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The story of the 1942 Imperial W.C. Fields/Mae West Toothpick

My Grandpa bought this knife for my collection back around 1970 from an antique store out in Wichita KS. Even though the story that went with it was fun, there was no written documentation and he always asured me that he paid no high premium for it. I've always taken the tale with a grain of salt, you should too. It goes like this. The movie "My Little Chickadee" starring W.C. Fields and Mae West was released around 1941. It was a great box office hit. Supposedly in the early part of 1942, W.C. Fields buisiness manager took it on himself to order 10 knives to commemorate the success of the movie. He contacted Imperial who agreed to make the knives using images from the movie. The managers intention was to give a knife to each of the key figures involved in making the movie. (W.C., Miss West, director, producer, etc...) After the knives arrived the manager presented the first one to Mr. Fields. While he stood admireing the knife the manager explained to him what he intended to do with the other knives. At first W.C. seemed pleased, until...he turned the knife over and saw the image on the other side. He immediately bulled up, threw the knife at his manager and in his very best W.C. Fields voice exclaimed, "Burn 'em all"! Seems the somewhat outspoken Mr. Fields had no great love for the ravishing and equally outspoken Miss West and beyond their interaction in the movie, had no desire to have any further association with her. PERIOD! The angry and disappointed manager, not wanting to destroy the knives, decided instead to give the knives to some of the people lower down the pay scale that were involved in making the movie. (lighting, sound, grips, etc...) One of these folks had family who lived in or around Wichita. They sent the knife back home to his/her folks. The knife spent the next few years being handed down through the family until it eventually ended up in the antique store where Gramps bought it. No clue as to what might have happened to the other 9. Well, there you have it. The story of the 1942 Imperial Fields/West Toothpick. I've spent many, many hours trying to prove (or disprove) this story. With no record it remains just another fun story involving a knife. Doesn't really matter though. For me, the knife is priceless and one that I hope to hand down to my kids and grandkids. Thanks for taking the time to read this tale, hope you enjoy it. Rob

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Comment by Rob Gregg on March 5, 2011 at 15:51: Thanks Stephen, that's how I've always approached the story. True or not... While Gramps wasn't really notorious for telling tales, what yarns he did spin almost always envolved some species of fish. LOL! Can't really speak for the antiques dealer out in Wichita though. :-)

Comment by stephen tungate on March 5, 2011 at 14:10: that is a great story even if it wasent true.i would stick with it.

Comment by Rob Gregg on January 17, 2011 at 20:16: Thanks Jakub. The story has been handed down and well documented. I had to go buy a DVD of the movie to show some of the youngn's just who W.C. Fields and May West were, but they get it now!

Comment by Jakub Capek on January 17, 2011 at 13:42: The story is wonderful. Make sure you tell your kids once you pass it down to them. Any such artifact should be cherished and well kept. I sometimes wonder what will happen with my collection of knives, coins, stamps etc. once its time for me to go meet my maker??

Comment by Rob Gregg on November 8, 2010 at 7:26: Mornin' all. Thanks for the nice comments! I was more then happy to share it and glad you've enjoyed it. Beautiful weather here in the Ozarks, think I'll get out and soak some of it in. It ain't gonna last long. Take care, Rob.

Comment by Bill Fletcher on November 7, 2010 at 10:33: Great story. You can easily visualize W.C. Fields doing as described.

Comment by Gerald Hines on November 6, 2010 at 22:22: Kewl story, true or not.

Comment by Rob Gregg on November 6, 2010 at 8:46: Thanks Scott! It had been a while since I'd thought about that story and telling it brought back some really fond memories. Grandpa gave me my first Toothpick/Fish knife when I was 7. He and that knife were solely responsible for my love of collecting. I still have that first knife and many others he added to it before passing away in '86. The whole story of his involvement in my knife collection is suited to another full blog so I'll end it there for now. Thanks again to you and all the folks at iKC for giving me a place to share these memories. Rob

Comment by Jan Carter on November 6, 2010 at 8:39: Rob,
What an absolutly wonderful tale. Make sure you print that out for the next generations to come.

In Memoriam Comment by Scott King on November 6, 2010 at 2:43: Hey Rob- Love the story! Thanks much for sharing it with us and that knife would be priceless to me too.