The "Honorable" D.E. Henry

A very good friend of mine once told me this when I was let down by the greed and arrogance of someone that I looked up to. He said Bobby, sometimes it is not good to meet your heroes.
 
2knife said:
What is the issue of the "Hall of Fame" about?

..meaning, did his name get voted on, and wasn't popular with the judges?
David
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Making the world's greatest Bowie knife is not enough and th only other thing Ed ever had was his knowledge of the Collins Axe and Machate Co. and he published that book for himself not to benifit the public.
 
Bobby Branton said:
A very good friend of mine once told me this when I was let down by the greed and arrogance of someone that I looked up to. He said Bobby, sometimes it is not good to meet your heroes.
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Can be very true Bobby. At times we build folks up so much in our minds, that we forget they are just people.

Thanks for sharing your experiences AG.
 
A.G's show story sure sounds familiar to me. In the early 70's (71,72, maybe A.G remembers) the NRA had their convention in Portland Oregon. A.G. had a booth and one of the knifemakers in it was Henry. Being a dumb kid, I walked up, introduced myself and told "Mr. Henry" how much I admired his work. He spun on his heal and stomped off into a corner of the booth without saying a word like I had given him a major insult. Tended to color my view of the maker from then on out.
 
Ed Fowler said:
I have a lot of respect for Bob, he is one of the good guys! He and I were involved in a very meaningful conversation, we had moved to a back corner of the show to be in a place where we could talk in private as we had already been interupted several times. The kid barged right in between us, his back to me and handed Bob the knife asking him what he thought. Had the kid approached Bob with courtesy he would have been treated much differently.

Bob and I ended up finding a little conference room that was empty, turned on the light, closed the door and continued our discussion in private.
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Thank you for posting this Ed. Bob has been very good to me personally. I never see the other side people talk about.

M Lovett
 
And a big thank you for the insight here, of in no particular order-

Bruce V.
AG R.
Bobby B.
Ed F.
Blade & Bbl.

Each and every one of you hit the proverbial Nail on the head!



Mike and Manuela
 
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Thank you gentleman for rhe stories. I am interested in the greats of the knifeworld that most I have never met but have read about. I have heard about how difficult D.E. Henry was. If someone acted like he has to me I would not buy any of his knives. I have met and talked to some fine knifemakers and all but one have been more than kind and friendly to me. The one that was not is a great knifemaker and I may have caught him on a bad day.

RKH
 
Any knifemaker i have ever met has been cordial to me. ..i can't think of one, except getting into scuffles on these forums, occasionally . Even when I have been anxious and lacked manners, even rude. i think makers usually demonstrate great patience. More often than dealers, usually, and especially customers. It is the personal connection to the knives they make, and the love of it, i would guess. But, in general customers are the "hungry sharks", as i see it. -We fight for the last toy on the shelf at Christmas time. (Not ..me) :)

I don't know Bud Weston but i was impressed with once watching as he showed a knife to a customer, with the greatest amount of attention. It could have been a baby, you might have thought.

Surely D.E. felt the same about his work too. This is clear.. even more than most. Or, verging on narcisism?
I still don't understand his root issues, but this has been an incredible thread, due to the participation of the best of the best. Wish it could happen more often! Thank you all.

One last remark: Of apology to my knife hero and friend, Ed Fowler. I'm sorry i brought up the story you had told to me.. Upon reflection, i do feel i should have asked you first.
David
 
I met Ed Henry at what I remember to be the first NYCKG
show in the late '70s. He and Herm Schneider stopped at my table, and
we spent the next 15-20 minutes or so talking.
I had written Ed from Viet Nam, but hadn't ordered one of his Combat/Utility
models because $25.00 per blade inch was more than I could do then....He
kidded with me about drawing Major's pay ( I had been an E-5 Sergeant at the
time).
I fealt privelaged to meet the man, and had questions....more than a few,
about how he diid what he did. He didn't seem at all reluctant to share what
he knew....I listened.
Later, when I had a chance to look the show over, I stopped by his table, and
still have a mental picture of the three pieces he had in the glass covered
case.
I was a youngster then, maybe 31 , and had been making knives for only
about 7-8 years. More questions.
At no time did I sense arrogance or rudeness.
 
well...there you go. Some people don't give respect out unless they think you deserve it. Given the flavour of this thread, Russ, I think you might have something to be a little proud of.
 
So you are telling me Henry didn't think I deserved his respect after I expressed an appreciation for his work? That was a long time ago and I've seen a lot of Bowies, both antique and custom, since then. I handled Henry Bowies back then and his were nice for the period but they really weren't that special. He copied the later Sheffield styles rather than the classic early American patterns. That is fine if you are in to that general look but most modern custom collectors seem to be more interested in early American designs. He would probably be having a harder time of finding a following today.
 
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sounds like Ole Henry doled out respect in very small quantities to a very small number of people, for his own reasons, and I can't say what motivations he had as I never knew the man.

One thing about that bowie there, is the humongous makers mark in capital letters. Says it all right there?;)
 
If I'm not wrong, both A.G. Russell and Bruce Voyles have been inducted into the "Hall of Fame" club.

What, may i ask, are the defined elements that make his knives unsurpassed? ..0r, worthy of the title "Best", "One of the Best". No flaws?

-..Do I need to ask Les Robertson? ...
"Beetlegeuse, Beetlegeuse, Beetlegeuse!"
:)
David
 
There are a number of things that put D. E. Henry where he is in reputation--in spite of his own poor public relations. It was not his copying of Sheffield patterns. As a former Board member of the Antique Bowie Knife Collectors Association I can say for certain he did not copy original patterns--as much as he was inspired by them. He adapted them with his own touches and made them his own--much as Tony Bose does on vintage pocketknives. He gave Bowies a certain modernization and elegance.

As Paul Basch used to say, "a knife has to have a face", and a D. E. Henry Bowie has a face. Most advanced collectors can recognize a Henry from across the room, before you get to the big Henry stamp. I can't imagine a Henry Bowie with a smaller mark any more than I can imagine a Lake with a tiny stamp. All part of the knife's "face". There are few makers whose work can be recognized by the overall styling without looking at the tang mark. Henry's can.

Henry's lines were clean, hand rubbed, at a time when the knife world was obsessed with engraving, acid etched blades, scrimshaw handles, and in general overdoing it. Like Loveless, Henry understood that art is in the line rather than the decoration. Far too many knifemakers today still do not get that concept.

Most Henry's Bowies still look current today. Pure classic beauty of execution and knifemaking talent. If his work looks current today it might be hard for newer collectors to understand how Henry was light-years ahead of most other makers at the time he was making knives.

There are far too many collectors who buy totally on the personality of the knifemaker--and pay for it later. Henry was exactly the opposite--you bought a Henry in spite of the personality of the knifemaker, whatever that reason may have been.

The reason that Henry is so desired today is easy--he was that good.

DSCN0958.JPG
 
Bruce, you are spot on.

That Shiveley inspired knife is amazing. One of my favorites. I ahve only seen a few Henry's in that pattern. One is in points of interest.
 
I always liked his hunters more than the Bowies he was famous for. The flat, hand polished blades with a straight back and stag handles with slight finger grooves just have a look all their own. Maybe one day I'll stumble across one. I don't care much for his cast aluminum handles, but if the chance to purchase one arose I would be mighty tempted. I never met the man, but I have read the comments by others over the years about his attitude and don't feel like I missed much. I figure that people that have to go through life with that kind of burden probably suffer more in the long run than those they encounter. It is easy to just walk away and he had to live with it. 100 years from now people that love knives will still be admiring his work; maybe by then the memory of his attitude and how he treated people will have passed.
 
Does anyone have a picture of one of his hunters? I have only seen the Barney copy in the book how to make knives.
chad
 
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