What is it about Yeller knives and Southerners?

[keithw]

I was reading an article on Schrade in a back issue of Knife World recently.
The article noted that Schrade kept producing yellow-handled knives mostly because of Southern tastes.
I've also read that demand for congress knives comes primarily from Southern states.
Personally I prefer stag or bone, but I have a few yellow knives, and the congress pattern is one of my favorites.

Anyone care to add their 2 cents?

[gino]

Well I am from up north and I only own one yellow knife. I really dont care for yellow on a knife handle thats why I only own one I guess. Here it is. good question tho - cant wait to see what everyone says.

[TDCase]

I love the old Case and Schrade Yellow handle knives. I wished I had the ones that my dad had when I was a young squirt. Would have been from the early 60's I guess. I know he always had one or two but I don't know if they were Case or Schrade. I've only got one yellow handle, a Case medium Stockman. I will probably get a Trapper version at some point.... TD

[mrsteel]

I like yellow knives only if they are for use as rescue knives or something that requires being able to find it easily and quickly.

[edgy46]

A yellow knife would be easy to find if you layed it down on a farm. Don't know where I read that, maybe on AAPK .

[mumblypeg]

Edgy is right, the yellow would be easier to find if you dropped it on the ground or whatever.

As for the Congress, I read somewhere that the old timers that whittled liked them because 4 blades meant more time whittling between sharpening.

[oldblinddog]

I'm of the opinion that it's about visibility but even a yellow knife can disappear into the leaves if you set it down for a minute. Other than that, it's about tradition.

[woseyjales]

May have to factor in who was the author of such an article.
Knife handle color a regional preference sounds a bit askew to me.
If a knife handle sells and how well it sells probably main factor to continued production.
Author didn't happen to mention Southerners buy most of ALL the knives made did he/she/it?
Don't take my word for it, look at % of eekbay sellers from Tennessee.
Dang near about fifty percent! Another 20% from Carolinas & Kentuck.
(Figures just guesstimates, your mileage may vary).

A more important factor to Southerners over and above color may be cost.
Since most are still trying to recover from ye olde carpet bagger days and
tractor tires cost a lot more than eggs, a $25 yeller knife may have fit the
budget while stag did not.
It is/was hard enough getting that much money from the ole lady's cookie jar.

Fer instance this yeller Schradie may be in my temporary custody now (down
South) but it was manufacturated in Nu York and I bartered it from a NY
resident knifeologist.


This here yeller Case & Sons was made in Pencilvania and shipped to me from Warshington.


Guess it's just affirmation you can't always believe what you read.
Now if it had been on History or Discovery channel documentary.....

[tjmurphy]

Where's JustOld52 live? He's our resident Yeller Handle Knife Collector. I can't believe though that yellow handles are more popular in the south. An old saying comes to mind; "There ain't nothin' to good for us Hillbillies". That's why we all play Martin Guitars and Gibson mandolins - Nothin' too good for us.

[philco]

Justold52 does not quite fit the "southerner" mold but he sure does have the yeller knives.

I suspect that Woosey has hit upon a big part of the reason yellow knives sell in the south, they are less expensive generally than the bone or stag handled versions of the same knife. Saving money by buying a yeller knife leaves more money for tractor tires.....

or NASCAR tee shirts

or ammo

or fuel for the bass boat

or pickled bologna

or ........well you get the idea.

Phil


PS Besides all that they are just plain purty!!!!

[BuckeyeSchatt]

Where's JustOld52 live? He's our resident Yeller Handle Knife Collector. I can't believe though that yellow handles are more popular in the south. An old saying comes to mind; "There ain't nothin' to good for us Hillbillies". That's why we all play Martin Guitars and Gibson mandolins - Nothin' too good for us.

tj his info under his avatar says " Bloomington Ill. the sick state"

I'm from O hi O and I have a few yellow ones, and a few congress too.

[tjmurphy]

You must be from Southern O hi O

[Kansan]

Personally, I love the yellow handles Case knives, even though I only own one. One of these days I'll pick up a yellow full size Trapper to go with my yellow Mini Trapper.

[ole_muddy]

May have to factor in who was the author of such an article.
Knife handle color a regional preference sounds a bit askew to me.
If a knife handle sells and how well it sells probably main factor to continued production.
Author didn't happen to mention Southerners buy most of ALL the knives made did he/she/it?
Don't take my word for it, look at % of eekbay sellers from Tennessee.
Dang near about fifty percent! Another 20% from Carolinas & Kentuck.
(Figures just guesstimates, your mileage may vary).

A more important factor to Southerners over and above color may be cost.
Since most are still trying to recover from ye olde carpet bagger days and
tractor tires cost a lot more than eggs, a $25 yeller knife may have fit the
budget while stag did not.
It is/was hard enough getting that much money from the ole lady's cookie jar.

Fer instance this yeller Schradie may be in my temporary custody now (down
South) but it was manufacturated in Nu York and I bartered it from a NY
resident knifeologist.


This here yeller Case & Sons was made in Pencilvania and shipped to me from Warshington.


Guess it's just affirmation you can't always believe what you read.
Now if it had been on History or Discovery channel documentary.....

We've discussed Tennessee before on AAPK and agreed that on antique knives more crooks and fake artists come from there than any other state. That might be a matter of demographics but I doubt it. Although, as an occasional ebay seller, I would say that over 75% of the Case knives I've sold have went to somewhere east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio rivers.

Eric

[keithw]

"May have to factor in who was the author of such an article."


Wosey

Surely you're not questioning the integrity of a Knife World writer.

First thing you know, you'll be calling rasslin' into question


ps, I know, don't call you Shirley

[tjmurphy]

HEY!! Better leave rasslin alone. Everybody knows that Bo-Bo Brazil could take The Shiek with one hand tied behind him.

[ole_muddy]

I don't have many yellow handles myself, but I'd reckon anybody who collects knives ends up with some of them. IMHO, I don't think the yellow comp material tends to deteriorate nearly as much as a lot of the celluloid handle varieties will. Here's a few out of the fish knife pile.

Eric

[justold52]

BuckeyeSchatt; Your close to being right about where I live.

The city I live in is a twin city to Bloomington. It's called NORMAL.

Now would you like it if every guy in AAPK asked me if I am NORMAL? You surely know that’s not true... In fact I had the wifey go to Bloomington to give berth to my 2 sons so they were not laughed at their whole life being from NORMAL.

Now for the Sick state part. When I went to school we used 3 letters to abbreviate states. SO ILLINOIS came out ILL to me being from SHEBOYGAN, WIS. I picked up on the ill like being suck. Hence the sick state.

Yes I like YELLOW handle knives. Perhaps because unknowingly I did not want to part with my money on Pearl or Stag. I just don't know and have given this a lot of thought. But I do know why I like RED HEADS....

Feast your yellow loven eyes on this one I had Ken Erickson make for me.

[big monk]

Ken________I love reading your post ________I just wear my ""Sun-glasses"" when you guys get ta' talkin' yellow knives

[rangerbluedog]

Uh oh.
I was born & raised in SC.
I have over 100 knives.
But no YELLOW ones!
I only have one congress pattern!
Is it true? Could I have.... yankee blood?

At least the congress pattern I have is a Boker "Johnny Reb" model.

1976GASdixie.jpg (21.91 KiB) Viewed 1092 times

This thread gives me an excuse to buy this one...

[WAYNED]

I read and enjoyed the posts and pics about the yellow handles and it is true they were made for the farmers that would lose their knife in the field and it was suppose to be easier to find or for anyone to find for that matter,I do wonder if it is pernownced yeller or yaller handled.Last week I searched for my case stockman for 2 or more hours before I found it in my left pocket instead of my right.Need I say more?we all have a wallet pocket,key pocket and knife pocket.Why it was loaded on the wrong side is anybodys guess..I did like the movie old YELLER..y'all have a knife day.