All About Pocket Knives

Mumbleypeg wrote:From the archives of True West magazine. Anybody recognize the guy in the last picture?

Ken

Teddy Roosevelt.

Why that's ol TR himself.

My friend, Bob Williams, boarding the plane for the jump into Normandy, June 6, 1944. One of my true heros

Mumbleypeg wrote:From the archives of True West magazine. Anybody recognize the guy in the last picture?

Ken

....you guys beat me to it on this one!!............ ...........

Tommy, you probably remember his administration, don't you??

...........barely!!!!............ ...........................

Man this thread just gets more interesting by the day as new photos are posted ....

I spent a few hours today perusing Civil War photos from a FB site by Garry Adelman (called Garry Adelman's Civil War Page)... some of the most intriguing photos of the Civil War I have ever seen and what became extremely apparent was that most soldiers carried swords rather than fixed blades (Bowies, daggers etc) which may have either been hidden under coats or just not as common as I had thought - some do exist but not common based on photos I saw today.... I guess given the choice a sword was no doubt a better weapon along with a gun... As an aside - While I find the photos of great interest for multiple reasons, they are quite sad in a certain sense as the Civil War to me was a time in this country where we were not united as one and as many of you know the death tolls from that war were mind boggling...

Getting back to the point of this thread - check out these 2 Civil War soldiers taking a break and whittling ... This is the first photo I found from that time period of knives being used for recreational purposes rather than defense... this photo like all from that page were from the 1860s war time period...

Strange Lee,as I was looking at these early this morning ,I thought it sad that most of these fixed blades were made to plunge into another human being.

War is a hard pill to swallow,no matter. I feel for those who've witnessed it firsthand, thanks fellas.

Taken by my grandfather Clyde Thomas while he served in the navy in World War One. Staged or real? You be the judge. If you zoom in kinda looks like a sunfish above the man's left shoulder.

All you said is so true Lyle.... and I have deep respect and indeed am thankful to those of you on this forum (and off this forum) who served and defended this country... I didn't serve though I had a draft number during Viet Nam... the war was de-escalating when I was of age... but my younger brother did spend over a year in Iraq - he had a career in the Armed Services and only retired last year after 30 years...

I understand what you say about fixed blades Lyle but no different than guns which were also made as weapons... but in the end knives and/or guns do and did have other purposes as you know...

wlf wrote:Strange Lee,as I was looking at these early this morning ,I thought it sad that most of these fixed blades were made to plunge into another human being.

War is a hard pill to swallow,no matter. I feel for those who've witnessed it firsthand, thanks fellas.

I respectfully disagree. Most knives from the time of man's first use of a piece of knapped flint was as a tool. A gun is also a tool but that is a discussion for another forum.A screwdriver or a sharp stick could be thought of in that respect as well rather than their intended purposes of fastening things together or holding tent ropes in the ground.
Whenever I think about war I think of the old saying:" As long as there are two men and one woman in this world there will be wars".

In Ken's series of photos above, on the 4th photo down, I'm making a mental connection between those two men and James and Resin Bowie, Jim on the right.

Am I right?

Looks like they are both holding Michael Price style knives.

Charlie Noyes

RobesonsRme.com wrote:In Ken's series of photos above, on the 4th photo down, I'm making a mental connection between those two men and James and Resin Bowie, Jim on the right.

Am I right?

Looks like they are both holding Michael Price style knives.

Charlie Noyes

Charlie, I'd say that's a good guess but the caption on the photo says the man on the left is Judge Jacob Buzzard, and on the right is James Black who is believed by many to have made the original "Bowie" knife. Interesting article if you'd like to read it. http://www.truewestmagazine.com/fightin ... -frontier/

Ken

For some reason, that photo, which I have seen sometime in the past, was connected to the Bowies.

But, come to think of it in a rational sense, I don't think photography was available during Jim Bowie's lifetime. He was killed at The Alamo in what, 1836?

Also, I did a rather exhaustive Google Image search last night for the Bowies and that photo came up only once and that was in the True West Magazine link from which you got it.

Charlie

There is a connection. James Black, believed to be the man on the right in the photo, was a blacksmith in Washington, AR and is believed by some to have been hired by Rezin Bowie to forge the original Bowie knife, based on his (Rezin's) design. Others think Black designed the knife and Rezin just happened to see it, liked it and bought one. No one really knows for sure but it is known that Black was a blacksmith in Washington, AR and Rezin Bowie was reputedly there at that time, subsequent to James Bowie's infamous sandbar fight. Circumstantial, coincidental, who knows? Others believe Rezin made the knife himself, and Black later copied it. Over the years there has been a lot published about the origin of the Bowie Knife, much of it contradictory!

Ken

Edit: I don't think they are holding Michael Price knives. Based on what I can find, Black (circa 1830s) pre-dated Price (1850s) by a generation.

Cool additions...

Jerry - that is one sweet looking coffin Bowie in top photo...

Here's another pic - not a knife per se - this was a group of blacksmiths from the Gov't Blacksmith Shop in D.C. - I would guess some of these blacksmiths made some "cutting edge" tools and perhaps knives/swords etc but I can be wrong... just thought it was another cool photo perhaps related to the intent of this thread...

....great old photos, guys!!....I'm really enjoying this thread!!!!...... ............

These are fantastic photos all. I have really enjoyed going through them.
TJ, the photo of your friend Bob is priceless. It is a really wonderful shot. Any idea if he made the knife he carried? Thanks for sharing.
Another Knife Collector, I agree it does look like a sunfish! It is a unique and very fun photograph.

After a bit of research, I'm skeptical that the photograph is of James Black.

He reportedly was born in 1800 and died in 1879 and supposedly was blind and incapacitated the last thirty years of his life.

The first known photograph of an individual was taken in 1838.

I don't know exactly when photography was widely available, certainly prior to The Civil War, though.

Charlie Noyes

Love everything about this picture.

........that's a good one, jerry, makes me want to watch "battleground" tonite!!!!........ ....................

Jerry, that is the best one yet!