Collecting advice from a seasoned collector

"valuable lessons there are. teach yourself without having to experience"

A wise man learns from the experiences of others.

I value having the opportunity to learn from the advice of others that will save time, money and increase my enjoyment of this wonderful hobby.

Today, I want to share a short interview with collector Roger Pinnock as he shares important lessons with Dan Farr at Blademag.com

If you value learning from others without having to experience a thing firsthand, here is sound counsel for new and seasoned collectors alike.

The post is entitled- A Tour de Force of Knife Collecting. Thanks Dan for sharing Roger’s experience with us.

A different way to sell cutlery

Jack Gillette- Cutlery Salesman

Large knife manufacturers don’t sell directly to the public; instead, they sell to dealers and retailers, and then the knives are sold to the consumers.

But, what if a knife salesman came calling directly on you to buy. I’m talking about one-on-one direct sales. You would either buy or not, depending if you needed them or, in the case of collector knives, wanted them to collector or not, right?

Wouldn’t it be interesting if a knife company could create a situation where we bought their knives for reasons other than to use or collect?

I’m talking about creating a situation where the buyers want to help the salesman. 

That is exactly the business model used by one particular knife company.

To most collectors this company isn’t typically thought of as a knife company, but consider the following:

Keep your nose to the grindstone

Weekend Edition

Does it happen to you, or just me? I’ll be talking to someone and will use a particular expression, only to have it jump right out at me like I’ve heard it for the first time- with full meaning.

We all use cliches and colloquialisms when we talk. I usually don’t pay them any attention unless I am giving a speech or talking to someone from a different part of the country, or a different country. Then I listen to what I am saying from their perspective.

And while I may know what a given expression means, many times I’ve never stopped to think about the actual words used in the expression.

Keep your nose to the grindstone is one of these expressions.We know it means to labor at a task, to work really hard at a job or chore, but I realized for the first time it comes from the early knife making days.

Sorry, maybe I’m just slow, but I had never thought about the words.

Knife grinders bent over the stone or laid flat on their fronts, with their faces near the stone.  

Here’s what I found out about it from Gary Martin, author of Meanings and Origins. His site (The Phrase Finder) grew out of an interest in language and while working in a research project in computational linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University.

He found the first example of this phrase in 1532 by an English gentleman- Mr. John Frith.

In 1910, it was well enough known in rural USA to have started being used in jokes on stage.

Knife workers are sports fanatics too

Americans are sports crazy and have been for a long time.

It really doesn’t matter the size of the ball, or if it is a warm or cold weather sport-  we love to play.

 

Knife factory workers have been known to be sports fanatics too.

In 1870, a group of knife company employees loved their baseball. Their boss imposed a new rule putting a stop to them playing- even though they were playing during their lunch break. 

Thomas Bradley, the president of New York Knife Company mandated this new company policy – no more ball. Evidently, ball had been allowed, but problems between the players must have interfered with their work.

So, they quit were fired. The account in Marc Newman’s book on Walden, has them being fired, but either way, they elected not to stop playing ball knowing they were likely to be let go. 

And the Walden Knife Company was born.

Top Stories of Cutlery News Journal for 2008

It’s that time of year. Time to recap the top stories for 2008. 

The top story rankings were determined by the number of times each story was viewed.

Thank you for your support and participation. I hope you enjoy the stories this new year too! Happy New Year!

Knife Forum of the Year

Audio Interview Series- Perry Miller NKCA President

CNJ Interview with YouTube’s Cutlerylover

A Thanksgiving Treat- More knives than you can shake a stick at

CNJ Audio Interview Series- Tom Arrowsmith of W R Case Cutlery Company

CNJ Audio Interview Series- Custom Knife Maker Mr. Tony Bose

Editorial- Speaking My Mind

OK, OK, I am finally getting an EDC

Where is the new generation of knife collectors?

Introduction to Great Eastern Cutlery’s Knife Patterns

Are layaways for knives next?

The December 15th edition of Antique Week featured a story that caught my eye. It was on selling 0n layaway to increase sales.

If you aren’t familiar, it is a way of extending credit to a shopper. The buyer makes a deposit and then makes “payments” until the items is fully paid for, then the item can be taken home.

I decided to look around and was surprised by the number of stories are about retailers using this tool now to help generate revenues.

Current headlines

• Hold the plastic, the layaway is back
• Hard times bring back layaway
• A Holiday Season Retail Classic is Back
• Layaway Makes a Comeback
• Layaways becoming popular again due to credit crunch

The use of layaway dates back to the early 1920s as a way to help folks make purchases when they didn’t have the cash to buy outright.

Harry Rinker, recognized expert in collectibles, had this to say in his article. Layaway- Is it an answer to surviving in the current economic climate?– 

“Layaway has played an integral role in the antiques and collectibles business since its inception over a century ago. While most sellers do not advertise its availability, it is deeply entrenched, more than most realize.”

What about layaway knife sales?

So, this leads us to the question of knife sales. Are we likely to see sellers and dealers begin to use this sales tool? The point of it is to help keep sales moving.

My guess is they will.

Transportation Security Administration & Knives

Prior to that horrible day of Sept. 11, 2001, we traveled the US by commercial airlines with much more freedom that we have today. We were even able to take on board our Every Day Carry (EDC) knives and collectibles- as we either headed to a show or were returning from one.

We all know that all changed and after that date the Transportation Security Administration was created to oversee security for our ports and the 450 U. S. Airports employing 50,000 people.

About every week I see this army of good folks working to keep our skies safe and free of dangerous items and substances. They usually take something of mine. Typically it is liquid bottles over 3 oz (shaving cream, shampoo, etc). They have taken lighters and even a bottle of hot sauce I forgot I had in my briefcase (it was Christmas present I forgot to take out).

What about Pocketknives?

We all know they take up pocketknives too. Fortunately I have yet to have a knife taken away.

What would you guess?

Let me ask, if you had to guess how many knives TSA has taken away from the public since 2002 and through 2006 how many would you guess? Would it be:

1.      12,987
2.    387,999
3. 1,309,565
4. 4,356,321
5. 5,789,679
6. 8,602,012

For more info on TSA’s confiscations check out this tsa-facts-2002-2006. In the meantime the answer was number six.

What type of Knife Person Are You?

So, what type of knife person are you? Are you a collector? If so, which type? Oh, you don’t actually collect knives, instead you just have a several different knives that are your EDC (Every-Day Carry) knives? You are a collector and just haven’t realized it yet.

I ran across a good overview of the different types of knife people and wanted to share it with you. 

Basically, the author outlines 6 different knife “collector” types.

• The History Collector
• The Antique Collector
• The Custom Knife Collector
• The Mechanism & Steel Blade Collector
• The Personal Use Collector
• The Basic User

It was written by Dr. K. Click HERE to check it out.

I have to admit, while I was at one time a Custom Collector and still find them extremely appealing (meaning I have a weakness for cool knives), I am solidly a combo of The History and Antique Collector at this point.

If you are curious as to the knives I spend my time hunting, I invite you to ElephantToenails.com. 

So, have you identified the type of “collector” you are? Dr. K points out- “if you discover what your knife interests are early, it can save you a lot of money being spent on a knife that later on you wish you could sell….”