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Comment by Mike Bryant on July 23, 2013 at 12:38

Thanks Charles for bringing the Guy's on the Roof to my attention, I see him now and  I see the other Guy on the Porch side of the Building,  I guess they may have been cleaning the Roof that day, I never thought about cleaning the roof but it always looks so new and is  like a shining Blue Beacon welcoming ME.  We drove down the side street to see if any new Stores had opened in the other Buildings behind SMKW.  Men were on the as I call  the Pent House Roof, that HIGH part.  To me, being a flat lander,  they looked  to be really up in the air.  Of course I don't  ever want to be any Higher than Pulling Fodder or Lower than digging Taters!! 

SMKW is a Great Place to visit and shop. I always try to pick up the latest Catalogs, I love freebies!! I always look at the sale items.  Sometimes i have lucked up on some Real Deals.  Years ago i picked up a  couple of Stag, Schatt & Morgan Cotton sampler for $59.00 each including shipping.   When I am at SMKW their is just so much to see. Because of this one Business  I have been able to view many many  Old & New Knives, parts, tools, and cutlery items, Including a at one time a Collection of Counterfit Case brand knives, some that would fool almost anyone and some that were really easy to identify.  I also saw The Case xx Factory Collection before it went back to Case.  I know I won't ever make the trip to the factory so thanks to them I was able to see the knives.  Actually to a Knife Collector the items on Display to study and look at for FREE is really un-believe able.

Jan, I know you will have a great time under the Blue Roof. Just don't spend too much on knives, you will probably need a lot of restraint to keep from blowing the knifing budget for the year.  I know I have to remember that their is more in life than Knives, or at least my Wife tells me their is!!.

Comment by Jan Carter on July 22, 2013 at 19:19

Charles this is just an awesome write up on your trip.  I have read them all, while riding to the Queen show today.  Gets me excited about being at the Big Blue Roof next week.

Folks Oct 11 is rep weekend, everyone that has knives at SMKW will be there.  iKC will be there also.  Join us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Lets have an iKC weekend at SMKW

Featured Comment by Charles Sample on July 22, 2013 at 17:35

Mike, did you notice the man on the roof near the upper right corner in the second picture?  They were working (cleaning?) on the roof while I was there.  I also took a picture of the building from the other side and there was a man on the roof there also.  That must be why the big blue roof always looks so bright and clean.

Comment by Mike Bryant on July 22, 2013 at 16:21

Woops!! off a few on the years but that is my fingers fault.

Comment by Mike Bryant on July 22, 2013 at 16:17

SMKW is ALWAYS 1 of the places I visit when I go to  The Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. We have been going to the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Townsend area  off and on since 1981, and I have visited this Business so many times with each time being like the first time. I have seen the Road developed from a single lane each way to a double Lane highway and this last visit most of it was 4 lanes on each side, that shows the growth of this area in the last 39 years. I have seen SMKW  grow over the Years and the Building continually Expand.    I do enjoy looking at the Old Knife factory collections they have on Display, my wife loves the basement area with the Kitchen Knives.  You could spend Days just looking and reading about those Antique Knives alone. I always make a bee line to the Old out of Production & Antique Knives they have for sale, and I get a Better idea what knives sell for in the real world.   I enjoy looking at the many different Manufacturers wares, ALAS,  Over the Years I have seen several American name Brands disappear from the show cases and others take their place. I have also sadly seen Names I grew up toting in my pocket move off shore, and it makes me wonder what the future holds for those Knives made in  foreign lands as far as the Hobby, collectability goes?   The Addition of the NKCA Museum in the past few years brought even more displays of  precious cargo into View. I praise the owners of SMKW that allowed the Museum to be located in this area of their Business.

This past trip in early July I again met several friendly knowledgeable Staff and  talked with them for a long time.  Their knowledge of the product and the information they shared about their products and the Hobby was A Plus for the business and for me as a OLD TIMEY type collector.   Many Thanks to the Staff and Owners for allowing  an Old Knife lover to tour and view their many Brands and items . 

Thanks for posting Charles.  And on a Final note I will add that the Day I was their their were Men on the Pent House Portion of the Roof Top working.  I though Man those guys are Brave to only be up their with a Rope keeping them from Falling., 

Comment by jeff on July 22, 2013 at 14:59

there are so many hidden treasures in smkw...every time i go,i notice something else that i hadnt noticed the last time i was there..the animals, and all the old knives and tools from days gone by...and a great group of employees too!  next time, if you come this way holler!  I'll have to meet up with you and yours!  have a great day...thanks for the pics.....jeff

Featured Comment by Charles Sample on July 22, 2013 at 12:37

You are very welcome Peter.  I enjoyed the trip immensely myself.  And I am happy that others are able to get pleasure from my posts.

Comment by peter force on July 22, 2013 at 8:41

this just brings back so much...thank you.. MR. SAMPLES im going to write you an inbox shortly about how much this means to me... and what is in the ground that you passed just right to the front on the main door you show pics of.i also went to pigeon forge,stayed in an awesome cabin,same trip as you have listed,family and all.besides the main reason we went their...the one thing i was going to do was get to SMKW..and i did!

whats funny is i lived n PA at the time i took the trip and bought a PA made knife....LOL!

i have  no idea how much it was but you could have not left the cabin for a week before you did anything else.the cabin  itself was a vacation.{my brother sprung for the whole deal}

....this was a very ,very warm welcome this morning..thank you so much for this post..i normally just take a look at he pics i have...lots of mine are pics of the knives in the NKM as well as basicaly the exact shots you have of the building. again the trip was in 2008...so this is a nice little flashback. when i was at the NKM i had the whol spot museum to yself!...lots of pics of the knives... just a little old lady standing their..i was sweet!

Featured Comment by Charles Sample on July 22, 2013 at 8:25

Chuck, I visited it three times while there.

Jeff, I would love to be able to catch those events.  However I guess SMKW is about just right as far as the distance from me.  It is about 300 miles.  If it were close, I would go bankrupt.  If it were too far I couldn't visit at all.

Comment by jeff on July 22, 2013 at 7:16

glad  you had a good time...smkw is always my yeehaw weekend getaway...lol  i live about 60 miles from there in the backwoods...case presidents day,rep weekend and case/zippo swapmeet and hammer-in are on my calendar year after year!

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