All About Pocket Knives

My wife discovered this bizarre little 4-plastic-blade thing-a-ma-bob in a box of her late father's belongings. I've never seen anything like it and have no idea what it's purpose is. Anybody know?
~Q~

I haven't a clue, but I can't wait to find out.

It appears to be precisely hand made.
Tortoiseshell sewing implement perhaps?

Caseman601225 wrote:I haven't a clue, but I can't wait to find out.

What he said.
Are the blade steel?

What sort of activities was the guy into when he was younger - like in the 1950s & 60s?

The two semi-circular notches on the one arm are very curious. I'm sure that's a clue of some sort...

When I first saw it, I thought it might have something to do with creating circles and then being able to bisect those circles with lines through their midpoint. But that's not correct because the width of each arm would mean those lines would NOT go through the midpoint of the circle.

Do the arms swing 360 degrees, or only 180?

I'm thinking you are headed for an Antiques Roadshow...

It's a folding toothpick, the tips should be much sharper and look worn down from use. In case one broke you had several others to use, they could be resharpened very easily as they are made of natural horn. The one blade has been nibbled on by dermestid beetle larvae. The white pieces of handles are smooth bone, hard to say from the pictures but I believe the colored ones are bone too that have been dyed.

These are seen with ivory blades as well and tortoise shell handles, later ones had plastic blades and handles.

Dimitri beat me to it! I have a couple of them in bone and ivory and two with pearl handles.Those have in addition to silver toothpicks what looks like an ear spoon and manicure blades.

Miller Bro's wrote:It's a folding toothpick, the tips should be much sharper and look worn down from use. In case one broke you had several others to use, they could be resharpened very easily as they are made of natural horn. The one blade has been nibbled on by dermestid beetle larvae. The white pieces of handles are smooth bone, hard to say from the pictures but I believe the colored ones are bone too that have been dyed.

These are seen with ivory blades as well and tortoise shell handles, later ones had plastic blades and handles.

Why, of course! Now that I know what it is, it's so obvious. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the most obvious things right before our eyes. Thank you, brother Miller Bro's for opening my eyes.

Now I'm faced with a dilemma. I explained to my wife what it is and she said, "OK, what're you going to do with it?"

I said I figured I'd clean it up, sharpen up the picks and EDC it...great little item since I'm a huge fan of toothpicks. And she said, "Really? Do you want me to go look in the box for my father's old toothbrush as well?"

I see it as a tool, like a good hammer or screwdriver that is well-made and made to last and be used for many years or generations, just like a good pocketknife. But, my wife feels it's much too "personal" of a personal hygiene item to be used by someone other than the original owner.

What say ye, my brethren? Who's right, me or my wife?

~Q~

Any day I learn something new is a darn good day!

knife7knut wrote:Dimitri beat me to it! I have a couple of them in bone and ivory and two with pearl handles.Those have in addition to silver toothpicks what looks like an ear spoon and manicure blades.

K7K, thank you for the further enlightenment and photos. So glad to hear from you because I was hoping to show and ask you about this other knife that belonged to my father in law...seems like something you probably have in your collection or will have seen and/or know something about.
~Q~

QTCut5 wrote:

Miller Bro's wrote:It's a folding toothpick, the tips should be much sharper and look worn down from use. In case one broke you had several others to use, they could be resharpened very easily as they are made of natural horn. The one blade has been nibbled on by dermestid beetle larvae. The white pieces of handles are smooth bone, hard to say from the pictures but I believe the colored ones are bone too that have been dyed.

These are seen with ivory blades as well and tortoise shell handles, later ones had plastic blades and handles.

Why, of course! Now that I know what it is, it's so obvious. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the most obvious things right before our eyes. Thank you, brother Miller Bro's for opening my eyes.

Now I'm faced with a dilemma. I explained my wife what it is and she said, "OK, what're you going to do with it?"

I said I figured I'd clean it up, sharpen up the picks and EDC it...great little item since I'm a huge fan of toothpicks. And she said, "Really? Do you want me to go look in the box for my father's old toothbrush as well?"

I see it as a tool, like a good hammer or screwdriver that is well-made and made to last and be used for many years or generations, just like a good pocketknife. But, my wife feels it's much too "personal" of a personal hygiene item to be used by someone other than the original owner.

What say ye, my brethren? Who's right, me or my wife?

~Q~

Trick question, right?

Seems like a fairly straightforward "yes or no" question:
Would you use it if it once belonged to and had been used by your FIL (or any other person...or a dermestid beetle larvae)?
(It's the answer that's the tricky part!)

~Q~

I've smoked a couple of my Grandfather's pipes after cleaning them up. I don't see anything wrong with using the toothpicks except that the wife is always right.

Sorry, I was trying to be clever. (The wife is always right ) I wouldn't use it in my mouth. I might use it to clear pocket lint out of other knives.

LanG wrote:Sorry, I was trying to be clever.

I got it.

~Q~

QTCut5 wrote:

LanG wrote:Sorry, I was trying to be clever.

I got it.

~Q~

It is a cool looking, and unusual piece. I like it, but not sure what I'd do with it.

QTCut5 wrote: K7K, thank you for the further enlightenment and photos. So glad to hear from you because I was hoping to show and ask you about this other knife that belonged to my father in law...seems like something you probably have in your collection or will have seen and/or know something about.~Q~

Don't recognize the mark but the little pearl handled tuxedo pattern knives were very popular as a gent's knife from around 1900(possibly earlier)to just before WWII. I have examples made in the USA as well as Sheffield,Germany,and where yours comes from(Japan). One of the characteristics of these little gems is the long bolsters. The reason for them is they didn't have to use too large a piece of pearl for the handles. Some of them you will even see with a small nickel silver band separating the two pieces on either side;allowing an even smaller piece of pearl to be used.
The Japanese ones were mostly made either just before or just after WWII and through the 1950's. Very hard to date. Not many people collect them but I find them fascinating as to the smallness of the blades;especially the secondary blades.
Here are some of the ones I have.

I've bid on several tuxedo knives, but I haven't won one yet. I'll get one sooner or later...

Dermestid...wait, wha?? Seriously? What the...??

These items often contain a small spoon-like blade, as well. I've heard them described as snuff spoons and ear wax spoons.

The tortoise like ones show up on Ebay frequently.

Charlie Noyes

QTCut5 wrote: Why, of course! Now that I know what it is, it's so obvious. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the most obvious things right before our eyes. Thank you, brother Miller Bro's for opening my eyes.

Now I'm faced with a dilemma. I explained to my wife what it is and she said, "OK, what're you going to do with it?"

I said I figured I'd clean it up, sharpen up the picks and EDC it...great little item since I'm a huge fan of toothpicks. And she said, "Really? Do you want me to go look in the box for my father's old toothbrush as well?"

I see it as a tool, like a good hammer or screwdriver that is well-made and made to last and be used for many years or generations, just like a good pocketknife. But, my wife feels it's much too "personal" of a personal hygiene item to be used by someone other than the original owner.

What say ye, my brethren? Who's right, me or my wife?

~Q~

Your welcome!

As far as using it, I say go for it. Sharpen the tips of the picks then dip the entire thing in alcohol, leave it in there for a few minutes that should sterilize it enough to be used

Caseman601225 wrote:Dermestid...wait, wha?? Seriously? What the...??

Yes it's a serious problem. If you do not protect your antique cutlery with horn & tortoise shell handles or in this case blades then these larvae will devour the entire piece or severely damage these materials.

Read this for more information:


https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resource ... d355.shtml

Oh my! Thank you. I've learned something.

knife7knut wrote:Don't recognize the mark but the little pearl handled tuxedo pattern knives were very popular as a gent's knife from around 1900(possibly earlier)to just before WWII. I have examples made in the USA as well as Sheffield,Germany,and where yours comes from(Japan). One of the characteristics of these little gems is the long bolsters. The reason for them is they didn't have to use too large a piece of pearl for the handles. Some of them you will even see with a small nickel silver band separating the two pieces on either side;allowing an even smaller piece of pearl to be used.
The Japanese ones were mostly made either just before or just after WWII and through the 1950's. Very hard to date. Not many people collect them but I find them fascinating as to the smallness of the blades;especially the secondary blades.

Thanks for that info...I had a feeling you'd be the guy to ask.
My FIL was in the Navy and served in Korea and visited many ports of call around that area in the 1950s, which is where I suspect he probably acquired this little MOP tuxedo.

~Q~