Ah, the memories. As a kid growing up, like every young lad, I was really into knives. You know, the cheap folders of the day that were readily available. I fondly remember the pair of small lockbacks that I order out of the back of a "Fur, Fish & Game" magazine. 2 for $1.99 + s/h
. I collected everything I could find.
My Dad had two hunting knives that he used regularly. I really knew nothing about knives at the time, but there was no doubt that one was vastly superior to the other. I could get it quite sharp on a small whetstone, while the other was more like a sharpened butter knife. Over the years though, I had forgotten about that old knife and knives in general.
Fast forward about 20 years. My father had sinced pasted away. I had recently become quite interested in knives again and that old knife came back into memory. I started asking around the family to see if anyone knew where the knife was. I stopped at my brother's place one afternoon. No one was around so I went into his garage to see what he was working on (he does taxidermy part-time). His desk drawer was opened and as I went to close it, there it was, the old knife. Funny how I couldn't remember the name or model from my youth, but instantly recognized it when I saw it again. It was well tarnished and looked really pretty ratty. The tip had about a 1/8" missing. I picked it up and immediately scraped the tang hoping to find some information. And there it was, under a layer of crud, the name was clear, "Marble's".
Turns out the knife was a 1915 (first year) Marble's Woodcraft. The leather handle was still very good as was the stag pommel and everything was still tight. My Grandfather had purchased the knife new and later passed it on to my father. 83 years later she still looked good. My brother arrived home and came into the garage. I asked him where the knife had been, as I had been looking for it. The damn fool had been carrying it in the tool box of his old John Deere and using it as a utility knife
!
A few months afterwards, I found out that Marble's was starting up again. I contacted Mike Stewart about the knife and was told that Marble's offered a life time guarantee and I should send the knife into him and he would see what he could do. I received my knife back from Marble's one week after I had sent it in. They had cleaned & polished the handle, reground the tip and finished the blade. The damn thing looked like a mint condition knife with a gorgeous patina on the handle and pommel. Sharp as hell too. While I consider the knife to be a sort of family heirloom, and therefore have no real monetary value, I firmly believe that I need to use this knife. While I haven't yet, I think this hunting season may be just the excuse I have been looking for to put her back into that role. I really think that it would be quite special, and not something that everyone gets the chance to do, to use an 86 year old knife that has survived three generations in your family. While I certainly have purchased more valuable, higher performance and visually attractive knives, I can say that this one is indeed my favorite. I smile every time I hold it