When I was in grade school every boy had a pocket knife or penknife. It was used for whittling, playing mumbley peg, carving your name on trees, benches and school desks and such like. There was a special
official "Boy Scout knife' that you carried if you were a Boy Scout. The best pocket knife I ever had could be
opened with one hand. It had a button on it which when pressed caused the blade to snap open and lock.
At the time it was called a switchblade knife. I believe they are now illegal. In my youth and middle age
I did not carry a pocket knife but now that I am an old coot I carry a small pocket knife. I have found this to be
necessary because the packaging of products today is such that it is very difficult for old folks with arthritis
to open them. It is apparent that the people who design "tamper-proof" packaging do not take us old
coots into consideration. Every old coot should get themselves a nice pocket knife and keep it sharp. You could
also use it to defend yourself from any young whippersnappers that bother you. ;-) That'smy advice from a coot who knows.
Bob Schramm
Check out my web page at:
http://www.SchrammStudio.com
> Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 01:03:55 -0600
> From: edw4@mindspring.com
> Subject: Re: pen knife
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
>
> Interesting OT thread - finally, a subject I know!
> I suppose I qualify as Methuselah - I've carried a pocket knife
> daily since fourth grade (~1953). I settled on one with one blade,
> and a bone handle.
> I believe the pen knife was(is) used for pen nibs - or
> clarinet/oboe reeds.
> - John F. Edwards, Vancouver, WA
>
>
> On Tue Jan 08 00:26:50 CST 2008, Katharine Thayer
> <kthayer@pacifier.com> wrote:
>
> > I've always thought of a pen knife as smaller than a man's pocket
> > knife, more the size of a lady's or child's pocket knife, meant
> > for small cutting jobs like sharpening pencils (or pen nibs,
> > hence the name) or whittling a whistle from a willow branch.
> > When I was a kid, I had one with a mother-of-pearl handle that
> > I thought was pretty neat.
> > kt
> >
> > On Jan 7, 2008, at 7:56 PM, Richard Knoppow wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Seigel"
> >> <jseigel@panix.com>
> >> To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
> >> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 7:41 PM
> >> Subject: pen knife
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Contrary to the actual words, a pen knife is like a Swiss Army
> >>> Knife but with only 2 blades -- a big one at one end and a
> >>> little one at the other end, that fold into the handle.
> >>> ...Boys & men would carry them in their pockets in case they
> >>> had to sharpen a pencil or play a quick game of mumblety peg,
> >>> scrape some chalk off a pastel stick, or other chore around
> >>> the house. In other words, a "pocket knife" (Is that term
> >>> still in use? I feel like Methuselah !)
> >>>
> >>> J.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, 7 Jan 2008, Dave S wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> It is sort of fun to read old articles. For example, to make
> >>>> the powder for
> >>>> the process, the articles say you can scrap pastel with "pen
> >>>> kr ife." I
> >>>> checked the article. It looks like it does say that, but I
> >>>> think it probably
> >>>> means "pen knife." The author probably wrote the article by
> >>>> hand, and
> >>>> perhaps the typsettor didn't understand the writing. But what
> >>>> is a "pen
> >>>> knife?" I am guessing it must be something like what we call
> >>>> X- Acto knife
> >>>> today if it is used for scrapping pastel to make powder. But
> >>>> that is just my
> >>>> interpretation. Reading old articles (or any article) always
> >>>> involves some
> >>>> interpretation.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >> I rather think the origin of the term comes from a small
> >> knife used for sharpening pen nibs rather than to any
> >> resemblance to a pen. I always associated the term with the
> >> sort of knife Judy describes, i.e., a small folding knife.
> >>
> >> ---
> >> Richard Knoppow
> >> Los Angeles, CA, USA
> >> dickburk@ix.netcom.com
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
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