what sort of folder should Huckleberry Finn and tom sawyer should have had?

Some of those knives in the Arabia Museum look quite usable. In fact, some look to be in amazing shape.
 
I wish I could find such a sunken steamship. Those knives look a lot better than the ones in the Wrecks thread.
 
BigBiscuit said:
Some of those knives in the Arabia Museum look quite usable. In fact, some look to be in amazing shape.
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I guess they were protected by the mud. I've seen photos of knives dating back to the Iron Age, which also looked to be in good shape :thumbup:

scrteened porch said:
I wish I could find such a sunken steamship. Those knives look a lot better than the ones in the Wrecks thread.
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Me too! :D :thumbup:
 
^^^ Primble - as usual your knives blow me away - their beauty and incredible condition, coupled with your photography, are always a source of great enjoyment for me and I'm sure all the rest!

Brian - Great looking EDC TC clip/pen Barlow. My Barlows are my very favorite of all the traditional pocket knives I own (not too many, around 18 total iirc)

Frank - I find that pic of the Arabia wreck absolutely fascinating. I've seen it here in the forum before and every time I sit here and examine it closely. Alot the knives we see here and carry are represented there in that pic. Several Congress knives, one with pinched bolsters, several "iron" Barlows, numerous "jackknives", etc. It's amazing how well preserved they are. The ebony and bone scales all seemed to survive remarkably well.

I'll be driving thru Missouri within the next week, I may stop in and see that museum - either on the way there or on the return trip. I love stuff like that!

My own "Precious", a single spey #15 TC Barlow in African Blackwood...
23B4B7BA-82DC-42AE-82BC-324D692E2B64_zpsaadaoerr.jpg
 
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arizonaranchman said:
I'll be driving thru Missouri within the next week, I may stop in and see that museum - either on the way there or on the return trip. I love stuff like that!
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Hope you'll take some pics for us :thumbup:
 
I hope that this 1975 Commemorative issue of the Russell is not out of line for this discussion but I finally found one and do not want us to forget that Russell probably made the first ones here in the U.S.A.





Some people believe that 12000 were made by Schrade . They gave out better boxes and slips with the earlier serial numbers.

Harry
 
Some really nice barlows shown here... no doubt in my mind a classic pattern and one style that I would think most folks have at least one in the collection when into old traditionals.

Jack - thanks for showing those photos of the Arabia Steamboat knife exhibit which I had never seen - way too cool!! Amazing how many barehead jacks, barlows are in the exhibit though you can spot just a few with cap bolsters... so what makers would you think were responsible for some of those beauties? No doubt some early American makers but I am also guessing that some would be from Sheffield England - anyway such a cool collection of old knives and the epitome of traditional! No doubt I have an excuse to go to Missouri some day ;-))

Lee
 
LongBlade said:
Jack - thanks for showing those photos of the Arabia Steamboat knife exhibit which I had never seen - way too cool!! Amazing how many barehead jacks, barlows are in the exhibit though you can spot just a few with cap bolsters... so what makers would you think were responsible for some of those beauties? No doubt some early American makers but I am also guessing that some would be from Sheffield England - anyway such a cool collection of old knives and the epitome of traditional! No doubt I have an excuse to go to Missouri some day ;-))
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Thanks Lee, they are just some pics I found online. Quite an assortment, and its interesting to see just how many different patterns were being sold then. My guess would be that the Barlows were made by Luke Oates, but as to the others, I'd just be making an even wilder guess (though I'd be surprised if there weren't at least one or two from Joseph Rodgers or George Wostenholm). I imagine they've all been catalogued, but that information doesn't seem to be available online. I hope we can send a delegate down there to get that information! :D :thumbup:
 
arizonaranchman said:
^^^ Primble - as usual your knives blow me away - their beauty and incredible condition, coupled with your photography, are always a source of great enjoyment for me and I'm sure all the rest!
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I second that! That pic is now my wallpaper for the week. Baskin' in Barlows!
 
Jack Black said:
Out of interest, has anyone visited the museum where the Arabia knives are on display, it'd be great to see more detailed pics? :thumbup:
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arizonaranchman said:
I'll be driving thru Missouri within the next week, I may stop in and see that museum - either on the way there or on the return trip. I love stuff like that!
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It's actually in my backyard. I only realized it was there a couple weeks before it popped up in this thread. Coincidences are funny that way. Haven't had the opportunity to visit it yet.

Arizonaranchman, send me a pm if you'd like to get together. Maybe I could buy you coffee or lunch and we could compare pocket dumps. [emoji1]


Michael
 
RRaconteur said:
It's actually in my backyard. I only realized it was there a couple weeks before it popped up in this thread. Coincidences are funny that way. Haven't had the opportunity to visit it yet.

Arizonaranchman, send me a pm if you'd like to get together. Maybe I could buy you coffee or lunch and we could compare pocket dumps. [emoji1]
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Fantastic Michael, sounds like a historic Bladeforums thread in the making! :) Hope you have a great visit :thumbup:
 
This was a cool thread... Love the historic stuff!! If you liked the knives from the Arabia exhibit check out the thread I started entitled "Relic #1 - ..."... You guys may like it 😉

Lee
 
Well, seems this thread really likes barlows for our beloved storybook friends. I'm currently reading Huck fin for te first time and I absolutely love it. He did find a Barlow in the floating house of death, but I came across a case knife that is a single blade sheepsfoot for a dollar, and it immediately made me think that Huck could have very well used it.
 
Brumby53 said:
Or perhaps like this...


Interesting thread that has thrown up some beaut Photos and discussion that I am really enjoying but of course because both Huck & Tom are fictional characters the question can't really be answered.
We can only hazard an educated guess as what Mark Twain had in his fertile mind when he wrote those passages.
Do were know from the archives what Mark Twain carried as his preferred pocket knife??? (Assuming he did carry one)
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Maybe someone can help me remember. I know Mark Twain had a thing for pretty pocket knives. I cannot remember for sure, it might have been in "life on the Mississippi" or "innocence abroad" or maybe the autobiography published 100 years after he died. I cannot remember where, but there is a passage where he was moralizing, I think about how it's hard to see the beauty of a thing when it is with other beautiful things, but when you have it by itself, the beauty is obvious. He used the example of buying a new pocket knife to illustrate. :-)
He said something like it's hard to decide, with all of the shiny, new, beautiful knives in the case, but once you have it, down the road, it is the most beautiful one.
 
Sounds like that would be a great quote to add to this thread W.M.B. :thumbup:
 
Interesting quote. It doesn't ring a bell for me, but Innocents Abroad sounds like a good guess.
By the way, with the spring back and clasp knife cites, I've had to abandon my theory that Barlow equalled folder.
 
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