DAD’S POCKET KNIFE IS PRIZED TREASURE

DAD’S POCKET KNIFE IS PRIZED TREASURE came about when a dear friend who has a lot of wit and the best sense of humor and sometimes on Facebook she shares some of the adventures she has with her husband. Faye Evans Paulk and her husband who she refers to as Papa, Jerome live in the country and she could easily write a blog or a book that would keep all of us in stitches. Maybe one day….until then I wanted to share one of the posts that inspired me to write about the simple tool that has molded a lot of our memories. After I post her post and share another blog post about what kind of men carry pocket knives, I will give you my take and memories of a personal nature, my Dad’s pocket knife.

Here is Faye’s post:

There were several comments, including mine, and it is easy to see the sentimental attachment to this simple pocket knife.

Here are the comments Faye received. I find them so heart warming:

Tammy Wright Andy always has a knife in his pocket, too.

Barbara Day My Daddy always had his. The same one. Always sharp. I still have it. It laid on the same place every night on his dresser too

Bree Brown
😁

Vickie Whigam ✅✅✅ thankful for my hubby & son, continuing this tradition.

Tammy G. Paulk I can ask Jim, you got a knife? He’ll say, I got my pants on, haven’t I? Lol

Martha Yeager My Daddy always had one. Church, everywhere. And he would sit in his recliner at night, with his whetstone, making sure that knife was up to his razor-sharp standards.

Sandra Minix Holton Kirby has always had one in his pocket too!

Arline Lott Miller One of the most prized possessions I have is my Daddy’s pocket knife as I never remember before he was bedridden, that it was not in his pocket. Same knife over many years. Thanks for sharing your story as many of us are thinking about our Dad’s or husband’s pocket knife.

Linda Standridge My daddy always had a case knife in his pocket. If you needed to use it you knew to make sure you returned it to him as soon as you got thru with whatever you were doing. I havent thought about that in a long time. I do remember when he had to get a new one it took him awhile to get used to it.

Joan Giddens My Papa had a yellow case and sharpened it in his rocker at night. My Mama Fender even had a case! Hampton always has his knife. I even have one my Mama Fender gave me years ago. A true treasure!

Kim Batten Smith That knife looks just like the one daddy always carried

Linda Merritt One time when Ronald went into the hospital I put his knife in my purse. He was never able to carry it any more so its still in my purse. I can’t take it out yet and if it gets out of place in my purse you will see me hunting till I find it. Men always carried a knife because they used them so much on a farm.A famers best Friend

Donna Hester Yep and Jerry had to leave his overnight at Memorial Hospital in jax, also his pliers…I know he was concerned about me but was WORRIED that he may not get his 2 most useful pocket items back. But he did!😂

Polly Guthrie My daddy always had one in his pocket too!

Gail Jowers I still have my Grandpa’s old pocket knife

Dianne Moore Roy always has a yellow case knife.He also bought one for each grand child including Emma!

Here are some comments from FB when I shared the blog:

Ricky Holt Absolutely a treasure. I have my dads & my son has my wife’s dads. That generation did not go anywhere without a pocket knife. Not for protection but for general use. Some of the old ones & worth a lot of $$$. But ours are worth more because of who own & toted them.

Glenda Hutson Anderson I love this blog! I have mine and like you said it is a treasure and I carry it in my purse!!

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I also found a blog post which refers to The Kind of Men Who Carry Pocket Knives. You can go to the article by clicking on the title.

The Kind Of Men Who Carry Pocket Knives

THE KIND OF MEN WHO CARRY POCKET KNIVES

Less than 40 years have passed and I am astonished to see how the times have changed since my father bought this knife for me as just a small boy. I do still have it, which by today’s standards is an anomaly. I’ll leave the discussion of our throwaway culture for another time.

Yes, this pocket knife has witnessed many changes in our society. Technology, communication, transportation, and even education have dramatically changed from the way it was just a generation ago. My pocket knife and I are neither quite certain if all the changes have been for the good. When I look across the landscape of America and take note of the differences, the greatest change that I see is in the people themselves.

Growing up in rural Northeast Alabama in the foothills of the Appalachians, I was privileged to catch the tale end of what was an era marked by ruggedness and self-sufficiency. I grew up around men that were willing to fix what was broken and take the time to do it right. My father was a Vietnam veteran and the product of growing up farming the hills of these same mountains where I was raised. He always carried a small pocket knife much like the one pictured. He had an affinity for Case knives, but would carry the occasional “Old timer” or “Buck” or even “Schrade”. One thing was for sure, that he had one with him, wherever he was.  You could also be pretty sure that his pocket knife would be so sharp that if you were to stare at it too long your eyeballs would bleed.   Now that’s pretty sharp….    The pocket knife was an important part of his life. Whether it was to slice a freshly picked apple, or to cut some twine, (coincidentally twine can patch most any broken farm implement until you can get home) he was always prepared. At Christmas time, my father always had his knife waiting to help open those pesky gifts that needed cutting open as only a father can do best.

My father was not the only man in my young life that I watched wield his trusty 3 bladed pocket knife as if it was a surgeon’s scalpel. My uncles, my friend’s dads, my bosses, they all carried pocket knives. I watched. I learned. I saw a resourcefulness in the these men, that is seldom seen today. For my father and so many others of a generation gone by, a pocket knife was an essential tool for daily life. The men who carry pocket knives are hardworking, do it yourselfers, who were raised to rely on themselves in nearly every situation. I have seen a pocket knife start a tractor, remove a splinter, slice a watermelon, carve a toy, and open a can. They have been used to clean wild game, cut gum/tar out of hair, sharpen a pencil, cutting fishing bait, and teaching responsibility. The list goes on and on. The uses of the pocket knife are as varied and strong as the men who use them.

I adopted this tool at a very early age as one that would always be at my side. A pocket knife has always been a part of who I am. So much so that I was almost offended when I would encounter a grown man who didn’t have one in his own pocket. I took it upon myself in my 20’s to start gifting knives. Sometimes to random strangers, sometimes to close friends. The conversation would generally start by asking if I could borrow someone’s knife, knowing full well that I had 2 in my own pocket. If the answer was a proud “why sure”, then I would gladly take the knife and inspect it for its level of wear as an indicator of how much work it had actually seen. Often paying a simple compliment as I return the knife. If the answer was that they didn’t have a knife to let me borrow, I would quickly reach into my pocket and deliver one to their hand along with a reference to the fact that every man should carry a knife. To date, I have given out somewhere north of 300 knives.

So, who are the kind of men who carry pocket knives today? They are typically utilitarian. They are the type of men who earn an honest living, work hard, and stand fearless in a world gone mad. To put it simply, they are the type of men that I feel this world needs more of.

If you find yourself in a tight spot and need some help, just ask the guy with the pocket knife. Although they are few are far between these days, chances are he can and will be able to lend a hand.

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As a child, I would have been considered a tomboy since I loved going with my Daddy to the countryside and I didn’t have a problem hunting and fishing, looking for tracks in the woods. I would see Dad pull his case knife out of his pocket and use it for many tasks. He would use it fixing his old truck, used the end to hammer something in or the other pointed end to pry something out. I can never remember a time when we were on our outings that during that time, the ole knife didn’t come out at some point in our trip. I remember seeing him sharpen it with a stone. It was an essential tool for him and for me to have his knife secured and among my prized possessions. I think of my Dad always taking care of things with his trusty, dusty pocket knife.

Now, for the final thought concerning this topic: In our lives, we are exposed to all kinds of things and items, the pocket knife is one. We are also exposed to all kinds of emotions such as love, hate, jealousy, hurt, elation, positivity, cynicism, criticism, pride, joy, and on and on. Just like Daddy would pull out something he trusted, we have to pull out the emotions we trust which are the ones that will get the job of life done. I choose to prioritize the happier and more positive emotions even though as Daddy had to deal with a dull knife until he sharpened his pocket knife, we are called on to deal with the dull parts of life but let’s pull out the sharpening stone and move ourselves into a sharpened awareness of life.

LIVE LIFE, LOVE LIFE, AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST by sharpening our talents and emotions to receive the very best life has to offer.

(C) Copyright 2012-2019 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material including photos are sourced if known to original location for credit reference.