As legend has it, Oscar Zimmerman of Athens, Georgia attempted to follow in his fathers footsteps. Oscar was the son of Johnathan C. Zimmerman; founder of the J.C. Zimmerman & CO. (producers of handmade Bowie knives for the "Confederate States of America.")
The Oscar Zimmerman M.I.G. cutlery works was started by Oscar, at the age of 22, in Athens Ga., in 1920. With his lack of marketing strategy, he simply marked his knives "OSCAR'S BEST."
Undoubtedly his company struggle from the very beginning. He employed his nephew and a few of his cousins friends to help manufacture his cutlery in an old barn behind his fathers home. His "employs" tended to "come and go" as they pleased! Oscar was known to "tip the bottle" as HE pleased.
Oscar earned most of his wages working the peanut ranches that the family owned. While still producing his cutlery, his business all but collapsed during the Great Depression. He and his nephew would walk the streets looking for scrap steel to use back at the barn.
In 1940, his father finally stepped up to the plate and urged his son to move to Germany and and set up shop to export knives back into the United States. In his fathers words "you have to fight fire with fire, son", Oscar heeded his fathers business sense and set sail for Europe.
Upon arrival in Germany in Oct 1940, Oscar set up his equipment in the basement of a brothel, (all pre-arranged by his father, Johnathon.)
Oscar was quite pleased with these conditions! He was producing slip joints within three weeks of his arrival.
Oscar's first task was to create a trademark for marketing his work. Again, heeding his fathers advice, he knew that "OSCAR'S BEST" was not an intelligent sales pitch. He decided to use the family name, as his father before. While attempting to print the name onto his much smaller knives than J.C.'s Bowie knives, he claimed "the damned thing would have to be the size of the butt of a peanut hoe to fit all them letters." A bit used to cutting corners, he opted to shorten ZIMMERMAN to "ZIMMER", thus the ZIMMER CUTTLERY CO. GERMANY was born.
Unfortunately, his downfall was one floor above. Oscar, still unwed at the age of 42, frequented the "amenity's" above his cutlery shop.
Within eight months, the barkeep and the madam had noted strange and progressively odd behavior in Oscars demeanor.
By December 1943, Oscar Zimmerman was diagnosed and institutionalized with advanced stages of syphilis. Oscar insanely passed away on Feb. 29th 1944. He was put to rest beneath a tombstone in a field behind the infirmary.
Oscar had occasionally written letters to his family back in the States, assuring them of his well being.
The family was informed of his death and burial.
In March of 1956 the family was contacted by the authorities in downtown Germany, informing them of the intention of developing the property in which Oscar rested. They informed them that no action was to be taken on behalf of downtown Germany to excavate his remains.
From a post in The Georgia Herold, April 1st 1956, the family had announced the news, and asked for support from the community to help have Oscars remains exhumed and returned to his home in Georgia.
There slogan was "BRING ZIMM HOME".
Oscar Zimmerman now lies peacefully in Perlon Memorial Cemetery, 15 miles south east of Athens Ga.
His headstone has an engraved knife bearing the name "OSCAR'S BEST" on it.
........................ Joe
