What is more "American" than a Barlow knife?

If we're just talking folders, then the stockman, trapper, scout and "folding hunter" all come to mind.

To me the Barlow knife says "19th Century" more than any other pocket knife but not really a specific country.
 
Lapedog said:
The plastic knife you get at McDonalds. A true sign of American culture.
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Post was made at 12-31-2016, 11:18 PM

I chalked it up to somebody with a tad too much New Year's Eve Whoopee juice working on him.
 
I believe all the slipjoint patterns have an European background. With that said I believe the Trapper style was first conceived by Case.
Ultimately, the most American folder would have to be the Buck 110 Folding Hunter. It's probably larger than what you're looking for so maybe consider the Buck 112, and then there is the Duke and it's smaller variants which still maintain the lock back of the 110.
As for the Barlow, I'd consider that to be American in the same way harmonica's are considered American. Harmonicas originated and are mostly manufactured in Germany, yet they are considered important to American folk music. At least while Barlows were originally manufactured in England, they were later manufactured in America.
As for SodBusters, I beleive they only appeared in Case's catalog in the 1950s, and they are practically a direct copy of peasant knives which were made all over Europe.
 
I'd say the Jack knife being that it's been around longer than the 3 Blade stockman, but I'd be willing to bet more carried the stockman due to it being so much pocketable with multiple Blade
 
btmccutcheon said:
I believe the Congress was developed in Sheffield and marketed to the American South where it developed a following.
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I'm certain you are correct, but I think it was much more popular in America (the Old South in particular) than it was in England or Germany. If you look at pictures of knives retrieved from the sunken wreck of the Steamboat Arabia you'll see quite a few different Congress type knives. Then there's the name it got to be known by....;):D
 
An interesting question. Knife fashions change over time. Preferences are different during different generations or even different dacades. Perhaps there should be more definition to "what is more American than." When should we call something an American pattern? Are we looking for patterns that were only produced/mostly used in the USA (like the Christy knife), or are we looking for variations that may have started elsewhere but became standards for people in the USA to carry back in the day (like the Barlow, 4 blade Scout or the Buck 110)?
 
Bartleby I'd say it was about patterns that have become standard carry in America in given decades. Their origins may usually be from Europe, particularly England & Germany due to America's relative youth and massive expansion in the c19th and early c20th. Knife carrying may have become more marginal or the preserve of enthusiasts in Europe than say in America where people have a history of widespread pocket-knife use still today.

The Barlow is certainly English, but it became so widespread in America that it is regarded as a quintessential American knife, it has however, remained popular in England as well, a universal work knife. The Toothpick, a very American knife but not nearly so popular these days, has its DNA in the Laguiole and other curved handled knives from Iberia and Italy. The Stockman or Stock Knife is strongly associated with the US Frontier but it had a following in England and Australia too. Other posters have mentioned the BUCK 110, this is clearly an iconic American knife, much copied but also instantly recognisable, a rugged lock back that is a kind of bridge between conventional Traditionals and today's modern one handers.
 
Bartleby said:
An interesting question. Knife fashions change over time. Preferences are different during different generations or even different dacades. Perhaps there should be more definition to "what is more American than." When should we call something an American pattern? Are we looking for patterns that were only produced/mostly used in the USA (like the Christy knife), or are we looking for variations that may have started elsewhere but became standards for people in the USA to carry back in the day (like the Barlow, 4 blade Scout or the Buck 110)?
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The buck 110 is 100% American just like the Christy knife, but the Barlow certainly is one of those foreign decent but popular in America knives and so is the sodbuster pattern.
 
Hickory n steel said:
The buck 110 is 100% American just like the Christy knife, but the Barlow certainly is one of those foreign decent but popular in America knives and so is the sodbuster pattern.
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Indeed, Buck and Christy are American companies. I did not mean to imply Buck is not. The lock mechanism used in the 110 did evolve from the old large Sheffield "sneck and feather" lockback types from the 19th century. Buck is 100% American though.
 
Nobody has defined what makes a knife "American". Without a definition, everybody can be right :)

If Mark Twain wasn't so popular, the Barlow may not be a contender.

The contents of the Arabia are only indictive of what some merchant thought would sell upstream from Kansas City, which is not in the "south" but in the center of the US. So its contents reflect the tastes of upper KS, upper MO, IA, NE, etc. Mostly free state country.

Some say the toothpicks origins are in Spain.

To me the most American knife is a design that originated in US and is overwhelmingly popular in the US...Buck 110 and the Leatherman come to mind, both named after their inventor but not very traditional.

Given the US cutlery industry history, can a knife pattern that is "Amercan" be any older than 100-150 years?
 
I'll say the scout pattern. Given that most pocket knives have been manufactured in the last 100 years, and more scout knives (US military Engineer knives and MILK knives) have probably been made in that time period, than any other pattern, it's the logical choice. It's also the official pattern associated with the BSA and other youth organizations, thus many of our childhoods.

And it's my favorite pattern, so I'm totally biased.


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Buzzbait said:
I'll say the scout pattern. Given that most pocket knives have been manufactured in the last 100 years, and more scout knives (US military Engineer knives and MILK knives) have probably been made in that time period, than any other pattern, it's the logical choice. It's also the official pattern associated with the BSA and other youth organizations, thus many of our childhoods.

And it's my favorite pattern, so I'm totally biased.


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I like the scout pattern myself, but I have played "which inspired which" with many a Swiss Army fan. I guess we should figure out what Baden-Powell carried as the first Scout leader....
 
If this were a futurama type of future where there were other inhabited planets and we were simply earth with no countries, what would you consider the pocket knife of earth ?

I'd have to say it's the Victorinox sak.
 
Will Power said:
I'm certain you are correct, but I think it was much more popular in America (the Old South in particular) than it was in England or Germany. If you look at pictures of knives retrieved from the sunken wreck of the Steamboat Arabia you'll see quite a few different Congress type knives. Then there's the name it got to be known by....;):D
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OK, this noob will bite: what's the other name?

There coincidentally was another thread going recently that asked a similar question about fixed blades that got me thinking about this (just getting over the resulting headache :D) . Conclusion: the Bowie and Buck 110 is the most iconic American steel.
 
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