I'm honored and grateful to have been the recipient of this fine little piece of cutlery history. In all honesty I wasn't aware I'd entered a GAW drawing until you contacted me. I guess that even makes the knife more special. The Mercury Dime and button are icing on the cake.
What a wonderful little knife! It's just perfect. Being it's the first one I've handled I can now see what all the excitement is about. Charlie hit a grand slam with these and I'm happy for him and the traditional knife community.
On a personal note; the Tidioute name has a special significance to me. When I was a young lad, living in Ohio, I had two male cousins that lived in the Pittsburgh, PA area (both my parents and their families hailed from Pittsburgh). One cousin a year older and the other a year younger then me. In the summer we spent weeks in PA with the relatives. My cousins and I were like summertime brothers, with all manner of Tom Sawyer like adventures (no deaths involved). We were always whittling, playing stretch games and swapping our knives back and forth. We all had at least one Barlow. We would make these weekend trips to my Uncle Angelo's summer home on the Alleghany River, just outside Tidioute. We'd fish, camp, boat and explore in the woods.
Years later my youngest cousin Richard ended up settling in the Tidioute area. He built his own home, married and had kids. He was one of the most generous, kindest people I ever met. He had a massive heart attack and died 25 years ago, at the age of 38. He left behind a wife and children. It broke our hearts. I still miss him and think of him often.
Thanks for letting me share these bittersweet memories here. You are all like family to me, even though sometimes I have to be the mean old uncle.
The TC Barlow will be on package duty Christmas day. Thanks again Mark. For the gift, the GAW and all you bring to the traditional forum.
A Merry Christmas to you and yours!
And now (finally) the pictures!
