- Joined
- Jul 21, 2010
- Messages
- 599
It happened that one day at work a gentleman showed up in our service department. His hair was grey and by the looks of his clothes his wife knew exactly what size he wore. The occasional stray eyebrow set around his clear blue eyes made him look distinguished. He was the picture of a perfect country gentleman.
We struck up a conversation on the spot and it turns out we had a lot in common. He was retired from the mills which have long since moved away and now spent his time in what he called “pocket traden”. The conversation turned to pocket knives and he pulled one out of his pocket and slid it across my desk. It was an Old Timer stockman. I couldn’t help but notice the dark blades nor the heavy layers of lint caked in the knife. “These are what I trade for” he said as I opened the main blade. It was sharp and worn but had not seen a stone in quite a while. The tang said Shrade WALDEN NY USA.
“That’s a 15 dolla knife he said. They don’t make those anymore” as I turned the knife in my hand and read the rest of the tang… 1080T. The blade closed with no snap which only added to the character of the knife. The sheep’s foot and pen blades were dull and looked to be unused with good snap. I liked it. The only thing I had of value on me to trade was a Case SBJ, a RR congress in my desk and $2 in my wallet so there was no way I was going to broach the subject.
We chatted for a while yet and he told me of his younger days and his first canoe. I showed him the SBJ and mentioned GEC (of which he seemed oblivious), in passing all the while thinking of that little Old Timer filled with lint resting in the pocket of the pants his wife had so carefully bought for him. All too soon his appointment was complete and we shook hands and parted ways.
I could not get that little Old Timer out of my head. On my lunch break I dropped by a local Ace Hardware store to see if there was anything close to that little 1080. I found one Case SS peanut in a collector tin for $40… not even close!
Just yesterday while walking through the service waiting room I see my new friend and this time he has a small box with him. It was full of Case canoes, several Bucks (some of which I have never seen before) and the odd SS Case sodbuster. I looked them over but all I could think about was that little 1080 that I knew he carried in his pocket. I looked him squarely in the eye and said “you know the knife I like the most”?
“Which one” he says.
“I like that knife you have in your pocket”… He winced…. “That’s a 15 dolla knife. They don’t make those anymore”.
I could tell that he was taken aback unexpectedly and I couldn’t believe what I had just suggested. “If I can come up with $15 do we have a deal”? “Yes” he said… “We have a deal”.
We struck up a conversation on the spot and it turns out we had a lot in common. He was retired from the mills which have long since moved away and now spent his time in what he called “pocket traden”. The conversation turned to pocket knives and he pulled one out of his pocket and slid it across my desk. It was an Old Timer stockman. I couldn’t help but notice the dark blades nor the heavy layers of lint caked in the knife. “These are what I trade for” he said as I opened the main blade. It was sharp and worn but had not seen a stone in quite a while. The tang said Shrade WALDEN NY USA.
“That’s a 15 dolla knife he said. They don’t make those anymore” as I turned the knife in my hand and read the rest of the tang… 1080T. The blade closed with no snap which only added to the character of the knife. The sheep’s foot and pen blades were dull and looked to be unused with good snap. I liked it. The only thing I had of value on me to trade was a Case SBJ, a RR congress in my desk and $2 in my wallet so there was no way I was going to broach the subject.
We chatted for a while yet and he told me of his younger days and his first canoe. I showed him the SBJ and mentioned GEC (of which he seemed oblivious), in passing all the while thinking of that little Old Timer filled with lint resting in the pocket of the pants his wife had so carefully bought for him. All too soon his appointment was complete and we shook hands and parted ways.
I could not get that little Old Timer out of my head. On my lunch break I dropped by a local Ace Hardware store to see if there was anything close to that little 1080. I found one Case SS peanut in a collector tin for $40… not even close!
Just yesterday while walking through the service waiting room I see my new friend and this time he has a small box with him. It was full of Case canoes, several Bucks (some of which I have never seen before) and the odd SS Case sodbuster. I looked them over but all I could think about was that little 1080 that I knew he carried in his pocket. I looked him squarely in the eye and said “you know the knife I like the most”?
“Which one” he says.
“I like that knife you have in your pocket”… He winced…. “That’s a 15 dolla knife. They don’t make those anymore”.
I could tell that he was taken aback unexpectedly and I couldn’t believe what I had just suggested. “If I can come up with $15 do we have a deal”? “Yes” he said… “We have a deal”.
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