In "Burke, Idaho, a Modern Ghost Town and a Lesson in Economics Part 2", we left off at the point where some inhabited homes transitioned into totally abandoned buildings. As you can see from the closing photo in the previous blog posting, the left side of the street was largely "residential".

One of the physical challenges that the surrounding landscape posed for Burke's residents was that the floor of the canyon is only 300 feet across. Once that "flat" floor space was used…

Had a wonderful time, put up some pics last night.  We had a few folks come by to talk with us yesterday but not too many.  It was a nice time, met some great folks.  I will write more today, have a laundry list of people to see and knives to open and close.  

So far I have handed out over 150 business cards with iKC's web address.  Having a great time spreading the word  Wish you were all here with us!!

I want to meet every iKC member that goes to the Blade show and I want you all to meet each other.  Always nice to put a person in place of the typing!  So here is the deal.

IKC Meet and Greet  

when:  Friday 4pm

where: Next to Great Eastern Cutlery/Daniels Knives

I have some goodies from my favorite dealer that he has provided for us also

There will be a drawing for a knife.  Here is the question,

Cattaraugus Cutlery Company…

Got an update from Blade Magazine today and got quite a surprise.  I did not know there was a  Bob Loveless movie  in the works.  Check this out

For those of you that have been enjoying my blog posting on Burke, Idaho...here is Part 2. More than likely, this will be a 4-part "series". It did dawn upon me that being as this site is "iKnifeCollector.com", my posting something not-so-knife-related might turn a few people off...I decided to do it anyway. Why? Well...I've noticed that most of us that enjoy slip-joint pocket knives, think a little "differently" and tend to truly enjoy Americana and American History. Sure, I enjoy modern…

I finally put my Barlows in a Box.  I don't really like the box for these knives, I think I will swap out those smaller Coca-Cola knives and find something else for the Barlows, but it's better than throwing them in a cardboard box.

On the left side are various makers including Case, Boker, Maherr & Grosh and others.

On the right are my antique Russells.  All are 1800s.  I have a few more that I need to dig up that are 1920-30 Russells.

I also have a few…

Today I have two very old Sheffield pocket knives for you.

The gentleman I bought them for thought for a long time that the larger knife was an old British Navy knife.  Now he thinks it may be a pruner.

Could be.  If you remember my post about how confusing these and even Hawkbills can be when the beak has been worn a bit.

To me it does look like a Navy knife, made to get wet and cut rope.…

This weekend, my wife and I decided to take a drive...a long drive. This is something that we've enjoyed doing for decades. We've done it so much that we have to drive further and further away from where we live just to see something "new". So...I had to do a fair bit of research to find a possible destination. We live in Eastern, Washington. The economy in this part of the country...aside from the past 30-ish years...WAS driven by farming, logging and mining. Over the past century, we've…

Memorial Day is a US Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. It was called Decoration Day, after the American Civil War, to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. Southern womens organizations and southern schoolchildren decorated Confederate graves during the Civil War, but each region had its date mostly in May.

For those iKC members who do not live in the US, this day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. It is a day of…

So I log into iKnifeCollector.com the other night only to come across a conversation between Hog and Tuna about a GEC knife up for bid on ebay. They were wondering if the knife was really a GEC knife or not. I did a quick internet search and came up with info showing it was a real GEC knife and shared the info with the guys. But, they still declined to make a bid which was ending in a few minutes. So I…

Don't think I showed these before....especially not the Primble barlow.

The electricians above is from the 1920s.  I spoke to the VP of the company in New Jersey.  He said his grandfather had them made for their employees as…

My dad always said beware the man with one gun, he knows it inside and out. I wonder if its the same with knife people?

Well, my girl is upset with me.  Again.

She says I love my pocketknives more than I love her.  So I told her that's not true and I told her she has a sweet body....just like that antique coke bottle form knife that I bought 3 weeks ago.

She seemed a bit more peturbed, so I tried to get the subject off of knives since that seems to be her problem area!

So I told her I love her nearly as much as my favorite old 1911 handgun.

How come I have to sleep on the couch if…

I find my  choices in knives change weekly. One week I'm all about you get what you pay for,the next week I make a new buy and say I  could have got 4 of these for what I paid for that.

The knife world is changing and its tough to keep up. I guess that's what keeps us moving on.

If this happens to you let me know so I know I'm not out of focus.

An interesting collection of blades I received today.

The Ka-Bar fish knife is near mint.  Almost pristine.  The sweet yellow handles have no chips or damage.  Both blades look new as a baby's butt...never sharpened, no scratches, shiny as can be.  The Ka-Bar over Stainless tang stamp is from 1951-60, so nearly 60 years old.…

This is a Tommy Lee Byrd photo at the Paradise Show & Go. 

 A diesel truck that pulls the front wheels and runs deep in the 6s?  Way cool for me....

The wife gave me an Android tablet, for my birthday, and I thought it would be another way to visit iKC, when I'm out and about.…

Bid on the 2012 Memorial Day Wounded Warrior Project Auction

The Wounded Warrior project is a wonderful way to say thank you to not only our Warriors but their families.  In the past I have even donated air miles, they use these to fly loved ones in to see and help heal our soldiers.  This is something that my friend Greg does many times a year, always with a goal of 1000.00 a year in donations. It is a great way to get a much sought…

Well being in California I missed te big Dayton Tennessee Strawberry Festival Cruise-In but from the photos you can see they had a rockin good time!!

This weekend (May 19 & 20) we have our Annual Galt Strawberry Festivalright up the road from Sacramento.  They have a big Cruise-In and Car &…