"Old Timer"

I'd like you to meet an "Old Timer". It's a pen knife that sits on my kitchen table in a sugar bowl when it's not in my pocket. I remember first finding this knife at a garage sale and feeling the desire to carry it with me for utility. Pen knives first appeared as tools for fashioning Quill Pens. They were originally one piece, thinner and didn't fold but morphed into what you see here over time. In early American history they were often referred to as Barlow knives and were affordable and common. These knives get mention in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and Barlow even produced a Mark Twain version of the knife.

Last week the dogs tracked a thorn into the house and with my luck I stepped on it, embedding it deep into the bottom of my foot. Without hesitation out came "Old Timer" to assist in me digging out the sliver. A sharp pen knife can cut string, peel an orange, skin a rabbit and open the mail.  Carrying a pen knife is as much about utility as it is about tradition. You should try it some time.

-Martin