A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

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Miller Bro's
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A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by Miller Bro's »

I was cleaning out my desk drawer today and stumbled upon this knife. As soon as I seen it some memories came back to me.

I will have to go back about 15 years ago, I was making my way through the state of Rhode Island hitting antique shops and second hand junk shops looking for knives. I believe I was in Warwick R.I at the time although the exact city escapes me. I was not having any luck finding any antique shops so I spotted what looked like a second hand store with furniture and stuff. I pulled into the lot and went into this tiny store that had an apartment above it. I was greeted by a middle aged woman, she asked if she could help me, I stated I was looking for old pocket knives, a smile came over her face and she said she did not have any.

I was now wondering why she was smiling, she then asked if I was a knife collector I said yes, she smiled even more! By now I was wondering what is this lady so happy about? She said to wait a minute she knows just the man I would like to talk to about old knives. She then went over to a stair well that led to the apartment above the store and called out to a Mr. Paolantonio "could you please come down?"

A few minutes later an old gentleman, probably in his 70`s or older, came outside and introduced himself to me, he said I am Mr. Paolantonio and I was one of the owners of the Colonial Knife Company. I must say I was pretty impressed at that statement! We began talking and he asked me if I was a collector of knives, I said I was and have been for many years. We were talking back and forth about Colonial and how the knife business had suffered from imports and the decline of the company all the exact details are lost to my memory now. I asked him if he had any knives from the company he would like to sell, he said no they were all gone now. I was disappointed to hear this but I really enjoyed talking to the old man about knives and the company. I told him I lived quite a distance away from R.I and I was going to have to go now to make it back home at a decent time. He told me to wait a minute and went back upstairs when he came down he reached into his pocket and then placed this unused 2-blade shell knife in my hands.


I said wow! what a nice old knife, he said it`s yours! He told me he had several boxes of them he took with him when he left the company, this was the only one left. The bail is marked Sterling, I am not sure if the shell handles are Sterling as well. I said goodbye and we parted company the only regret I have today is that I forgot his first name, I am real bad with names like that, maybe Bob has an idea who I was talking to?

Here is the knife I was gifted that day
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wiseguy
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by wiseguy »

What a great day ::tu:: cool story MB
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singin46
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by singin46 »

What a great moment for you Dimitri and to get the knife from him is an added bonus. i think we all dream of something like this happening before all these guys are gone for good. ::tu::
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by pocketknifejimmy »

That was a great story... That is so cool him having personally spoke to you and then gifting you that knife. Thanks for sharing :-)
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Miller Bro's
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by Miller Bro's »

Thank you gentlemen, I am glad you enjoyed the story.
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Bonfire bob
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by Bonfire bob »

Extremely interesting story Dimitri!!!
A 70 year old man (Mr. Paolantonio) that you met about 15 years ago would bring us to now be an 85 year old man, and places him in the exact second generation of Colonial Paolantonio age group.. ::nod:: ::nod::
First of all this is an old # 17 Jewelry Shell knife with a Sterling Silver bail and a solid pin construction at one end only. ::hmm:: ::hmm:: The solid pin and long pull on the master or pocket blade tells me early 50's production! We made this same style in 15 or 20 different handle designs..stainless steel, Brass, and also Nickel Silver...

The very strange thing is that I don't know who it could have been!!
At the time you are talking about, involving the second generation of Paolantonio's,
Al F., Al D., and my father Anthony had already passed on!!
The only two guys left and are still alive; Uncle Jimmy (Alfonse) and Albert. Alponse still lives in Johnston or Scituate, and Albert lives in Bristol, RI....both address's are MANY miles from Warwick!! This is an INCREDIBLE mystery!! ::shrug:: ::shrug::

Well at least you have the proper info on your knife and that is the important thing!!
Any other info on your story would be very important to me and many historians and collectors here at AAPK!! ::ds:: ::ds::

Robert P. CKCo.. :wink:
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by Tennessee Dave »

Great follow up Bob!
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Jody744
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by Jody744 »

If both cities are in RI, really how far apart could they be??
Maybe he met the actor.
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Re: A Gift From Mr. Paolantonio

Post by Bonfire bob »

That's funny Jody but Rhode Islander's need to pack a lunch to drive 30 miles! ::dang::

Living in such a small state leaves most of us to use very small dimensions!
It's all a matter of proportion on a human level... ::hmm:: ::hmm::

Bobby.. ::super_happy::
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