Erinmore "fruit" knife: Now I know my picks from my reamers!
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:07 am
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I got this knife at a Car Boot Sale this morning for £1. I only discovered pocket knives a couple of weeks ago, and I was hoping to impress my wife when I explained to her that this was a fruit knife, having read about them on this site recently. "The knife cuts the fruit and the long spike spears the pips" I said.
"Are you sure?" she asked "Why is the knife blunt then? It doesn't look like a knife for cutting fruit at all."
"Of course it is" I said "look it's even got a picture of a pineapple on the sides."
She looked up 'Erinmore' on Google and took great pleasure in showing me what it really is, a 1960's pipe knife. Oh the shame.
The spike is a pick, 'a narrow rod or pin that can be used to clear the shank of debris, or to aerate tightly packed tobacco' and the other tool is a reamer: 'a flat instrument shaped like a dull pen-knife blade or a flattened spoon, used to scrape ash and unburned tobacco (dottle) off the sides and bottom of a pipe.' (Wikipedia.) Erinmore tobacco was produced by the Northern Ireland company, Murray, Sons and Company Ltd which began trading in Belfast in 1810.
"Are you sure?" she asked "Why is the knife blunt then? It doesn't look like a knife for cutting fruit at all."
"Of course it is" I said "look it's even got a picture of a pineapple on the sides."
She looked up 'Erinmore' on Google and took great pleasure in showing me what it really is, a 1960's pipe knife. Oh the shame.
The spike is a pick, 'a narrow rod or pin that can be used to clear the shank of debris, or to aerate tightly packed tobacco' and the other tool is a reamer: 'a flat instrument shaped like a dull pen-knife blade or a flattened spoon, used to scrape ash and unburned tobacco (dottle) off the sides and bottom of a pipe.' (Wikipedia.) Erinmore tobacco was produced by the Northern Ireland company, Murray, Sons and Company Ltd which began trading in Belfast in 1810.
