Thomas Jefferson's Knife

S

Stelth

Joined
Jul 15, 2007
Messages
5,243
Last week it was my privilege to visit Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. It's on the top of a small mountain near Charlottesville Virginia.
monticello.jpg

If it looks familiar, this is why:
Monticello-Jefferson-Nickel2.JPG


At the Monticello visitors' center there was a museum exhibit. This knife was in a case and I thought Blade Forum members might like to see it:
TJskn.jpg

Here was the information that was printed next to the knife:
TJKn2.jpg


If any of you have photos of historic knives, feel free to post them here. I'll change the name of the thread if we get some.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like Thomas Jefferson was the first person with an EDC. Is that knife a reproduction, or is it the actual model?
 
So Thomas Jefferson owned one of the first swiss army knives? That's really interesting to know.
 
I don't think Swiss Army knives existed in Jefferson's lifetime. That knife probably came from Sheffield England.
 
It could be French.

Multi tool like knives have a long history in France and, France was an early supporter and recognizer of the USA. Just maybe it was something Franklin brought back with him...

Very interesting pictures, thank you for showing them.
 
Definitely subscribed to this thread. I never would have thought a knife like that would have been in the pocket or EDC of one of our founding fathers. I find that fact simply awesome. It makes sense that in his time he would have been on the cutting edge of technology when I think about it. They needed the best they could afford as well. Not like they could just hop on the Internet and order a replacement.
 
It's always interesting to see the different knives at the Smithsonian and other museums in Washington DC if you get out there. Air and Space has a pocket knife that landed on the moon with our astronauts. One real interesting knife I got to see was at Ford's Theatre. They had Booth's Dagger. My Great Great Uncle was the Conductor of the Orchestra the night Lincoln was assassinated and as Booth made his exit he slashed my relative across the shoulder blade with that dagger. To see it right in front of me was incredible.
I love seeing historical items like this. Thank you for sharing the post!
 
willgoy said:
It could be French.

Multi tool like knives have a long history in France and, France was an early supporter and recognizer of the USA. Just maybe it was something Franklin brought back with him...

Very interesting pictures, thank you for showing them.
Click to expand...

Jefferson lived in France from 1784-1789, so he could have bought it there himself. And to all who posted: Thanks for the kind words.
 
Knife, schmife. I want a tiny pocket notebook with ivory leaves.

(Thanks for posting this, Stelth!)

~ P.
 
Wow, that sort of blows my mind. Think of where that knife has been and what's been done with it. When he was drawing up the Declaration maybe he used the knife to sharpen his quill or pencil. God knows what historical events its seen and what historical buildings its helped draft or build. When I saw the picture of his knife, I thought "Hey, I have a swiss army knife with most of those tools." People still use a "swiss army knife" with those same tools.

Historical knives are awesome!! :D
 
the aforementioned notebook:
Click to expand...

Those of you familiar with Franklin-Covey day planners might remember the "Franklin" part of the name came from Benjamin Franklin, who was said to have carried a similar combination of notebook and calendar.

After day planers, came Palm pilots. Now we got smart phones. But we forget that, while the technology changes, the basic idea of recording and organizing data to simplify our lives is very old.

Same goes for Swiss army knives. Not a new idea. Ask Charles, who posts as "Chucko". He has some beauts.
 
That notebook is very nice. Did our pockets get smaller over the centuries? Or did they not leave home without a rucksack of some sort? Big knife, big notebook, thermometer, drafting tools. Thanks for opening a new can of worms for me to go hunting, it never ends.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top