Mad Men and other office setup Traditional pocket knives

[mudguard]

Here is a fun topic to play around with.. What would a character from the "Mad Men" show carry as a pocket knife. Feel free to elaborate on more than one at a time. Also.. if you work in an office setup what do you carry to the office?

 

[jc57]

Executive desk sets or men's accessory sets often came with a small pen knife, stainless steel or sometimes sterling silver. I would tend to think that executives in the 60s would have carried something along the lines of an "Eisenhower" pen knife. Eisenhower did in the 50s.

Possibly some of the lobster patterns, similar to what Victorinox makes today, with a nail-cleaner/file blade in addition to a pen blade.

 

[Hammer67]

Whatever knife Mrs. Draper wants me to carry.

 

[kamagong]

I don't know about Mad Men, but this is the knife I carry to the office.

- Christian

 

[clutchcarter]

Paul Kinsey would have used a pipe tool.
A lot of others would have used a letter opener for back stabbing.

 

[billym]

At that period in time I would bet an "Ad Guy" might carry a client's Zippo pocket knife, some even had money clips too.

Something like this;

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1009228-Couple-of-old-Zippo-knives

 

[Peregrin]

I wasn't an adman and wasn't a suit until the mid 70s. I carried a Camillus knife that had a small pen blade, scissors, nail file and had real pretty wood covers with pearl and turquoise inlays. The Camillus fell out of my pocket at a meeting in NYC and was never recovered by me. I couldn't find another like it, as a replacement.

In the early 80s I had this Schrade 3rd Generation in my pocket most of the time.

The 3rd Gen was given to one of my sons a decade or so ago.

I didn't start my knife nuttery until the 80s.

 

[Pipeman]

I'm retired but if I had an office to go to (God forbid ) I'd carry this.

Best regards

Robin

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[mnblade]

Sal Romano would have carried something very much like those GEC leg knives.

During the 5 years I worked in an office (the "dark years"), I carried a Buck 709 or a Buck 526 Executive lockback. Main duty was cutting open packs of printer paper and ink cartridges, and prying the occasional staple.

-- Mark

 

[rinos]

watched just few episodes,never worked in office but can imagine something like IXL would look nice with suit,

then for healthy competitive atmosphere,something along Fairbairn- Sykes style

 

[puukkoman]

Ha! Yes, the grey-haired guy with the bum ticker would definitely have had a F/S dagger in his desk drawer.
I picture most of the others carrying a small equal-end pen knife, like a GEC68.

 

[Flint Hills]

I don't know about Mad Men, but this is the knife I carry to the office.

- Christian

What model is this one? It looks fairly large, do you carry it in slacks? It's a great looking knife!

 

[A Justice]

It was in the 50s and 60s - judging by the style, I would say Don would have a Dr's Knife, and since the other guys saw him carrying one, they would follow suit. Abercrombie and Fitch carried many of the most popular makers.

 

[kamagong]

You are looking at a GEC 73. It's not large at all, more of a medium at 3 3/4" closed. I hardly feel it wearing a suit or a pair of slacks as I carry it next to my wallet.

- Christian

 

[mudguard]

So you carry it in your backpocket?

You are looking at a GEC 73. It's not large at all, more of a medium at 3 3/4" closed. I hardly feel it wearing a suit or a pair of slacks as I carry it next to my wallet.

- Christian

 

[kamagong]

Front pocket. I haven't done back pocket carry since junior high. Too easy to get picked that way. Mighty uncomfortable too.

- Christian

 

[Flint Hills]

You are looking at a GEC 73. It's not large at all, more of a medium at 3 3/4" closed. I hardly feel it wearing a suit or a pair of slacks as I carry it next to my wallet.

- Christian

Thanks! Timeless looking knife! Is it about the same size as a #72, thickness?

I often carry one of these two to the office:



or this one:

 

[Beretta1212]

Nice choises of knives to carry

 

[kamagong]

I think it's about the same size as a #72. Thickness varies as is wont with stag.

- Christian

 

[fatcorgi]

The character Lane Pryce used a small slipjoint in a crucial blackly hilarious scene, I couldn't make out what it was, but it looked like some sort of small, brass and wood copperhead. I can imagine Draper carrying a more utilitarian knife, rather than a pocket jewelry accessory, he otherwise has all the right clothing and other items appropriate to his station as an executive, but a knife would be a simple working tool as a remnant from his poor childhood, a bit like the army issue zippo lighters etc.

Not to derail the thread, but Boardwalk Empire (1920's bootlegger, gangster series, set in Atlantic City) features a lot of knives, and each is very well suited to the character and their position, the production designers really put thought into every detail - the model, its condition, the character, their background. The irish bodyguard has a sheepsfoot blade (and I can guess an irishman would be more likely to carry something like this from Sheffield, rather than a more typical american clip). The WWI veterans have their larger fixed blades, the fbi agent pulls an old pitted-steel pen knife out of his desk drawer for his letters.