THESE KNIVES WERE FASHIONED BY BLACKSMITHS, AND GUNSMITHS, BUT MOST OFTEN FROM COMMERCIAL KNIVES BOUGHT AT THE GENERAL STORE, OR ORDERED FROM CATALOGS.

THE COMMERCIAL KNIVES WERE NEARLY ALWAYS MODIFIED. THE ROUNDED END OF THE BLADES WERE GROUND TO, A POINT, AND A "FALSE EDGE" WAS ADDED. A FALSE EDGE IS A SHARPENED AREA ON THE BACK OF THE KNIFE AT THE POINT, SO THE KNIFE WOULD CUT ON THE BACK STROKE, WHEN USED IN A FIGHT.

THE MODIFICATION WAS USALLY DONE BY THE BLACKSMITH, OR GUNSMITH IF THERE WASN'T A KNIFE SHARPENER IN TOWN.

THEY WERE USUALLY SMALL, LIGHT WEIGHT KNIVES, AND CARRIED IN SIMPLE SHEATHS IN THEIR POCKETS.

THE BLADE IS STAINLESS STEEL, WHICH DATES THE KNIFE TO BEFORE WORLD WAR ONE.

THE HANDLE IS FRENCH IVORY, A FANCY NAME FOR CELLULOID, ONE OF THE VERY EARLY PLASTICS.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EATING UTENSILS

KNIVES WERE 1ST USED FOR EATING 1000’s OF YEARS AGO.

SPOONS WERE NEXT, AND WERE INTRODUCED 100s OF YEARS AGO..

FORKS ARE MORE RECENT, AND BEGAN AS A SINGLE SHARPENED SHAFT, WITH A HANDLE. THEY LATER EVOLVED FROM 2 TINES, TO THE FOUR WE SEE TODAY.

POINTED KNIVES WERE USEFUL, NOT ONLY FOR CUTTING FOOD INTO BITE SIZED PIECES, BUT WERE USED TO SPEAR THE FOOD TO CARRY IT TO THE MOUTH.

EATING UTENSILS OF THE COWBOYS

THE 3 “Bs”, BEEF, BEANS, AND BISCUITS, WAS THE USUAL FARE, BOTH AT THE RANCH, AND AT THE CHUCK WAGON ON THE TRAIL.

A TIN PIE PAN SERVED AS A PLATE, AND A TIN CUP FOR COFFEE.

SPOONS, THE COMMON EATING UTENSILS, WERE USUALLY MADE FROM WOOD, OR HORN , WITH A LARGE BOWL.

EVERY MAN WAS EXPECTED TO FURNISH HIS OWN KNIFE, THE PRIMARY EATING UTENSIL.

THE PLATE, CUP, AND SPOON WAS GIVEN OUT AT MEAL TIME, AND COLLECTED, BY THE COOK, AFTER THE MEAL.

EATING UTENSILS AT MINING CAMPS

MOST MINERS COOKED THEIR OWN FOOD, AND ATE WITH THEIR KNIVES, AND FINGERS. IF IT WAS TOO THICK TO DRINK, THEY SPEARED IT WITH THEIR KNIVES, OR PICKED IT UP WITH THEIR FINGERS.

KNIVES

MEN’S KNIVES WERE USED FOR TWO PURPOSES, EATING, AND FIGHTING. FOR BOTH USES, A SHARP POINT WAS BEST.

WHILE SOME KNIVES WERE MADE BY BLACKSMITHS, AND GUNSMITHS, MOST WERE BOUGHT AT GENERAL STORES, OR ORDERED FROM CATALOGS.

THESE SMALLER KNIVES, FROM THE EAST, ENGLAND, OR GEMANY, USUALLY HAD ROUNDED ENDS, POPULAR AT THAT TIME.

NEARLY ALL KINIVES, WHEN RECEIVED BY THEIR BUYER, WERE RESHAPED. THE MOST POPULAR SHAPE BEING THE BOWIE SHAPE, WITH A “FALSE EDGE”.

THE “FALSE EDGE” WAS MADE BY SHARPENING THE BACK EDGE OF THE POINT FOR AN INCH OR MORE. THIS RESHAPING WAS FOR SPEARING FOOD, AND FIGHTING.

WHEN FIGHTING, THE KNIFE WOULD CUT ON THE BACK STROKE.

BOWIE KNIVES WERE USUALLY LARGE, WEIGHING SEVERAL POUNDS, AND WORN IN SHEATHS ON A BELT, OR CARERIED BETWEEN THE BELT, AND THE BODY, GOOD FOR FIGHTING, BUT TOO BIG TO USE FOR EATING.

MOST MEN WANTED A STRONG KNIFE, SMALL ENOUGH TO BE CARRIED IN THEIR POCKET IN A SIMPLE LEATHER SHEATH. A MAN’S KNIFE WAS USED FOR EATING MORE OFTEN THAN FIGHTING.

BLADE STEELS

MOST MEN IN MINING CAMPS, AND COW TOWNS, CARRIED KNIVES UNTIL THE END OF WORLD WAR ONE.

UNTIL ABOUT 1908. ALL KNIFE BLADES WERE MADE FROM CARBON STEEL, AND HAD TO BE KEPT GREASED TO PREVENT RUSTING. USUALLY THE GREASE FROM EATING WAS ENOUGH WHEN THEY WERE USED ON A REGULAR BASIS.

STAINLESS STEEL WAS INTRODUCES FOR KNIFE BLADES AROUND 1908, AND WAS CONSIDERED VERY DESIRABLE, AS RUSTING WAS NO LINGER A PROBLEM.

MOST MEN’S KINIVES FOUND TODAY HAVE STAINLESS BLADES, AS THEY SURVIED, WHILE THE CARBON STEEL BLADES WERE DESTROYED BY RUST, WHEN THEY WERE NO LONGER BEING USED.

KNIFE FIGHTING

WHAT MOST OF US KNOW ABOUT THE OLD WEST, WE LEARNED FROM THE MOVIES, OR TELEVISION. GUN FIGHTS ARE VERY DRAMATIC, AND ARE A STAPLE IN WESTERN MOVIES.

WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU WAS THAT PROFESSIONAL GUN FIGHTERS WERE RARE. THEY HAD TO DEVOTE THEIR LIFE TO THEIR PROFESSION. IT REQUIRED A MINIMUM OF 3 HOURS EVERY DAY PRACTICING, JUST TO KEEP THEIR SPEED, AND ACCURACY. THAT’S A LOT OF TIME, AND LOT MONEY FOR BULLETS.

KNIFE FIGHTING WAS MUCH MORE COMMON, BUT IT’S SELDOM SHOWN IN WESTERN MOVIES FOR 2 REASONS; 1ST, MOST PEOPLE DON’T LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE BEING CUT, IT’S MUCH MESSIER THAN A GOOD CLEAN SHOOTING, AND IN THE OLDER WESTERNS YOU DIDN’T EVEN SEE MUCH BLOOD IN THE GUN FIGHT. 2ND, A KNIFE FIGHT IS MUCH HARDER TO STAGE, AND ISN’T NEARLY AS DRAMATIC.

A BIG, STRONG MAN HAD A GREAT ADVATANGE IN A FIST FIGHT, OR BRAWL, BUT IN A KNIFE FIGHT, A SMALL, FAST MAN WAS EQUAL TO ANY BIG MAN.

THERE WERE RULES TO KNIFE FIGHTING, AND THEY WERE ENFORCED BY THE PUBLIC. THE WHOLE TOWN, OR CAMP USUALLY TURNED OUT TO SEE EVERY KNIFE FIGHT.

THESE RULES EVOLVED OVER SEVERAL YEARS, MOSTLY IN MINING CAMPS. WHILE MINERS NEVER RECEIVED THE EXPOSURE, OR GLORY OF THE COWBOYS, THEY WERE EVERY BIT AS ROUGH, AND VIOLENT. DEATH WAS MUCH MORE COMMON IN MINING CAMPS.

IT WAS A RARE WEEK THAT SOMEONE DIDN’T DIE VIOLENTLY. CAVEINS, EXPLOSIONS, POISON GAS, VIGILANTE JUSTICE, SHOOT OUTS OVER CLAIMS, WERE JUST A FEW OF CAUSES OF DEATH.

MOST MEN CARRIED A KNIFE, AS THEY WERE USED TO EAT WITH, AND KNIVES WERE CONSIDERED A FAIR WAY TO SETTLE DISPUTES, AS SIZE, AND STRENGTH WOULDN’T DETERMINE THE OUTCOME.

FIGHTS TO THE DEATH WERE RARE, AND USUALLY INVOLVED LONG STANDING DIFFERENCES.

MOST KNIFE FIGHTS WERE TO “FIRST BLOOD”, WHICH MEANS THE FIRST MAN TO DRAW BLOOD ON HIS OPPONENT WAS THE WINNER, AND GOT HIS WAY.

AN EXPERIENCED KNIFE FIGHTER NEVER TRIED TO STAB HIS OPPONENT, EACH TRIED TO SLASH THE OTHER, AND THE WOUNDS WERE MOST COMMONLY ON THE ARMS, OR HANDS.

BEFORE THE FIGHT STARTED, THE TERMS WERE STATED TO THE CROWD OF WATCHERS; “TO FIRST BLOOD”, OR ON RARE OCCASIONS “TO THE DEATH”.

WHEN IT WAS “TO FIRST BLOOD” THE WATCHERS MADE SURE THAT THE LOOSER KEPT HIS PART OF THE BARGIN NO MATTER HOW EMOTIONAL HE MIGHT BE.

ON OCCASION, IF THE FIGHTERS WERE TOO POORLY MATCHED, IN FAIRNESS, THE WATCHERS WOULD STOP THE FIGHT, AND DECIDE WHO WAS RIGHT. THE WATCHERS COULD DECIDE, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ALREADY KNEW WHAT THE FIGHT WAS ABOUT.

MANY OF THE SMALLER KNIVES THAT THE MEN CARRIED HAD A “FALSE EDGE”. A TERM USED TO DESCRIBE THE TOP OF THE BLADE BEING SHARPENED, SO IT WOULD CUT ON THE BACK STROKE.

I COULD NEVER FIND OUT WHY THEY CALLED IT A “FALSE EDGE” BECAUSE IT WAS WAS EVERY BIT AS SHARP AS THE CUTTING EDGE.

WHEN A MAN’S KNIFE HAD A FALSE EDGE, YOU COULD BE SURE IT WAS USED FOR SOMETHING OUTHER THAN JUST EATING.

“FALSE EDGES” WERE VERY COMMON, AS MOST TO THE MEN’S KNIVES IN MY COLLECTION HAD THEM.

TO ME, THAT MADE THE KNIFE MUCH MORE INTERESTING, AND COLLECTABLE.

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