Welcome Home...THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY

iKnife Collector

The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel

History of knives I find.

One of the things I like to do is try to find the personal history of the knives I pick up, if possible.

I picked up a nice Western Shark that was purchased at the estate sale of a WWII Vet. The story with this knife is that it was owned by a Army Air Force Veteran who was a waist gunner on a B-25. His name was clearly printed on the back of the sheath. Found his name in a list for the 456th Bombardment Group WWII Army Air Forces. This truly makes history come alive for me.

Recently I found another bit of history on a knife that was given to me by my father.

This time it is on the creepy side. It is a old fixed blade Silver Eagle. On the blade is a clearly engraved, very unique, name.

My father told me he bought this knife at a garage sale in the early 1990's in a town about 50 miles from where he lives. When I did a search on this very unique name the only hit I got was a legal document about a guy who murdered his wife in 1990, in the same town my dad bought the knife in. The only witness was his young daughter.

The child said that "daddy had hurt mommy and gave her an owie" and "would talk about mommy being cut and daddy cutting mommy." The child also said her "Mommy is where the Christmas trees are,"

He was finally convicted in 2007. 17 years after the fact.

Sometimes history is not fun.

3 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on September 17, 2013 at 19:26

Wow quite the story Paul. I am quite certain there are many stories associated with the vintage knives we buy. I can only imagine the stories they could tell!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on September 17, 2013 at 19:30

Well that second one is a bit more creepy. I love the way you research your own specific knives ot get a history, very cool!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Brian Martin on September 19, 2013 at 13:53

Wow. The estate sales at first kinda made me feel creepy, here I am digging around someones lifes collection. I found the old Camco camp knife, and tried to look at it a different way. I am there truly enjoying the hunt of finding a knife, which I succeded in. I am probably saving this knife from ending up in some thrift store, or being thrown in the bottom of some old tool box to rust out! This man spent his life after the millitary repairing the very boots I use every single day to make a living for my family. So in a way I felt kinda connected to him on that level. He never fixed my boots nor did I ever meet him. But of all those people digging around in his stuff I truly came away with a sense of pride in taking his old knife home with me to enjoy and appreciate! I too am finding the hunt and any history the best part of this game. Thanks for sharing Phil.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Phil Ladwig on September 19, 2013 at 22:40

The Western shark along with the AAF Patch that came with it are sitting in a place of honor, beside pictures of my Dad and his brother in their WWII uniforms. However, the other knife I have stuffed in the back. Interesting history but not something I want to prominently display.