The News from ElephantToenails.com

You guys may be curious as to which are the most popular stories here at The News for the year of 2008.

They are ranked by number of times read (or at least clicked through to) out of the 155 stories published this year.

I’m going to list them in the order of most popular first. Drum roll, please: 

Cutlery News Journal- a new addition to our family

Toenail Trivia- What the heck is a Pumpkin-Seed?

Knife Company History- Lockwood Brothers and one rare bird

W R Case Toenail Reference List: TESTED XX - XX USA Lighting S Era

Featured Toenail- H. Boker & Co.

Rumor Mill- Case discovers a prototype toenail from its earliest days!

Welcome to my World- Early Toenail History

Knife Company History- Cattaraugus Cutlery Co., Little Valley, NY

Knife Company History- Napanoch Knife Company

History of Platts Cutlery Companies

We jumbo swellcenter collectors know you just don’t run on one everyday, not the vintage variety anyway, so getting one custom made is definitely an option.

Jeff Claiborne continues to keep us informed on the ones he makes.  Today he shows us a jigged peachseed bone handled easy open jumbo.

Jeff Claiborne Custom Jumbo

I’m sure if you want to order one to spec, he’d make one for you.

Now that the kids are in the other room playing on the Wii, I thought I’d tell you how it went this morn. Remember yesterday’s post about me buying myself the Case Brothers for Christmas? Well, it played out exactly like I told you it would. Exactly. 

Oh yeah, I got me a knife 

This morn after we went round and everyone opened their presents, I let them know I got myself a knife (from the family, of course). I had decided not to wrap up the knife and then open it during our “Christmas.”  

See here is the knife I bought me

Instead of taking the knife into the room and letting my four kids, wife and her parents, fondle it, I took my laptop (this sounds weird, I know) into the room and showed them my previous post here at The News, cause it had the picture of it.

After I quickly flashed it around the room, my wife was the only one to speak and sure ‘nuf she asked, “How much was it?” I knew it.

Words and their meanings

Let me ask you, how many is a “few?” I know a few isn’t as many as a “bunch,” or even as many as “several,” but what came out of my mouth was - “A few hundred.”

I’m still here 

I knew intriguing minds would want to know if I’d still be here (writing from my desk here in the house), or if I was going to be posting to The News wirelessly from the dog house.

My Christmas present just came in. I had to open it to make sure it was a keeper. It is!

My wife knows I got myself a “pocketknife” for Christmas… I didn’t provide any additional info., like…. IT’S A TOENAIL!!! IT’S STAG!!!! IT’S A CASE BROTHERS!!!! IT’S 100 YEARS OLD!!!

It has a few age spots, but otherwise it’s KILLER!!! 

Now the question is do I make it a part of the Christmas ritual- wrapping it up and then opening it tomorrow morn? Once I unwrap it, you know what the question is going to be don’t you? “How much was it?” 

The shield is engraved with Eli Faber. It was purchased from an estate in Manistee, MI.

You know we are crazy about toenails around here, so I just couldn’t make a Christmas message without a toenail in it-

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Those of us who are into toenails appreciate all the nuiances of each old knife- the different handles, shields, lengths, colors, jiggings, and brands. One of the most significant differences is what we call- style.

I have been apart of a few conversations about which knives are classified as a toenail and why, and yet, one style where there is no debate is the Jumbo Swellcenter.

It is universally accepted as the icon of toenails, and it is my favorite style. 

To date a couple of hundred folks over at YouTube have been interested enough to watch the Intro to Toenails I made. So, I decided to introduce them to the Jumbo. It is a high-level orientation, so for you guys it will be very basic, but hopefully you will find it a treat.

One of the charter members of the Elephant Toenail Collectors Club found him a jewel recently on eBay.

Again I’m reminded as I write this that toenails are out there, we just have to look for them. Rarely will a rare toenail land in our lap, but they are out there to be found. Personally, I think there will be some come back into circulation over the next couple of years so be ready.

Anyway, this particular knife was headed ” Old, rare knife Tidioute.” See what I mean about seeking…

No mention of “Toenail,” or “Sunfish,” instead the seller simply referred to it as a “folding knife.”

While the knife did sell for better than $700, my guess is only the Tidioute (Union Cutlery Co brand) buyers were in on this, and not the toenail collectors in general (save one). It probably would have brought even more had it been labeled for what it was- a Toenail.

For an extra bonus- it is one of the rarer of the Union stamps- Union Razor (1902- 1909!