All About Pocket Knives

This knife is very special to me because it belonged to my mother when she was a very young girl. She and her cousin were nuts about those "cowboys and indians" stories in the novels of Karl May.
Karl May was from Saxony and lived from 1842 to 1912 and although he never set a foot on american soil he painted those vivid pictures of the wild west in his books. My mother always told me
how she and her cousin reenacted those stories in the ruins of the bombed out city of Hamburg after the war.
This knife must be made before the war though. It is Solingen made of course and the character of that noble indian chief "Manitou" is etched into the blade. I am quite sure that you US citizens have
never heard of "Old Shatterhand" and his brother in arms "Winnetou" which is pretty understandable as this a very german story of "american history".

Anyhow, you can imagine how dear this old knife is to me.

I never seen one with that etch, I thinks it`s cool to have a knife your mother had as a child

You mother must have been a tough cookie to be carrying a big stag handle hunting knife

Beautiful old knife Frank and priceless due to it's history. I have heard the name Manitou although as it is related to an Indian tribe and also a small town near me named Manitou Beach. Always love to hear stories of knives. I have been writing a book(on and off for the past several years) of stories relating to some of the knives I have.Hopefully one day it will be finished.

I look at all the old German Indian & Western theme knives, 1st time I saw that one as well....
K7K, ya gotta include that 20 buck Case stag knife / axe combo you missed out on in your book
Will

That is a cool story and a great knife! I am glad you have it. I wish my memory was better, but wasn't there a later leather ringed handle Wade & Butcher knife with the Manitou name?

That is a cool story and a great knife! I am glad you have it. I wish my memory was better, but wasn't there a later leather ringed handle Wade & Butcher knife with the Manitou name?

I did a search, and found it in the 4th paragraph down.
http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUK/Butcher/ ... utcher.asp

Thank you very much Gentlemen!

@Dimitri: Oh well, those were the days when a child could carry a knife without being a major threat to the society.

@knife7knut: I would be proud to be part of your book!

@Bret888: Maybe Wade & Butcher shelled out some orders to Solingen back then?

Capt. Farrel wrote:those were the days when a child could carry a knife without being a major threat to the society.

Yeah, now around here they carry automatic weapons instead of knives.

Capt. Farrell that is a really lovely fixed blade. It is great to hear how much your mother valued this knife. I can imagine that it is a very special one to you. Manitou is an Algonquin word for spirit, a language group spoken by Native Peoples traditionally from Eastern North America and central Canada (just in case you are curious). That is a fine etching.

That is awesome to have such an heirloom! Very happy for you!

Capt. Farrel wrote:I am quite sure that you US citizens have
never heard of "Old Shatterhand" and his brother in arms "Winnetou" which is pretty understandable as this a very german story of "american history".

There's a few of us who have copies of some of them. Definitely a "different" perspective on American history.

Nice knife!

Thank you guys, you´re too kind!

@Beechtree: Now as you mentioned it, I think I have heard this before... Definitely interesting!

@coffeecup: Yes, it´s fun because he lived his life in eastern germany and was decribing the wild west how he imagined it would be. Nevertheless he had a huge following here.

My copies are in German with some scrawled notes in childish Sutterlin: a sideways inheritance from a cousin who was sent out of Germany in 1940 to avoid the T4 program, then died of pneumonia about a year later. Several of the guys I've interviewed who served during the postwar occupation have mentioned that they found it strange to see and hear kids playing cowboys and Indians, the only difference being the language the kids used.

Yes, must have been a strange sight to american eyes but with all the stuff coming from Hollywood it was highly popular here. My mother even married a riding teacher (my father) and listened to old country and western records. There´s still and indian head made from clay hanging on my living room wall that she received as a present from the USA.