I've been digging into the origins of the 'Jack' knife and arrived at the French Siamois as a candidate. Thanks for making this wonderful vid. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I can't believe I' just found your channel I love history and especially colonial 1700's thru Civil War to early 1900's and pocket knife history great video
Of all of the period gear, reproductions, all the stuff I have always had an interest in, you just found something that I had NEVER seen, heard of, or even thought about. I don't know why, sounds like they were pretty much normal fare then as now, but it just never crossed my mind. Thank you! :-) Wonder how long it took them to figure out that all they had to do was add a spring and boom! instant switchblade. I can hear that conversation now between two redcoats- "That yank reached in his pocket, and presented what appeared to be a stick. He tossed an apple in the air, we heard a click, and the apple hit the ground peeled, cored, and quartered. Then he turned and looked at us, and ran the blade across his tongue before closing it. We exited with the utmost haste."
The English Penny , I believe youll find derived its name from penne ( ' quill or feather ') used for cutting quills for pens . They are still called " Pen knives " in the UK and is their proper and traditional name .
I have learned something from this video. I did not know about these knives.Keep up the good work. God bless you. David Back from Menifee county Kentucky.
Interesting to note that to this dayknives very similar to these 2 patterns are still common, to England, the British Army Jack Knife, and France, the Laguiole, the standard knife seen today, the Laguiole even has the extended lever shaped as a Bee.
A pocket knife is something one doesn't always think about. Well, I guess I do in a way as I feel naked if I don't have one. That said I wasn't aware a pocket knife goes back to the 1600s. Very interesting and thanks for the video
Maybe every person who worked on the lathes in Sheffield had a slightly different style? I presuming if you were particularly broke or trying to save your money you could buy the blade blank just like now and get your own handle turned or do it yourself. I know this was very common with fixed blades, axes, hatchets ect, why not folders? The importers could pack a lot more blades without handles into a crate on a ship than with as well as cut down the production time so you probably got a much better deal.
Wow, fancy that. Way back when people were more 'hands on' in the 17th and 18th century, they didn't bother with thumb studs, waved opening, thumb holes, and fancy blade locks. Just a simple cutting tool was all they needed. A little lesson for modern knife nuts who think they need a tactical knife that is capable of prying open a tank hatch.
Cool Vid. Just picked up a mid 1700’s-Revolutionary War pocket knife for $9 . It’s still intact. Loose & Rusty of course . I’ll clean it up a little-but leave the patina. Blade is marked. I’ll have to get my Loupe’ out to try & make it out.
Very interesting. Sheffield, UK still makes the Barlow type folding knife. What about Spanish or Portuguese knives? How old is the French Opinel type knife design? Keep up the good work!
Thank you Mary! Not sure on the Spanish. I know they played a roll in trade here in USA during the 1700's down south. French designs date from 1600's on up. However, even the ancient Romans had folding knives. Very old concept.
@@HoffmanReproductions I ended up finding and buying a 1700s penny knife from Ebay. It has a heart and a 3 leaf clover ingraved in the blade. Wonder how much its worth.
How am I talking rubbish? I made these knives myself. All are copies of originals from the 1700's down to the smallest details. I never said they were originals.
