Life comes full circle

Ernie1980

Ernie1980

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Apr 19, 2012
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Life truly came full circle yesterday in my family. My dad, as early as I remember, would drag me all the time to antique stores on an endless quest for old tools, milk bottles, and random knick-knacks. I hated those trips and am positive I did lots of complaining and whining. He would ignore me and continue the trips, in fact he would take longer if I was a pest!
Fast forward 30 years, and my wife is hanging out with a friend and my daughter and I ended up in Houston running a couple of errands. I made a wrong turn, but it quickly became a good thing because I drove right by a large antique store! My daughter saw the look in my eyes and started to complain, but I silenced her and then told her about grandpa taking me to similar stores when I was her age...
Anyways I came home with three knives, one of which is a real prize! Here they are:
1. A Solington electrician knife with wood covers. This one cleaned up well and took a razor edge. The tip had been broken off, so I reshaped the (very hard!) blade. This is my largest slipjoint by far and much bigger then I would normally carry at 4.5" closed but it was too unique to pass up. It still has a bear trap snap too:thumbup:


2. A Camilus 22 peanut with yellow composite covers. This one was so caked up with grime that the blades wouldn't close, but I took a chance and it came out rather nice! Both blades have half stops and decent snap still. I left most of the patina on the blades but haven't sharpened them just yet.


3. The prize of the day! This is a Remington split back Whittler with pearl scales. This is condition I found it, I will clean it up later in the week when I have some time. All 3 blades look unused and have terrific snap and nice smooth opening. The covers are fiery and free of chip and cracks too! It is almost identical both in size and build to a Joseph Rodgers that I have, enough to make me wonder if they shared a pattern?? I saw this hiding in a bin and actually immediately thought it was a Sheffield build, and was surprised to see the Remington stamp!



Thanks for reading my long and boring post! My wife wouldn't even humor me when I tried to show her:cool:
 
Great post, Ernie. Some day she'll appreciate all those days you bored her to death. That's what my parents always told me when I was stuck in antique malls as a kid anyways. :p

A trick we've come up with in my family is for everybody to collect something. Even if it's something small and stupid, it's something that they can look for when they find themselves in a similar situation. My mom is an antique fiend, and we couldn't pass an antique sign if the world was coming to an end. My dad started collecting pocket watches just so he'd have something to do while she was browsing. My sister collected Pez dispensers. I collected Zippos. My brother collected old soda cans. Maybe if you found something for your daughter to collect she wouldn't mind those visits?
 
Sounds like a great day Ernie and certainly fruitful with such fine knives. I think all parents have similar conversations with their kids. I must have said "because I'm the daddy and you're the child" a million times. Now I must have heard my grown kids say the same thing to my grandkids a million times. :D
 
My daughter saw the look in my eyes and started to complain, but I silenced her and then told her about grandpa taking me to similar stores when I was her age...
Oh right I bet that shut her up ...big time ...or more likely did the whinging and whickering (whining and bickering rolled into one) increase?
I have just returned from a first day of school holidays trip to "flip flop" or flip out"" place where you trampoline with my 13 yo and his mate. Sat for an hour reading the paper ,paid the 14 bux plus drink. Then when they had done I suggested we pay a 10 minute trip to the Salvation Army store on the way home -first there were the questions. Second the sage advice of a 13 year old -you don't neeeed anything Dad.Thirdly the whickering because we just want go home and get on the PS4, we're tired etc .
unbelievable.
Cory I like that idea a lot.
 
Nice finds Ernie, congratulations :thumbup: I've certainly experienced similar father-daughter moments myself! :D
 
I went with my buddy to different flea markets and farmer markets. There are a few in PA, one called Morningstar in York PA and the other Roots, near Lancaster PA. You will get your exercise for the day at both. At first I was just happy to get out to the country with my buddy, but I am now addicted also. Now that I am up to my eyeballs in work, and don't have time to spend all morning at a junk mall, I miss it all the more. Maybe I can make an excuse for myself to get some holiday dinner shopping done at the produce stands, and make it to the farmers markets.

I've gotten plenty of good knives, but that Remington makes me all a flutter! Afibb strikes from caffeine and old Remington knives!
 
Nice idea about finding something for her to collect! She loves cats so maybe old cat statues or ads with cats? I will have to think fast because there is a huge antique fair in town this week and we are going:D

It sure would have been great to have started collecting knives as a child, just think of what I could have found on all those trips with my dad...
 
I like that electrician knife, but that Remington, that is a dandy!

My wife has no desire to hang out in antique stores. However, my son will go to the flea markets with me. He goes looking for classic rock CD's, and I look for old knives, tools, etc.

Hopefully, your daughter will come to appreciate the things like this that you like to do.
 
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