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The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel
Special and Fun holidays to celebrate..............
When : Always August 18th
Bad Poetry Day is a day to create some really bad verse. But, why you ask? Perhaps, the answer is simply "because you can". Maybe, it exists to allow us to better appreciate good poetry. Or, perhaps it is to be written to irritate someone......
My Grandpa’s Pocket Knife
It lies here now before me,
A whalebone pocket knife,
Still sharp enough to shave with,
A cipher of his life.
The faded stamp of ‘Sheffield’,
And, ground to faintness: ‘Steel’,
Good scrimshaw on the handle,
A perfect heft and feel.
It speaks to me of Empire,
Which I was taught to curse,
Yet who would care to argue
That there are things far worse... No matter.
My old grandpa Long, long since left this life;
He served the Royal Navy,
And this here— is his knife.
An Encomium of the Drop-Knife.
No knife is so slick,
It is quick on its trick
And a joy that will last you through life.
There is none 'neath the sun
Just like it, not one,
It's the Schrade Safety Push-Button Knife.
If the button is pressed
The blade does the rest,
Opens out like a thing all alive;
You break no thumb nail
In your efforts--that fail--
If you're owning this Push-Button Knife.
It's the handiest yet,
It is everyone's pet,
And with all good knife merits it's rife.
Its blades are rare steel,
And really ideal
Is this notable Push-Button Knife.
It's the very quick pick
Of club, class, and clique,
Its equal they cannot contrive;
It's a true treasure trove,
And a thing you will love
Is this wonderful Push-Button Knife.
A. W. BELLAW, DeGroff, Ohio
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This blade was so sharp, yet now is dull.
Will it ever cut again, only with love and care.
Left alone for such a long time.
Dust gathered upon it and rust seeped it's way in.
The color faded as time ran away.
The knife still yearns for a piece of wood,
To carve a new life if only it could.
Yet no one will hold it and death come to soon.
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Many people have family mementoes that are special to them. For Audie Alexander in Pleasant Plains, it’s an old pocket knife that belonged to his father.
That knife has a story behind it.
It went to the Pacific in World War II with Audie’s brother. Audie took it with him to the Korean War in 1953. When he returned, he gave it back to his father, who kept it until his death in 1981. Audie inherited it and is presenting it to his nephew.
“I’ll give it to somebody who will take care of it and keep it,” says Audie. “I know he will.”
The story of the two-bladed Case pocket knife begins at the end of the 1930s, when Pleasant Plains farmer William Robinson gave it to Audie’s father, Henry Alexander. Henry had worked for Robinson on his 500-acre farm for about 10 years.
“Dad and he got along really well,” says Audie. “I think he wanted to show his appreciation.”
In 1944, Audie’s brother, Haywood, shipped out for the Pacific during World War II. He carried the knife through two beach landings in the Philippines. Haywood and the knife were on their way to Japan when the war ended in 1945.
When Haywood returned to Pleasant Plains, he gave the knife back to his dad.
Henry Alexander kept it until Audie, his youngest son, left for the Korean War. Audie kept it in his pocket during his time in Korea.
“I was a little apprehensive,” says Audie. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose it. I hung onto it pretty tight.”
After he came home safely in 1954, Audie also returned the knife to his father.
Henry held onto it for the next 27 years until his death in 1981 at the age of 83. His first wife, Audie and Haywood’s mother, had died. When Henry was about 80, he married an old friend he had known in his younger days in Kentucky. She became Audie’s stepmother.
“After Dad died, she gave the knife back to me,” Audie says.
He has kept it for the past 30 years, but says it is time to pass it on. It will go to his brother Haywood’s son, James Alexander. James is a northern Illinois district commander with the Illinois State Police.
“He should have it,” says Audie. “His dad carried it longer than I did.”
In preparation for the transfer of the knife to his nephew, Audie has written its history, affixed the knife to the history and framed it. As a final touch, he had his account of the knife notarized by a teller at the bank in Pleasant Plains.
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Whittling
The front porch was a very important part of Grand-dad Will's home. The house itself was rather small, and the front room – the living room – was used only during the coldest months or on very rainy days. Otherwise, if you were not in the kitchen then you were out on the porch.
On hot summer evenings, we often ate our supper on the porch. From it, we could look out over the cornfields and down the driveway to spot a visitor as they first turned into the drive. Visitors were always a welcome sight. Many a long summer evening was spent story telling and gossiping with friends and family who came to visit.
No matter how early I would awaken and run down the stairs, I would find Grand-dad Will sitting at the kitchen table or out on the front porch having his morning cup of coffee, always with a big smile and a "Did you sleep well, little sister?" greeting. If I found him on the front porch, there would usually be a surprise waiting for me, something he had whittled while waiting for me to wake up. These intricately carved animals, birds and reptiles were some of my most treasured possessions. I remember once finding a little turtle that he had carved and then attached a little head so that it moved back and forth when touched – a bobble head of that era. I was delighted with the turtle and can recall to this day how precious it was to me.
Grand-dad Will and I spent many wonderful hours on the porch, story-telling and whittling the hours away. One day I had a 'great idea' and approached Grand-dad Will about it. I was about nine or ten years old at the time. I had concluded that I must learn how to do this marvelous carving. After telling Grand-dad Will that this was what I wanted to do, he said: "Well, if you are going to learn to carve then you must have a carving knife."
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Sooooooo.........I found all these fun poems and stories surfing the net.....Does anyone have any to add ?
The Old Pocket Knife
It was 1910 in the train station in CheyenneAn old cowboy sitting with pocket knife in hand
Just an old knife he said had it for years
Seen plenty of laughs and many tears
I was thirty in eighteen sixty three
Rode with old Stonewall to see General Lee
Fought for the South to the end
Didn't want to give up but knew we couldn't win
Rode west in seventy two
Spent time with some Lakota Sioux
Traveled down to Texas but didn't stay
Not liking the way the land lay
I broke horses and herded some steers
Drank my share of warm stale beers
But I'll tell friend it's now my trails end
Truth being I have slipped a time or two to sin
I have strived to live my life
Like I keep this old knife
If you neglect it, it becomes useless and dull
And the blade becomes hard to pull
Keep it clean and always sharp
Then maybe you can collect a heavenly harp
The old Cowboy stood and gave me a grin
Saying here take this knife my young friend
As I sat looking at it laying in my hand
Thinking who is this grand old man
As I looked up he was no where in sight
With the gift he left he had shown me the light
Now too my years have flown by
Knowing I have found grace in God's eye
With the old Cowboys advice I kept it maintained
Now as he did I sit here waiting on my final train
Edwin J. Smith
The Old Cowboy Poet
Mar. 29th, 2008
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Comment by Sue OldsWidow on February 7, 2015 at 19:45
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Good things coming for February
When : Always February 10th
Umbrella Day is in honor of one of the world's most invaluable inventions. On a rainy, day, we are sure glad that someone was smart enough to invent it. It's also increasingly popular to use umbrellas to shade ourselves from harmful UV radiation, and the heat of the sun.
Umbrellas come in all sorts of sizes, colors, shapes, and, designs. Businesses and organizations use them for advertising. The smallest umbrellas fit inside a purse or glove compartment. Golf umbrellas are popular sizes. Then, there are lawn and beach umbrellas. There's one (or two) made just for you.
Celebrate Umbrella Day in a couple of ways. First, make sure your umbrella is handy. Second, use it, or walk around with it. If you don't have an umbrella, isn't it time to get one?
The history of the rain umbrella actually doesn’t start with a story of rain umbrellas at all. Rather, the modern day rain umbrella was first used not to defend against the wet weather, but the sun. Aside from some accounts in ancient China, the rain umbrella originated as a parasol (the term more commonly used for a sunshade) and is documented as being used in areas such as ancient Rome, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, the Middle East and India as early as the 4th century B.C. Of course these ancient versions of the modern day rain umbrellas were designed and built with very different materials such as feathers, leaves or leather, but the canopy shape is very similar to the products seen today.
In most cases the sunshade or parasol was used primarily by women in ancient times, but members of royalty, the clergy and other dignitaries are often shown in ancient drawings with these precursors to the rain umbrellas of today. It went so far in some cases that Kings would declare whether or not their subjects were permitted the use of a parasol, bestowing this honor only on his most favorite of helpers.
From most historians, it appears that the more common use of the rain umbrella (i.e. to defend against the rain) didn’t come until the 17th century (with some accounts from the late 16th century) in selected European countries, with the Italians, French and English leading the way. The umbrella canopies of the 1600’s were woven out of silk, which provided limited water resistance when compared to the rain umbrellas of today, but the distinct canopy shape was unchanged from the earliest documented designs. Even as late as the 1600’s however, rain umbrellas were still considered a product only for distinguished women, with men facing ridicule if they were seen with one.
By the mid-18th century, the rain umbrella moved towards an everyday item among women, but it was not until the Englishman Jonas Hanway fashioned and carried a rain umbrella on the streets of London in 1750 did men begin to take notice. Although ridiculed at first, Hanway carried a rain umbrella everywhere he went, and by the late 1700’s, the rain umbrella became a common accessory among both men and women. In fact, in the late-1700’s and early 1800’s, a “Hanway” evolved to become another name for a rain umbrella.
Through the 1800’s right up until the present time, the materials used to create rain umbrellas have evolved, but the same basic canopy shape remains. Whalebones have been replaced with wood, then steel, aluminum and now fiberglass to manufacture the shaft and ribs, and modern-day treated nylon fabrics have replaced silks, leaves and feathers as a more weatherproof option.
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BOYSCOUT BITRHDAY
When : Always February 8th marks its 105th
Boy Scout Day celebrates the birthday of Scouting in America. On February 8, 1910, Chicago publisher William Dickson Boyce filed incorporation papers in the District of Columbia to create the Boy Scouts of America.
Scouting groups across the country celebrate this day. Often a cake will be served at the weekly meeting or on a campout. Scout Sunday, the Sunday nearest the 8th of February, will often be marked with a church service, followed by a pancake breakfast.
Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts offer a tremendously valuable program of life skills and values for millions of boys. It has been popular ever since Lord Baden-Powell founded Boy Scouts in the early 1900s in Great Brittain. The top award of Eagle Scout, is an accomplishment that reaps recognition, rewards, and benefits for a young man throughout his life.
http://scoutingnewsroom.org/blog/celebrating-105-years-boy-scouts-a...
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WINNIE the Pooh Day
Date When Celebrated : Always January 18th
Winnie the Pooh Day is an opportunity to enjoy your favorite bear and all of his friends. This day was created to celebrate the birth of A.A .Milne in 1882. He was an author of children's story books, and created Winnie the Pooh and his friends. Winnie's pals include Christopher Robin, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, and Roo.
Have some fun today. Celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day by reading some storybooks about the adventures of Winnie and his friends. Don't read them alone. Read them with young children.
Did you Know? In his works, he was known as A.A. Milne. The initials stand for Allan Alexander.
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The Fun and Smiling side of Easter
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Easter ...........the Rising
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January 2014 is coming up rapidly....So Here is some ideas to make it fun !
January, 2014 Bizarre and Unique Holidays
Month:
- National Bath Safety Month
- National Blood Donor Month
- National Braille Literacy Month
- National Hobby Month
- Hot Tea Month
- National Oatmeal Month
- National Soup Month
Week Celebrations:
2nd Week Letter Writing Week
January 2014 Daily Holidays, Special and Wacky Days:
2 Run up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day
6 Bean Day
10 Houseplant Appreciation Day
11 Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend's Day
12 Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day
13 Make Your Dream Come True Day
17 Ditch New Years Resolutions Day
18 Winnie the Pooh Day -The Birthday of Winnie's author A.A. Milne
20 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday , celebrated on the third Monday
22 National Blonde Brownie Day
23 Measure Your Feet Day- we only ask...."Why!?!"
25 Opposite Day
26 Spouse's Day
30 National Inane Answering Message Day
31 Backward Day
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Lucky Penny Day
When: Always on May 23rd
It's Lucky Penny Day. Perhaps a Lucky Penny will be lucky for you today.
Taken at face value, a penny doesn't buy you much, if anything. It used to. During your parents and grandparents days, a penny bought a lot of things. Most notably, Penny Candy got its name because a piece of candy cost a penny. Inflation year after year after year, eroded the penny's value. There has even been some discussion as to whether to discontinue the penny....Heaven forbid!
The penny still serves a very useful purpose... at least some of them are lucky pennies. Lucky pennies are found on the ground. Not all of the pennies you find will be lucky. But, it will only take one lucky penny used to scratch off the mega winner on a a scratch-off ticket.
Are you superstitious? Superstition has it that you should only pick up a penny that is lying face up.
Here are some other uses for pennies:
- A penny for your thoughts.
- To put your "two cents" in.
- A necessity for penny pinchers
- A handy screwdriver when nothing else is available.
Thought: for Today: "A penny for your thoughts."
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Caramel Popcorn Day
When : Always April 7th
Caramel Popcorn Day is an opportunity to enjoy the combination of two great treats - Caramel and Popcorn. This tasty, chewy treat is hard to beat. Caramel popcorn is readily found in popcorn tins and specialty shops.
If you are like me, you don't need an excuse to eat any kin of popcorn. So, you can easily guess what you need to do to participate in this day. While other flavors of popcorn is fine any other day, today it must be caramel popcorn.
A great way to make this day truely memorable, is to make homemade caramel popcorn.
Did you know? National Popcorn Day is on January 19th.
Origin of "Caramel Popcorn Day":
Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day. It was most likely created by a popcorn maker. Or, perhaps the movie theater industry.
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