Links to some pics on Shorpy with knives in them

[BrotherJim]

Some of the pictures are large and knives are not the focal point of the pictures, so I'll just post links.
See if you can find the knife/knives.
If links don't open in new browser tab or new window, hold your keyboard "Ctrl" key down while clicking on the link.
That way you don't lose this BF page.


Ca. 1863. "Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with forage cap carrying a bone handle knife in breast pocket."
http://www.shorpy.com/node/15486?size=_original#caption

January 1909. Macon, Georgia. "Some doffer boys." For those of us rusty on our cotton mill terminology, the job entailed the removal ("doffing") and replacement of thread bobbins when they were empty.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/14873?size=_original#caption

New Zealand circa 1905. "Young men doing chores, next to tent at a camp site, probably Christchurch district."
http://www.shorpy.com/node/17610?size=_original#caption

July 16, 1917. An exciting game of "mumble-the-peg" at scout camp outside New York City.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/2509?size=_original#caption

Circa 1912. What might look like the start of a gruesome blood ritual is really just business as usual in Washington: "Treasury Department, Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Destruction Committee. Maceration of old currency." The lady is Mrs. Louise Lester, "in charge of mutilation."
http://www.shorpy.com/node/8109?size=_original#caption

South Carolina, 1956. Another entry from Margaret Bourke-White's photoessay on segregation and civil rights in South. Will someone pass the salt?
http://www.shorpy.com/node/4994?size=_original#caption

Long Island, New York, circa 1898. "Boys of the 71st N.Y. at Montauk Point after return from Cuba."
http://www.shorpy.com/node/9019?size=_original#caption

August 1911, Eastport, Maine. All these boys are cutters in the Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #7.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/1137?size=_original#caption

1861. "Soldiers of Company G, 71st New York Volunteers, in front of Sibley tent."
http://www.shorpy.com/node/3412?size=_original#caption

Jack Pernet in his Boy Scout uniform, sometime in the late 1910s or early 1920s. Jack probably belonged to Troop 158 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where this photo was taken.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/8553?size=_original#caption

"Dads four sisters + brother Oscar and hirid (sic) help."
http://www.shorpy.com/node/2794?size=_original#caption

While stationed at the Mississippi Ordnance Plant, in Flora, Mississippi in 1944, our group was ordered out on bivouac.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/10059?size=_original#caption

 

[pertinux]

Wow, what a trove.

These in particular catch my eye:

New Zealand circa 1905. "Young men doing chores, next to tent at a camp site, probably Christchurch district."

http://www.shorpy.com/node/17610?size=_original#caption

Those mustaches! But, look at all those knives he's sharpening, has sharpened.

Circa 1912. What might look like the start of a gruesome blood ritual is really just business as usual in Washington: "Treasury Department, Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Destruction Committee. Maceration of old currency." The lady is Mrs. Louise Lester, "in charge of mutilation."

http://www.shorpy.com/node/8109?size=_original#caption

I'd love to meet Mrs. Louse Lester.

There is a lot to see in each image.... (It's worth clicking through the links in the OP to see each at full[est] resolution.)

Thanks for posting the links!

~ P.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Sarah - I am glad you picked out the New Zealand one!

I absolutely love these old photographs, it makes me appreciate just how lucky we are in life to be in our time today - I am sure people could argue that depending on their situation and location of course but Boy....that photo of the "doffer Boys"...I couldnt stop looking in great detail - their clothing - everything in that photo showed just how hard those boys worked - this is especially shown in the photo of the "Cutter boys"..
.
.
.
.And I thought I had it hard at times

 

[sitflyer]

I too was fascinated by these images, some real treasures there. I had to reduce to 50% zoom to take in the entire plates, but then zoom back in and look at all the details. I plan to re-visit them this evening. The impact of the emotions on some of the faces is just amazing. Also noted was the fact that cutlery was prominently displayed, almost nonchalantly, by the some of these folks in the images. Could they have been early knife knuts?
Thanks for the links Brother Jim. Most enjoyable.

 

[BrotherJim]

That whole site, shorpy.com, is a treasure trove !!! I just used the Shorpy site search function for "knife" ... haven't tried "knives" or "swords", etc yet. And I'll leave further links for others to post.
You could search for whatever your interests are in, or just go to the home page and start looking ... the old photos ARE amazing

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Sarah - I am glad you picked out the New Zealand one!

I absolutely love these old photographs, it makes me appreciate just how lucky we are in life to be in our time today - I am sure people could argue that depending on their situation and location of course but Boy....that photo of the "doffer Boys"...I couldnt stop looking in great detail - their clothing - everything in that photo showed just how hard those boys worked - this is especially shown in the photo of the "Cutter boys"..
.
.
.
.And I thought I had it hard at times

The boys were what really struck me, as well. In spite of how obviously young they were, I couldn't help but notice how aged their eyes looked, how roughed up and worn their hands looked, and how that must've reflected on the tough lives they'd lived in so few years. The same steely gaze is also seen in the eyes of the adults, though that doesn't surprise me at all, considering the times.

Really an impressive set of pictures. :thumbup:


David

 

[Rich S]

Great historical pictures! Love the one of the guys playing mumbly peg - I doubt most folks even know what that is today. BTW, the knife in the first pics isn't bone, it's a stag handled bowie.
LLAP
Rich

 

[BrotherJim]

Good catch Rich

 

[knarfeng]

More knife content, please.

This is, after all a knife discussion forum.

 

[BrotherJim]

oops ... wrong forum I guess ... nevermind

 

[paulhilborn]

oops ... wrong forum I guess ... nevermind

I'm confused Jim, not sure what other forum you'd post these in I see a knife in EVERY picture and the conversation mostly since has been in regards to knives:thumbup:

I love the pictures and how knives were/are so instrumental in the pictures they are posted in---day to day tools for work and gooming as well

To think this Ole Robeson was prominent during the time when several of those pictures were taken...

 

[Stich2442]

I'm confused Jim, not sure what other forum you'd post these in I see a knife in EVERY picture and the conversation mostly since has been in regards to knives:thumbup:

I love the pictures and how knives were/are so instrumental in the pictures they are posted in---day to day tools for work and gooming as well

To think this Ole Robeson was prominent during the time when several of those pictures were taken...

I'm with you Paul, there are other threads with far less knife content, this is a refreshing change, as nice as they are I can use another picture of a Charlow like I need another 1" of snow

Ulster Dwight Divine & Sons BSA



Pete

 

[paulhilborn]

NICE Pete:thumbup: I thought "Devine" as well when I saw that knife clipped to his belt...I love the vintage pictures and knife history tied to them

 

[BrotherJim]

I knew the diversity and complexity of the pictures might cause ancillary comments, but I'd hoped some old timers around here could chime in with some anecdotal "knife" at the very least. To also post pictures of period knives is AWESOME !!! ... and maybe learn a little history of these everyman traditional folders and fixed blades ... bonus. Thanks Paul. Thanks Pete.

 

[Stich2442]

NICE Pete:thumbup: I thought "Devine" as well when I saw that knife clipped to his belt...I love the vintage pictures and knife history tied to them

Was my first thought also Paul

I knew the diversity and complexity of the pictures might cause ancillary comments, but I'd hoped some old timers around here could chime in with some anecdotal "knife" at the very least. To also post pictures of period knives is AWESOME !!! ... and maybe learn a little history of these everyman traditional folders and fixed blades ... bonus. Thanks Paul. Thanks Pete.

I looked earlier and really enjoyed your links, thank you

H. Boker & Co's Improved Cutlery c. 1900 - tree changed in 1907



Pete

 

[knarfeng]

I knew the diversity and complexity of the pictures might cause ancillary comments, but I'd hoped some old timers around here could chime in with some anecdotal "knife" at the very least. To also post pictures of period knives is AWESOME !!! ... and maybe learn a little history of these everyman traditional folders and fixed blades ... bonus. Thanks Paul. Thanks Pete.

Yes. The opening post is fine. But, the comments should be knife oriented.

For instance, in that picture of the fellas in the pup tent, who can ID that knife they were displaying? Looks like a Case to me, but knives of that period are not my area of knowledge.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Very cool stuff. Love seeing the old pics with people treating pocket knives just like what they were.... tools. Today it seems like they should be hidden in comparison.

 

[Primble]

January 1909. Macon, Georgia. "Some doffer boys." For those of us rusty on our cotton mill terminology, the job entailed the removal ("doffing") and replacement of thread bobbins when they were empty.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/14873?size=_original#caption

My goodness - what a great group of pictures!! Is that HUCK with a slim Barlow in his hand in that picture!!??

Look at that bolster and it appears to be half stopped !!!

 

[Will Power]

Very rewarding gallery indeed which does show the connexion between everyday activities and knife-use in the past. Something which is fast vanishing/vanished in our contemporary world. Some are sobering though, the pictures of small children already working long hours for a pittance might put some nostalgia into perspective.

Very much taken by the picture of those men and a woman standing around with bundles of bank-notes as part of the Destruction Committee at the Mint/Treasury. The men look serious but the woman wears an ironic smile: about to destroy valueless paper which is what non gold currency is! She and the very aged gent are holding knives which interest me, my eyesight is fading but the knives LOOK like they might have a Bird's Eye pivot and be some manner of Sodbuster due to the blade? You would expect white collar or office types to sport small Pen style Gents knives, but a sturdy Sodbuster might have been a job knife or borrowed from a workman for this staged but bizarre event. However, I thought that Sodbusters (originally a European type of knife) were not around in the USA until well after World War One? I might be in error here, any thoughts?

They say that in money you have to speculate to accumulate, but the same very often holds true for knowledge and wisdom.

Thanks, Will

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks for posting these links Jim, some incredible old photos. I love the ones with the kids, but the NZ one also stood out

Those mustaches! But, look at all those knives he's sharpening, has sharpened.

In the 1888 Boy's Own annual I picked up the other week (images posted in the Lounge), in two plates showing leading footballers and cricketers of the day, every single one had a moustache! I got a snake-belt like that for my 5th birthday! I think this photo also serves as a reminder that before the invention of stainless, the cleaning and polishing of table cutlery would have been an important daily chore.