A Rainy Day Knife Book Reminicence (Rambling)...
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 3:20 pm
Over the years I have accumulated a number of knife self help books and pamphlets by Ferguson, Hughes, Ehrhardt, Frazier, Robinson, The Blue Mill Blade, Spurlock, just to name a few, and as I began to look through them, with little else to do on such a tempest of a day, I thought back to the days when I bought them and where I was at he time. All were purchased from the authors at knife shows or club meetings, most of them having passed on long ago and date to the early 60's.
I read them all, took their advice, made several mistakes, had some fantastic deals, cleaned 'to mint' (as Joe Seales used to say) many knives and did several repairs along with building a small forge, picking up an old anvil on the way. Today, I realize that the advice of the 1960's no longer holds true. For example, A Remington 1630R in mint condition in 1965 was said to be worth $75., then! That was a prince of a price and today, adjusted to 2023, the knife would be worth $757! That is if you could find one, and you can't, or at least I thought you couldn't until I visited a gun show a few weeks ago and found one sitting on a dealer's table who had no idea as to it's value. A point made in one of my books that a wonderful purchase could be made if you had more knowledge than the other fellow.
For the most part, the knives mentioned in these books are just a memory of what used to be. Why I am sitting here, thinking I am 15 years old, again, going to a club meeting with old Jake, my neighbor, with the $5. dollars my grandfather had given me for knife purchases,, spending it all and having to borrow 25 cents fro Jake to make my final purchase and coming home with treasures that I oiled the joints, opened and closed as i listened to the walk and talk of each. A particular knife I liked caused a nudge from Jake and a 'no' look from him that indicated don't buy it and that saved me from adding a 'fake' to my collection.
Well, the sun is out and that means i will have to leave you and carry on with my day, so blue skies and good hunting but please remember that knowledge is power, Bye bye
I read them all, took their advice, made several mistakes, had some fantastic deals, cleaned 'to mint' (as Joe Seales used to say) many knives and did several repairs along with building a small forge, picking up an old anvil on the way. Today, I realize that the advice of the 1960's no longer holds true. For example, A Remington 1630R in mint condition in 1965 was said to be worth $75., then! That was a prince of a price and today, adjusted to 2023, the knife would be worth $757! That is if you could find one, and you can't, or at least I thought you couldn't until I visited a gun show a few weeks ago and found one sitting on a dealer's table who had no idea as to it's value. A point made in one of my books that a wonderful purchase could be made if you had more knowledge than the other fellow.
For the most part, the knives mentioned in these books are just a memory of what used to be. Why I am sitting here, thinking I am 15 years old, again, going to a club meeting with old Jake, my neighbor, with the $5. dollars my grandfather had given me for knife purchases,, spending it all and having to borrow 25 cents fro Jake to make my final purchase and coming home with treasures that I oiled the joints, opened and closed as i listened to the walk and talk of each. A particular knife I liked caused a nudge from Jake and a 'no' look from him that indicated don't buy it and that saved me from adding a 'fake' to my collection.
Well, the sun is out and that means i will have to leave you and carry on with my day, so blue skies and good hunting but please remember that knowledge is power, Bye bye
