Multi-Thingamabob

GigOne

GigOne

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 27, 1999
Messages
15,783
Know some of you are into the multi-thingamabob scene. Here's one for your viewing pleasure. . . .



Multi-BladefromHell.jpg




:eek:


It has bank heist written all over it ! :D



Actually. . . .


Crystal Palace Exhibition Multi-Blade IXL Folding Knife by George Wostenholm, Sheffield, with Faceted Blades and Tools, c. 1851
Click to expand...
 
Wow, that's one heck of a thingamabob!
 
Ok now that you are finished with it, send it on up here. :D.

That is an incredible piece of history.
 
That is so absolutely cool. I wonder if the little monkey wrench really works?:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
That thingamabob has a bunch of doogees stickin out of it.:eek:
 
I was thinking about going to the preview since it is just over the bridge.
Wow those are some expensive knives!
Bill
 
A little history on that "thing-a-ma-bob".

The knife is pictured on the back dust jacket of the book Sheffield Exhibition Knives by Bill Clausen, Brad Watts and Pete McMickle (as well as a host of other contributers including Jim Taylor and Bernard Levine.) In addition to the picture on the dust jacket the knife can also be found on page 168 of the book as well as page 38 in the book The House of Wostenholm 1745 - 1945.


Paraphrasing from parts of the books. It was made by the George Wostenhom firm for the Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851 in London. At that time London was the hub of the British Empire. It's sailing vessels brought trade to every port in the world. This exhibition of industry and goods from all over the world was the largest of it's time and many historians mark it as the beginning of the industrial revolution. According to one of the above sources, none of the succeeding "Wolds Fairs" of the 19th century (and maybe to this day) has ever matched the "breathtaking novelty of the Crystal Palace". I am sure most of us remember touching on it at some point in our history classes.

Quoting the description in the Exhibition Knives book on page 168:
"A five-inch multi-bladed sports knife. On the bottom is a master spear blade etched "G Wostenholm & Son, IXL Sheffield."

The knife has a fine bow saw with a file-worked bow and a blued hacksaw blade, a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, a short file, a buttonhook, a fish-scaler blade with a hook remover, a fleam, a long spey blade, a sail needle, a fancy can opener and a three-square leather borer.

On the top is a horse-hoof pick almost one-inch wide with an awl and a scraper inside, a corkscrew, a gimlet, a champagne blade, a clip blade, and a manicure blade.

On the bottom are slide-out tools, including tweezers, a lancet, a draftsman's tool, a pricker and scissors.

The top bolsters are beautifully engraved and very fancy. The handles are gorgeous exhibition-grade stag with fancy bird's-eye pins and a nickel silver bar shield.

Many of the blades and tools have file-worked backs, and the insides of the springs are file-worked as well. This knife was formerly in the Hubert Lawell knife collection and is identified as one of the knives made by Wostenholm for the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition." (Copyright 1999 by Old World Publishing Ltd.)

Gig,

I case you have been wondering what to pick me up for Christmas this year. That's it! :D.
 
I think it would be worth the trip "over the bridge" to see the knives from the Littman estate. ;).
 
I believe this thingamabob was originally owned and employed by a mohel for bobbing a bunch of thingies... :eek: ;)
 
Can y'all deign to tell me what is going on "over the bridge"?

I would love to see that, and other such knives, in person.

Yo Blues, I don't know of any mohel that could afford that beauty, but "bobbing thingies" with a hacksaw is frowned on by Jewish law, not to mention by the fathers of the "bobbie".

:D
 
Well, I wasn't actually thinking of the hacksaw for that particular operation, except, of course, in the case of the man of steel. (All kidding aside, I'm pretty well acquainted with the rules.)
 
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