TINY A** KNIVES....The other end of the spectrum

[Ray S]

After going through my larger knives I thought it appropriate to visit the other end of the spectrum:tiny knives. I tend to classify "tiny" knives as those that are right at or under two inches(50.8mm)in length.A knife that comes in over two inches and up to three inches(76.2mm) as being a,"small" knife.This classification is for folding knives only;fixed blades I grade differently.
Many of these little knives were made in Germany prior to WWI and many were unmarked as to the actual manufacturers.Occasionally you find one that has a maker's mark but that is the exception rather than the rule.Most of them are single bladed or possibly two;anything more than that is relatively rare.
I'm not certain what prompted people to make these little gems;possibly to show off their knifemaking skills(and it does take skill to construct a tiny knife);possibly just as an ornament to be worn on a chain around the neck.Whatever the case they make for a fascinating collection.
This will take up many posts so please be patient and I hope you enjoy them.As usual the background is one inch(25.4mm)squares for easy reference.

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[Rapidray]

 
Pages 9 and 12...the Lion of Lucerne - one of my top two! If I ever get over there, it will be on my must visit places! Untill then, the Atlanta Cemetery has a smaller one on a tomb that will do. 

[comis]

I hope I am not posting in the middle of the show again.  I was still amazed by the last thread on big axx knives, and this thread comes along.  This again is another impressive collection! 

Ray, have you ever tried using the corkscrew and do the Stiletto works like an auto?

[cbl51]

I'm not certain what prompted people to make these little gems;possibly to show off their knifemaking skills(and it does take skill to construct a tiny knife);possibly just as an ornament to be worn on a chain around the neck.Whatever the case they make for a fascinating collection.
This will take up many posts so please be patient and I hope you enjoy them.As usual the background is one inch(25.4mm)squares for easy reference.

Ray, I can tell you 99% chance why they were made. I know some of the older people in my childhood in the 1950's that were of my grandparents generation from the late 19th century to the early part of the 20th century and the WW1 era. The 1900's. I saw them carry some tiny knives like these on keychains. These were the minimalist keychain pocket knives of the era, for urban dwellers that were clerical or other office type of worker. They needed a small pocket knife once in a blue moon, but wanted the most minimal knife they could get away with carrying. Good enough for opening a package bound with the cotton jute twine of the era, or needing to cut a piece of string or open an envelope. I remember the packages of the just post WW2 era being heavy brown paper wrapping and wrapped/secured with white twine. You needed some sort of knife to get those packages open. I remember my mother stopping off at the butcher shop in the days before the big grocery stores came to be, and the butcher taking some pork chops and putting them in that white waxed butcher paper and tying it all up with that white twine that he pulled of a big reel of the stuff that had a cuttter built into it. Once home, mom had to use a knife to open dinner.

Also, this was before the reliable ball point pen era. The pens of my childhood in the 1950's were the fountain pens, that sometimes/often leaked, and ruined the shirt, or just ran out of ink unpredictably. If you wanted to carry a reliable writing tool, you carried a pencil. That pencil needed sharpening now and then, so you used a small pocket keychain knife. When Marcel Bich came out with a reliable formula for a ball point pen that didn't leak and was a good writer, this was the late 1950's and soon after, the 'Bic' pen revolutionized the pen industry and our lifetime habits changed. By the 1960's you could carry a reliable pen in your pocket that was a zillion percent safer than the old fountain pen. The cheap disposable pen replaced the pencil in peoples pockets. I still carry a golf pencil out of habit. Besides, the pencil can mark on stuff the pen won't. My little Victorinox classic kept my pencil sharp without wasting too much wood off the end. Stock clerks, warehouse workers, office clerks, and just about anyone who had to make notes or check off stuff on forms used to use pencils. Now its the throw away pen.

The were the penny knives of the 1890's to 1930''s for the keychain. The period from 1900 to the 1950's changed so much in the way we did things and what we used to do them. These tiny knives are relics of that era. Twine cutters and pencil sharpeners. Even ladies carried them on keychains and in purses. Now we have tear open packages and throw away pens.

As a minimalist, I love tiny knives. I've experimented in how small an object can go and still be functional at its intended task. I've carried a Vic classic as my sole EDC and got by with it.

[Ray S]

I hope I am not posting in the middle of the show again.  I was still amazed by the last thread on big axx knives, and this thread comes along.  This again is another impressive collection! 

Ray, have you ever tried using the corkscrew and do the Stiletto works like an auto?

Not to worry;it is not an interruption. As to your questions:the corkscrew I assume could be used although I never have tried it.A corkscrew that size would have been used to open medicine or perfume bottles that were sealed with corks.This was done prior to the use of screw on caps.
The tiny switchblade is fully functional except it has no safety lock.You still have to get your fingernail under the pick lock to close it. Glad you enjoyed the post;I may have some more slightly larger but still small folders to post and also some small fixed blades.

[Ray S]

cbl51:
   While I would agree wholeheartedly that small knives were an indispensable part of growing up in that era(as I did;I'm in my mid 70's),most of the knives I have depicted were a bit too small for any tasks;save the ones with the ladies' button hooks for gloves.
My grandfather who raised me was born in the 1870's and he carried a pocket knife his entire life and kept one in my grandmother's sewing cabinet right next to his chair.It was used to peel apples(I still haven't mastered the art of peeling an apple in one continuous piece) or pare his fingernails(he never used a nail clipper) or cut an errant string from a piece of clothing.I have seen him use it to dispatch a chicken for the Sunday dinner or cut a rose in his garden for my grandmother.
I still have his favorite pocket knife that he kept in the drawer.It almost removed one of my fingers when I took it out one day without permission and attempted to open it.The spring was very strong and snapped back on my unsuspecting digit. Probably the only reason I didn't get a serious spanking(I was 8 years old) was he was too busy trying to stop the blood from flowing.Going to the hospital was not an option in those days unless you were missing a limb or worse.
To this day I still prefer a small two blade pocket knife to do whatever is needed in my daily routine.

[Max Stone]

Great collection Ray. 

This is the smallest I have. Fully working lock blade, and sharp too!

[comis]

Not to worry;it is not an interruption. As to your questions:the corkscrew I assume could be used although I never have tried it.A corkscrew that size would have been used to open medicine or perfume bottles that were sealed with corks.This was done prior to the use of screw on caps.
The tiny switchblade is fully functional except it has no safety lock.You still have to get your fingernail under the pick lock to close it. Glad you enjoyed the post;I may have some more slightly larger but still small folders to post and also some small fixed blades.

I look forward to the latter addition, and thank you for sharing the knife story with your grandpa.  I think those are the stories which make our tools that much more special, and in some way, tie us all together. 

[Rapidray]

Great collection Ray. 

This is the smallest I have. Fully working lock blade, and sharp too!

Tiny Tim’s knife! 
Miniature’s are pretty cool unto themselves 

[Max Stone]

 

[Ray S]

Great collection Ray. 

This is the smallest I have. Fully working lock blade, and sharp too!

A beautiful little piece! Thanks for posting it. I see it is stamped Italy;do you know who made it?

[Vjeko Posavac]

Very nice collection Ray! 

[David]

Your collection never ceases to amaze!              

[Max Stone]

A beautiful little piece! Thanks for posting it. I see it is stamped Italy;do you know who made it?

Thanks Ray - Maniago... 

[Ray S]

Thanks Ray - Maniago... 

Thank you;I shall have to keep an eye out for one of those!