want to lug around more tool than I need in my day to day life. My little knife does what I need. When I just need to cut something, it doesn't have to be big, just sharp."
Sometimes I think those old guys knew what side the bread was buttered on.
Everybody drove a car. The only guys you saw with a truck of some kind were famers or tradesmen. There was no such thing as SUV's. If you needed a bit more room than a car gave you, then you got a station wagon. If once in a while the snow got too deep for the car to go, then you put chains on it and went. Yeah, life was simple.
Same with guns. Everybody had a .22. It was the standard, ubiquitous gun of the time. If you wanted something a bit bigger for serious defense, then you got a .38 revolver, either by Colt or Smith and Wesson. There was no Glocks, SIG's, or host of other tactical black auto's.
Then there were the knives. For some odd reason, there was a host of different knife patterns to choose from, unlike today where they all look very similar. The local hardware store had this huge display of Case knives. The neighborhood kids, myself included, would spend a great volume of time staring at the display behind the glass, thinking if we were rich, we could have any of them we wanted. It must have been on of the larger of the Case factory displays, because to our young minds it seemed like the King Soloman's mine of pocket knives. There were stockmen, trappers, muskrats, canoe's, serpintine jacks, sailors knives, sea scout knives, and pen knives of many shapes.
The last of course is called pen knives because in those days, it seemed like any small two bladed knife was called a 'pen knife' by the elders. The older men that we listened closely to for any gems of information that came our way. Men like the esteemed liers circle, or the hardware store loafers.
It was at this young age I got the lesson on how to pick a pocket knife. Sometimes as we were standing there transfixed by the wealth of cutlery in the Case display at the hardware store, a paying customer would come in. This was of note, because we would have to stand aside while he looked over the display with great gravity. Finally he would ask the clerk to see 'that one'. The one that for some reason caught his eye.
Sometimes a couple of different patterns would be tried out. The customer would try one in his hand, holding it different ways. Edge down, edge up, edge sideways, all the while with brow furrowed in deep thought, hand shifting around on the handle. Maybe a two blade serpentine jack, then a canoe, and maybe even a peanut. It seemed like the final choice was a very subjective thing on how it felt in hand. Of course the customer would look over the knife very carefully for fit and finish, but most men seemed like it was important how it felt more than how it looked. And most men of that time seemed wed to the small two blade jack of some sort, even if they did refer to it as a 'pen knfe'. It seemed to be the knife carried by office workers, milkmen, mailmen, and store clerks, and members of the liers circle. The kind of knife that could be dropped into the pants pockt and forgotton about untill needed. And in that day and age, if a man had pants on, he had a pocket knife in them. If they went hunting or fishing, then they carried a hunting or fishing knife for the occasion.
I once asked my dad why he carried his peanut. It seemed a little small even to my taste, and I wondered that he didn't carry a nice sturdy stockman or even a barlow. He kind of gave that enigmatic shrug of his, and said something I never forgot.
"Most times I have to cut somthing, I don't need a very big blade. And I don't want to lug around more tool than I need in my day to day life. My little knife does what I need. When I just need to cut something, it doesn't have to be big, just sharp."
Sometimes I think those old guys knew what side the bread was buttered on.
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