Do you remember when every boy wanted a knife for Christmas? For some reason that was almost an annual request when I was young and Grandma Annie and Popie Jess came through every year.
Just getting side tracked hear for a second I don't think there was ever a correct spelling for their names so I just did the best I could based on how we use to say their names. Grandma Annie and Popie Jess Lane lived in Grainola in the old house on the hill straight west of Grainola like you are going to Newkirk or Tanny and Nanny Olsen's house. Bob Jackson lives there now. They raised six girls and two boys on that hill. In fact I have always wondered how they all walked to school in Grainola which is over one mile from their house up hill both ways and many times bare foot. Go figure?
Well today I still have one of those knives which always seemed to have a white pearl side and two blades. It was a handy thing and small enough in the pocket that it did not leave a faded mark in your jeans. I bet I sharpened it at least once a week but I was always a little jealous of Jon Tanny Olsen and AJ Jacques who seemed to be able to cut a blade better than anyone else. Both of them could shave their arms with their knives. And in fact I would say that is one of those things we did often at SCHOOL was compare our knives. Isn't it amazing how we have to regulate everyone in America because of ONE stupid and undisciplined child who does something to harm another person because they are a bully! I guess I got on my soap box with that one.
Now that I think about it a boy's knife was a symbol of pride. Yes size does matter, and it was a cool thing if you had a really big knife. And in fact I think it was David Howell who even had a leather holster where he carried a Bowie Knife on his belt and yes to school. I am certain that a lot of folks wonder about the wisdom of letting us carry knives to school and I don't believe we ever had one bit of violence where a knife was used. Although I do remember AJ getting a knife stuck through his boot one time when we were playing chicken. That is a game where you throw your knife at another person's feet with the hopes of getting it closest to their boot without hitting or sticking in their foot. It really is a pretty good game and outside of that one time no one got hurt and even then it just bled a little. Besides a little blood letting was probably good for a person. Just kidding.
My dad always carried a Case knife which had a nice horn cover on both sides and two blades. I tried to get one for Dad each Christmas if his old one was worn out. Being farmers and ranchers we used them almost daily. Every morning during the winter we had to feed the cattle hay and we always used twine(string for city folks) to keep the bales of hay together. Nowadays they use wire on hay bales. Also if we were feeding cattle cake you need a knife because it was faster than messing with the strings. Now that I think about it we used to always have what we called gunny sacks which were sacks made of burlap. Those burlap sacks were pretty handy for a lot of reasons and we always tried to preserve/recycle them as a source of spending money.
Looking back it is very interesting how we recycled almost everything. We did it because it saved money and if you recycled that meant nothing was wasted or thrown in the trash. Isn't it amazing how much trash we have each week these days? Thinking back we milked our own cows, made our own butter, raised our own chickens, hogs and cattle, raised our own vegetables and stored them for winter and of course we had chickens for eggs. About the only thing we went to the store for was seasonings like salt and pepper, flour and toilet paper.
Well it has been fun talking to you.
What did you learn in the Osage?
- a knife is a boy's best friend
- if your mom says she walked up hill both ways to school it must be true
- a little common sense goes a long way
Thanks for listening,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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