Finesse.

[ulzhan]

And they didn't get better.

[WoodsDuck]

You know, I always read posts about this sort of thing where it's speculated that blue collar workers and tradesmen know more about handling tools than your average suburbanite, city slicker, or what have you...
To provide a counter point I'll tell you all about my great grandfather, the man who taught me how to use a saw and hammer around the same time I was learning to read. My grandfather was born in 1906, and grew up on Kentucky farmland. He learned how to raise livestock as well as barns, and went on to become a carpenter. He plied his trade for decades, and constructed so many of the buildings in this area that I doubt many people in the older parts of town live more than 50 feet from wood framing stained with his sweat.
With that background out of the way, on to the point; I have all of his old pocket knives, and every one he ever used on the job is thoroughly ruined. They're caked with gunk, some of which I can only assume is tar, others I couldn't venture a guess as to the origin of the substances. Every one of them has at least one broken off blade.
It disappoints me to some degree, because I subscribe to the same policy as most here, and wouldn't pry or turn anything with a knife blade outside of a true emergency. But, to my grandfather a pocket knife was just a convenient tool to keep on hand in case nothing more suitable was a quick, easy trip away. Something with which to scrape, pry, Jimmy, or retrieve a nail from a gap when searching for an alternative instead of pressing on with what was in his back pocket meant losing daylight.
While it's not my way of doing things, I try not to look on it too dimly. I've not worked half as long as hard as my grandfather, and it's hardly surprising that our sensibilities would differ on many points, being separated by two generations. He had his reasons, as I'm sure we all do.
Well.... This post has gone on far longer than I really planned. Don't know how to end it at this point, so I just will. Thanks for reading.

[Don Pablo]

Yeah, ^^^^^^
Some people just don't care about shortening the lifespan of a cheap knife if it does a good job for them in the process.
Most of us on MTO are knife admirers, not knife users, to some extent.

[Aloha]

Might be that knives were disposable due to their cost.  Collectors covet those old knife but not nearly as much as the old timers.  The pocket knife was a MT for them.  I was recently at a home where a guy was sorting thru his parents things ( they passed ).  His grandfathers and fathers pocket knives caught my attention.  He was proud to show me but immediately said they all had broken blades. 
     

[Barry Rowland]

I kept my 66 Beetle and my 71 Westy going with my Huntsman and a feeler gauge!!

[Aloha]

I recently replace the drive motor on my washer and while I could have used my MT and SAK for the change out it was much faster using proper tools. 

There are still a fair amount of adjustments ( day to day ) a MT or SAK can accomplish.  Which is why the market/manufacturing for these items is still there.  I will always look at these tools as convenient to carry and packing a lot of usefulness in my comings and goings.       

[comis]

Yeah, ^^^^^^
Some people just don't care about shortening the lifespan of a cheap knife if it does a good job for them in the process.
Most of us on MTO are knife admirers, not knife users, to some extent.

That I believe is true.  I think somewhere in our heart, there is this balance of use vs admire; but being MT or knife enthusiast, we are more likely to bias towards admiring.