Wall Street Journal Article on Bob Loveless

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RJ Martin

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Oct 26, 1998
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Hi Everyone: Today's Wall Street Journal (9/10) features a nice article dedicated to Bob Loveless. The full-column article, written by Stephen Miller, provides a nice history of Bob's life, and gives some good insight into his life, philosophy and his contributions to the handmade knife movement.

Steve Shackleford is quoted in the article, and there are comments by Jim Merritt. And, of course, the classic photo of Loveless with the half-smoke cigarette dangling from his lips.

The article is on page A7, left hand column. All-in-all, a very nice tribute!
 
A very good article which not only gives much deserved credit to a knifemaking legend, but benefits every custom knifemaker, knife dealer and knife collector.

Yes, an article such as this in such a place generates much positive interest in custom knives.
 
Certainly had more written about him in life than just about any other contemporary American knifemaker. It should be noted and I'll implicitly state, that Bob wasn't "the best" knifemaker, he said this himself on a regular basis, but he WAS a FANTASTIC designer, and he will remain, arguably, the most famous.

Good to see "the media" recognize him, even if they don't get it ALL right. Jim Merritt was never "an assistant"....he was a co-worker, and a business partner.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I absolutely love this quote from the article. Speeks highly of a man who made functional tools and desired them to be used.

"The kind of American who acquires a lot of expensive things so that he can show them off to his peer group and thereby acquire more status is the kind of American that makes me puke," he said in the Sports Illustrated interview.
 
is it hypocrisy that his knives are priced beyond the reach of those he professed to make knives for, and that he holds those who treasure and collect these objects in such disdain?

Only he knew for sure, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it and will likely never fully understand.

He is an enigma which is compelling. Perhaps this is part of what has made his work so sought after, maybe as much as the knives themselves?
 
Lorien said:
is it hypocrisy that his knives are priced beyond the reach of those he professed to make knives for, and that he holds those who treasure and collect these objects in such disdain?

Only he knew for sure, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it and will likely never fully understand.

He is an enigma which is compelling. Perhaps this is part of what has made his work so sought after, maybe as much as the knives themselves?
Click to expand...

Bob always kept his prices SLIGHTLY above the market....BUT....

He saw, in person, his knives flipped for 2x or 3x or more his cost to the individual that had just purchased the knife....and took personal umbrage at that, right or wrong.

His pricing from the '70's on was an attempt at balancing "fair market value", and not feeling like he was getting screwed.

I can tell you from personal experience that the knives directly from the shop were certainly priced fairly, and not outside the purview of a cowboy or hunter of moderate means who wished to save for that drop point hunter.....In other words, if a hunter or cowboy ordered the knife and knew that they had a 5 year wait, they would have to put away between $500 and $800 per year in order to purchase that knife....inexpensive? No, but certainly affordable.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Lorien said:
is it hypocrisy that his knives are priced beyond the reach of those he professed to make knives for, and that he holds those who treasure and collect these objects in such disdain?

Only he knew for sure, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it and will likely never fully understand.

He is an enigma which is compelling. Perhaps this is part of what has made his work so sought after, maybe as much as the knives themselves?
Click to expand...

Of course it was hypocrisy but of a type common among custom knifemakers. How many times have you read a bio of a maker that started with how he wasn't happy with a store bought knife but couldn't afford a Randall so he decided to start making his own. Now he is selling blades he prices at 3 or 4 times the Randall he thought was too expensive. Loveless was just one of many.
 
Kohai999 said:
Certainly had more written about him in life than just about any other contemporary American knifemaker. It should be noted and I'll implicitly state, that Bob wasn't "the best" knifemaker, he said this himself on a regular basis, but he WAS a FANTASTIC designer, and he will remain, arguably, the most famous.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

IMHO, there is no one that came before Bob Loveless that had as important an impact on knife design. And, again IMHO, there will never be anyone in the future that will rival the impact he has made, in terms of design.

Kinda hard to outdo perfection.

Best,

Bob
 
I have been around the world in more hunting camps than I can remember and I have never seen a Loveless knife in the field and even though some may have been useing a knife that was a loveless design they did not know it or did they care

Point is I know alot of hunters and cowboys and they would never spend that kind of money on a field knife
 
I have a friend down in Prairie city, SD that has the first Loveless knife i had seen. He bought the knife in 1972 and still uses it today. He knows what it is and has said many times why would he own a knife if he wasn't going to use it. I know this sounds odd in our custom knife community but i have run into the same attitude with guys owning custom guns as well. I think it just depends on why you "collect" or own a knife.
 
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