Knife History

Jak3

Jak3

Joined
Sep 6, 2016
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506
In English class, I must write a very long paper. You can choose your topic for this paper. The topic is usually something you are interested in. I chose to do mine on pocket knives. I was wondering if anyone here could help me gather any and all information about pocket knives and their history. Perhaps recommending helpful and informational texts such as books or websites that would help me learn even more about knives. Specifically I would like to learn about the history of knives and innovations that made them what they are today. Starting way back with fixed blades, then folding knives, then multi-bladed knives, the invention of stainless, locking mechanisms, new materials, and etc. So I would be starting with traditional blades and ending off with modern "tactical" folders. This would help me when I actually begin my paper in the coming months. Also, I need this paper to graduate, so any and all help is gratefully appreciated. I am not sure if this is the correct place to post this but oh well. Here are some pictures anyway. Thanks.







 
Thank you much. Appreciated. I might end up buying some books. After all I am interested in my hobby.
 
Jak3 said:
Thank you much. Appreciated. I might end up buying some books. After all I am interested in my hobby.
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There is a lot of info on the Bernard Levine sub forum as well. Glad to see you have an open minded teacher. I have used similar topics in the past with students, and they usually turn out to be more well written and interesting to read when they are self generated. Make sure to look at what your print sources say before you buy them. Like anything else, a lot of good information has been printed along with a fair amount of rubbish.
 
Jack Black said:
I cannot recommend Simon Moore's Cutlery For The Table: A History of British Table & Pocket Cutlery highly enough.

Some more recommendations here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ans-of-The-Lambsfoot!?p=16682022#post16682022

Also check out: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ans-of-The-Lambsfoot!?p=16683929#post16683929
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The second link that JB has provided has a lot of really good links that should be very helpful. The first link has some very good print sources that are harder to find over here. Heck, if you search JB's posts in general there are a lot of historical connections.
 
What academic level is the English class? In professional writing you are often expected to use mostly primary sources. For example, some journals would limit the number of books and expect the majority of the references to be primary sources. Otherwise it would mostly be a survey or summary of other published work rather than your own research. If a summary/survey is allowed, it should be very simple since there are lots of books written about the history of knives.

What primary and or secondary sources have you already gathered?

Will you post your finished work here??
 
Well, considering it's only for a high school English III Honors course, I don't want to go to overboard. I am only 16 so please don't overestimate me too much now. :) I have not yet begun to gather sources as we as a class have not started the paper. It's the senior graduation project that students begin in their third year in English III. As for whether or not I would post it here, I didn't consider that and, I would be a little embarrassed if I did. I might give it some thought though. Thanks for all your support.
 
That's helpful info. I asked because my response would be different depending on the type of article. I think you will find this short work very helpful: http://jwissandsons.com/cutlery-story.pdf It was published in 1950 by the The associated cutlery industries of America in 1950.

It's basically what you are writing except for the modern knives. If you ctrl S, you can search the document. For example searching "stainless" will find some text on the early use of stainless steel. It also has some dates for the switch from forging to stock removal.

Here's the 7th Edition of Blade's Guide: http://selfdefensefund.com/wp-content/uploads/Knife-Price.pdf
Up through the 4th Edition, it was written by Bernard Levine. I haven't read later editions. The 4th is very good.

Levine didn't like the 5th edition:
http://www.knife-expert.com/lg5review.htm

Take a look at Bernard Levine's website: http://www.knife-expert.com In particular, look at the section on knife history: http://www.knife-expert.com/links.htm#knife history
For example, you mentioned an interest in stainless steel: http://www.knife-expert.com/stlessh.txt
Here's some info on jigged bone: http://www.knife-expert.com/bonehand.txt
Here's a very long reading list: http://www.knife-expert.com/kbib99.txt
 
Those links above are all secondary sources (someone else's published research).

News and catalogs are a couple of examples of primary sources. Here are a couple examples of primary sources that might be interesting...

This clip from 1905 describes changes in the industry. It could be used for dates as well as details about opinion on changes occurring at the time...


This catalog cut from 1936 describes the manufacturing of knives at Remington....


1930 EC Simmons Keen Kutter
 
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Thanks Jake .I was given a copy of Levines guide 5th edition.It still has some good info despite its shortcomings. Ive always wondered why the 4th ed is more highly regarded.No I know:)
 
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Nice link, Jack :thumbup: I'm guessing that "a very long paper" for a 16 year old might be quite short compared to what you or I would consider very long. When I was his age, I wrote a similar paper on another subject.... the history of local minor league baseball iirc.
 
The old NKCA Magazines had a ton of articles written about the history of pocket knives. If you can find any of these magazines, they are full of information. You can probably buy each magazine issue for a buck or 2 on the big auction site.

July 1980 - "Knives in History and History in Knives by Waldo R. Hieatt"
August 1982 - "Knife History - Enderes by Henry M. Okleshen"
December 1983 - "History of the Folding Knife (part 1) by Simon Moore"
February 1984 - "History of the Folding Knife (part 2) by Simon Moore"
April 1984 - "History of the Folding Knife (part 3) by Simon Moore"
September 1985 - "Knives, Hardware and History by Steve Cary"
September 1990 - "A Bit of History by Leo O. Drake"
 
meako, The 4th edition didn't come with a hat and page turner --that cracked me up! :D

Jak3, You might consider writing a concise list of important questions and asking Sal Glesser from Spyderco if he would answer the questions. An interview would be a nice primary source and Sal has been in the business of making modern knives for a very long time. He would be able to describe important changes.
 
Supratentorial;

Slightly off topic, but would you be able to either post or link to the entire piece from 1905 - all of the text? The transition in the knife industry of going from hand forging to drop hammer forging to blanking has long been one of my pet topics of interest.
 
Don't neglect the "About Us" and "History" links on some of the more famous and historic knife manufacturers' websites such as Buck, Opinel, Victorinox, and so on. Also look at museum websites such as the V&A, Higgins Armory, The Cloisters, et al.

Zieg
 
supratentorial said:
Nice link, Jack :thumbup: I'm guessing that "a very long paper" for a 16 year old might be quite short compared to what you or I would consider very long. When I was his age, I wrote a similar paper on another subject.... the history of local minor league baseball iirc.
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My back has never recovered from carrying all the stone tablets back and forth Jake! :D :thumbup:






Now, if only we had a Resources sticky ;)
 
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