Another part of Americana Lost....the pocket knife

There was a time in this great country of ours when it was the "good" guys who carried knives. It was the good guys who could fix anything, repair anything, open anything with a simple device they always carried in their pocket. Now it's the pieces of garbage who walk the streets preying on men, women and children willing to cut their throat for a few dollars, who carry the knives.

Pocket knives were not only popular but at one time they were endorsed by a moral American organization, The Boy Scouts of America. The pocket knives were so well accepted they often were referred to as a Cub Scout knife instead of a pocket knife.

The classic Cub Scout knife

Everyone I knew had a pocket knife. Sure, we did some stupid stuff with them. But, for the most part our moms and dads not only approved of us having a pocket knife, heck, they BOUGHT them for us.

Can you imagine the look on some people's faces these days if you proclaimed, "Yep, I got my 10 year-old grandson or granddaughter a pocket knife for their birthday. They'd probably report you to Child Protective Services.

As I mentioned, yep, we did some stupid things with our pocket knives. One game in particular was playing Mumbly Peg (or different derivatives of the spelling) . I'll let you read about it in the link or even watch a Youtube video but basically you threw the knife to stick in the ground and your opponent had to spread his legs further and further apart or another version was flipping the knife off of your arm or hand.. If someone threw their knife into their own foot it was an automatic win!.

We also used to use our pocket knives to do some whittlin', once again a lost part of Americana, and of course we would carve our initials wherever we could find a suitable place without getting caught.

When we would go to Loos Elementary School in Dayton, Ohio we would start off the summer playground session by carving our initials in the lone picnic table they brought from the city. Often times we got the same table back each year and we gleamed with pride when we spotted our TAK's and EGS's and GNW's displayed proudly.

My friend, "The Jer", had the holy grail of pocket knives. The Swiss Army Knife pocket knife. It had it all including extremely sharp blades, a spoon, a fork, a leather -poking thingy, a screw driver, a bottle opener, a can opener and more. I said that he had it, BUT, he wasn't allowed to use it. I know, I know that sounds odd, but then, so was "The Jer" and him not being allowed to have his Swiss Army knife was probably a good thing. But then of course, he always had it defying his parents wishes. One reason they didn't want him to have it probably because he almost sliced his thumb off once. Bled like a son-of-a-gun.

I learned how to whittle from an old man who lived up the street. We nicknamed him, 3 Finger Pete, because he was short a few digits on his left hand. We weren't sure if he lost them while doing some whittlin' but just as well the name fit.

He would carve these little whistles that he called "dog whistles". When you blew them you couldn't hear anything, but he said dogs could hear them. We kinda believed him but now looking back I think he was pulling our leg.

I still have a pocket knife. I keep it in my truck though. Heck, if you get caught carryin' a knife you are in big trouble. You can't go into the Courthouse with a pocket knife. Can't fly. Can't even go into sporting events let alone concerts.

Yep, the world is upside down when the "good guys"  are helpless and the "thugs" have the weapons.

Have a good weekend y'all.

Oh, one other piece of information. It's called Knife Etiquette . If someone ever hands you an open knife...always return it to them in the open position. If they offer you the knife in the closed position, then return it in the closed position.