Silly question, why is it called a boys knife?

M

Merovingian

Joined
Aug 23, 2013
Messages
63
I am pretty close to pulling the trigger and buying a GEC Tidioute 2 blade Boys Knife...

But Im curious why its called a boys knife?

I know the story behind the 'barlow' but whats the story behind the name 'Boys Knife'?
 
okbohn said:
And it was simple and cheap. I think .25 if I remember right.
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Wow!... I know folks here have discussed inflation and how much more it seems it applies to this pocket knife stuff we're into... but wow... 25 cents!... lol! :-) Now that there is one heck of a proof on how things can rise in cost ;-)
 
Boys knives were intended for (and marketed to) boys.
Smaller, cheap, often with a bail for retention.
The earliest examples had metal handles.
1930's boys knives often were handled in plastic.
 
It's an odd choice of name for a non-cheap knife, as ddml's history and bdev's illustration make clear. Maybe GEC wasn't thinking of the historical boy's knife when they chose the name.
 
I think there were two different types of these. There was an article in Knife World in the past few months on boys knives. Most were made with cheap handles, not the best construction, but would still hold together for a while. Some looked really nice, all had the basic shape of the boys knives patterns we see from GEC.

Then, we see the Remingtons, the Case and other brands, of a higher quality and build. I believe AKADAVE had one from Queen or Northfield/Tidioute (original separate company). These appear to be of better construction, while still being marketed to boys, and as a cheaper knife alternative for the working man. I work in an office, but for all of my cutting needs outside camping, I have gotten by fine with either my Charlow or boys knife. I can only imagine how many working men saw these, and bought them up. "Yeah sure, it's for my kid." The super knife/carpet knife of their era ;). Mess it up or break the blade, just get another. It's not like you're paying 3 bucks for a brand new Remington, it's a quarter for a Novelty company jack.

Time Travel just to get pocket knives...
 
Daddyo16 said:
Because girls are silly.
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:D

yuck.jpg
 
waynorth said:
Congrats on your searching abilities, bdev!! I forgot how much that Boy's knife impressed me! I have to get someone to teach me the fine points of that clumsy (or is it me?) search function.:o
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Didn't use the search function. I was searching google for a pic of an old boy's knife and came upon the thread. :rolleyes:
 
bdev said:
Didn't use the search function. I was searching google for a pic of an old boy's knife and came upon the thread. :rolleyes:
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I've found the same thing - a targeted Google search is usually faster and more productive than the search feature on this forum. Just add "bladeforums" to your search terms.
 
you can also do this:

site:bladeforums.com

Google supports single website searches using that function "site:"

Its very handy.
 
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