Making The Cut - Grandad's Knife

My mother gave me this knife many years ago. It's was her father's pocket knife (grandad) and she wanted me to have it...she knew from my childhood years and as an adult that I was always fascinated with pocket knifes. Everyone in the mid-west carried a pocket knife. I watched grandad pull this knife out of his pocket many times to whittle a piece of wood or cut a piece of rope. When I look at this knife, it conjures up many beautiful memories of our family during the 1950's and 60's.

The knife is 3 1/4 inches long (closed) and is a stockman style knife, most likely made before my birth. The blades have the grease and grime that comes from a mechanic who knew hard work in the large diesel equipment industry. The handles are smooth bone with hints of yellow and green. Stamped on the tang is Western Boulder, the maker of knives in bygone years.

I can see grandad in my mind's eye as I type...he's wearing a ball cap with the bill flipped up and has an unlit cigar in his mouth. No, I'll never clean this knife because that grime on the blades, well, I know full well came out of his mechanic shop. And, I like it like that.