Why the Congress

Nice assortment, tongue. I'm not a fan of the congress, but yours sure are pretty.
I do really like that Northfield shield--wish they would use it on their equal end cigar patterns.
 
I do, also. BTW, I just sent in a "pleasepleaseplease" order to GEC for more cigars, and they are listening.
 
RKH said:
I understand from what I have read that the Congress was a popular pattern in use down in the South and was made for the American market. Also, it was used by people to cut a bite-sized chews from a plug chewing tobacco. This came from Levine's guide to knives. I first came across one back in the late seventies and was interested in the pattern the 2 bladed Congress is a nice carry knife. It does make a good Whittler and there have been a few Whittler Congress in 3 blades with a split back spring. I have a SMK Congress Whittler that is a nice little knife for a cheap knife. I also have a few Eye Brands in 2 and 4 blade models in carbon steel. Great steel.

RKH
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I second the notion that they were tobacco knives of some sort.
 
RKH said:
...... It does make a good Whittler and there have been a few Whittler Congress in 3 blades with a split back spring............
RKH
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Just arrived....

Schatt & Morgan Whittler, 1996, Hunter Green Bone, 4"
The split springs taper form the back to the main blade

SMJV96O4431HG.JPG
 
sorry to revise an old thread but i've been asking myself the same question: what's it for? a. g. russell's response is the best i've read.

A. G. Russell said:
The Congress was designed as a pen knife and the bent handle is perfectly shaped for placing a major sheepfoot blade and a minor pen blade. It made a near perfect pen knife and was so popular that it becan to be made as a jack knife, vbery useful as well for many things that needed doing 100 or so years ago. A Strong general purpose knife.
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growing up in the south i never saw the congress in use. even then time, in a way, had passed it by. farms and livestock herds were smaller and had become only a little more than a hobby. textiles were king.
looking back 150 years in the south gives me the a picture of a different south. cotton was king. plantations and agriculture drove the economy. the congress gives me the impression of a farmers knife. the blade assortment looks to be heavily grounded as such. from grafting fruit trees for the orchard to cutting okra (a nasty business i must say) to sampling tobaco and cotton the congress looks custom made for this. the sway back is perfect for pruning and harvest.
i also can't help but speculate that it may have come about it's name based, at least partly, on the notion that plantation owners from the south were most likely to have been elected to congress and carried their plantation knives with them. if they were seen to use it to cut a plug of chew (which i think would have been very likely) it was only b/c these country gents used them based more on vocation than for personal tobabco habits. after all a knife is a knife when you gotta cut a plug of chew. no dought it must have been common for a tobaco farmer especially and that pen blade would be just the thing for tending a quille to keep the farm ledger. life was very different if not so distant.
 
Hi,

I got no ideas on where the Congress pattern and name comes from. But I know I really like the looks of them, they seem so elegant. But I also know that I just can't carry one. There is something about the curve of the frame that feels uncomfortable to my hand.

And there have been some killer photos of Congress' knives posted in this thread.:thumbup:

Dale
 
dalee100 said:
I got no ideas on where the Congress pattern and name comes from. But I know I really like the looks of them, they seem so elegant. But I also know that I just can't carry one. There is something about the curve of the frame that feels uncomfortable to my hand.
Dale
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i think the pattern could just as easily been called the 'plantation' , 'planter' or 'harvest' or anything associated with ag.
likely they were a result of the demands of an agrarian society. i would also suggest that the curved frame was very desirable for a planter. i.e., it's very comfortable given it's possible intended uses. personally i think it is very ergonomic in the hand. (two stroke penalty for using the word ergonomic)
another guess but, they were probably more apt to be carried in a vest pocket than pants as we do today. still.... i dought they would have gone much beyond 3 3/4" in length. a bigger use would require a larger knife but most gentlemen would be well suited to the size we see today. besides, people were just not as large as we are today.

keith
 
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I don't have experuience of congress knives and I've always thought it would look awkward to use. Besides I like 1 or 2 blade models more than 3 and 4 bladed. That Half Congress looks very nice.

What comes to Lincoln, I have to say, despite I am not fan of the pattern, Linconln had good taste on knives. Wether its Ivory or MOP Sheffield, they were gorgeous. One more reason to like Lincoln.
 
Abe Lincoln carried a nice pocket knife.

On another thread someone mentioned that the Congress is the best knife for the Ninja Fist of Death. :D
 
neeman said:
A non-redundant Congress

S&M 16 Series
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Now, this is a Congress I could love.

and this one too. Neeman, you seem to have a knack for coming up with knives I like.

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I guess yours cost a bit more than my Rough Rider:

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Ed
 
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i always heard that in the early days clerks & members of congress used turkey quills to write with ink & needed frequent sharpening to be effective.we never saw these in west texas but most of us early texans did'nt do much writing [we were shooting].i now realize that kentucky,carolina,tenessee,& georgias wo'nt hardly leave the house w/o their congress.they like to cut chunks off the natural leaf plug tobacco they always carry also. even west texas boys like brown mule & tinsley's natural leaf. dennis
 
For me the Congress is really handy for life's daily chores. Opening up boxes that contain other nice knives, cleaning my nails, cutting string, etc. I do use the blades in a kind of rotation with respect to an earlier post. I keep one or two blades in reserve for when the other two get dull. I use them up and then sharpen four at one sitting. This Hen&Rooster has been a regular in my pocket for a long time.

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eswartz said:
Congress thread? Sounds like an excuse to show my GEC 2009 Congress collection.

GEC Congresses 2009.jpg
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What?:eek::D

Are there ANY GEC Congress left :D

That faux Tortoiseshell is authenticl Old School look, wish they did more of it on other patterns too.

The Northfield Shield is a looker, I like my Half Congress with that shield a lot. Come to think of it, where are your Half Congesses for that matter....??
 
willgoy said:
Come to think of it, where are your Half Congesses for that matter....??
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One of my collections for 2009 was all the different scales 2009 Congresses. The half-Congresses were a 2010 pattern, so I only have a few of those :)
 
eswartz great collection--you have some handles i would love on my toothpicks.[ in short sir i'm a very dumb fish & do not know sir]
dennis
 
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