Beyond the Article
This article originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of BLADE. Click here to see what else is featured.

If you detect somewhat of an English air to this issue of BLADE®, you would be correct.
First is the story on Gene Shadley’s pearl-handle reproduction of an antique quill knife, the latter reportedly made in the 18th century by a knife manufacturer in Sheffield, England. Gene bought the vintage folder at the Solvang Custom Knife Show from engraver Simon Lytton, who lives near London and found the knife at an antique show outside the storied city.

So, you might say, who cares about the “bloody British,” as Johnny Horton calls them in the 1950s song The Battle of New Orleans, especially when the United Kingdom is conducting an English Inquisition of knives that makes U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Switch Hunt” of assisted openers look like a wee spot of bother by comparison?

What reminded me of the UK’s unabashed “knife-o-cide” was when I visited a website pertaining to the aforementioned English knife manufacturer. There, all in red including a big circle with a white number “18” in it, was the garish warning: “IMPORTANT You must be over 18 to buy a knife. Your age will be verified by an Age Verification Service.” (An “Age Verification Service”? No wonder England has lost its mojo!)

Moreover, in a culture where British authorities are paying bounties for people to turn in their knives and swords and levying excessive penalties for mere knife possession, the British Scout Association is now advising scouts not to bring legal penknives with blades under 3 inches on camping trips.

It is indeed an abject lesson in what could happen in the USA and other countries if knife enthusiasts don’t wake up and smell the coffee. (Yes, coffee, not tea. I’m not that far gone.)
That being said, I think it necessary to remember that not all Britons and/or former Britons are anti-knife. There are a number, such as Simon Lytton and Grace Horne, as well as knifemakers Harry Boden, Farid Mehr, Roger Harrington, Jim Jackson, Charles Anthony Jones, Darrell Price Morris, Mick Penfold, Mick Wardell, Donald Wise and Alan Wood, manufacturers and/or importers such as Barry Ross of CAS Hanwei, and such writers/knife enthusiasts as Jim Taylor, Geoffrey Tweedale and more who well know the rich history of Joseph Rodgers, George Wostenholm and others who at one time made England the cutlery capital of the world.

Even though the British blade industry is a mere shadow of its former self, here’s what you do: When you see a knife built by an English maker or manufacturer, a knife that catches your eye and that you would like to add to your collection, buy it. It would be a great way not only to support the United Kingdom’s makers and manufacturers, but also to spit in the eye of the British autocrats who in essence are trying their best to completely destroy a country’s knife industry that once was among the finest ever known.

It just isn’t cricket.

Frank Centofante Succumbs

At press time BLADE received word that Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer© Frank Centofante had passed away from an illness. BLADE conveys its condolences to Sue, Tony and Mark Centofante on their loss. There will be more on Frank in a future BLADE.

Correction

The address listed for Chris Reeve Knives in the “Where To Get ’Em” of the October BLADE is incorrect. The correct address: 2949 S. Victory View Way, Dept. BL1, Boise, ID 83709. The other information—the phone number (208.375.0367) and website address (www.chrisreeve.com)—is correct.