Before I began allow me to be the first to announce Mr. Don Singer as the First-ever Inductee into the Toenail Collectors Hall of Fame! As you read his fascinating account you will wholeheartedly agree with his induction.
I was introduced to Mr. Don Singer from upstate New York by a fellow ET.com member, Mr. Jerry Frank (you can read my interview with Jerry in the Old Timers section of ET.com). Jerry told me I had to talk with Don because “he is a toenail collector.” So, I gave him a call this evening and thankfully I did! While I enjoy talking with all toenail collectors, there are a very limited number of bona fide Old Timer toenail collectors still out there today. It was a real treat for me. The following is a summary of my interview with him.
Mr. Singer started collecting toenails 45 years ago (he is currently 77 years young). “It was almost by accident,” as he describes it. “I was at an antique show tagging along with my wife. I was digging through in a box of stuff and spotted the first toenail I had ever seen. It was an old very dirty knife and it didn’t have a backspring. There was just something about it to the point I bought it and for six dollars. I remember the blade would spin around in a circle since it didn’t the backspring. I got home and began cleaning off the handles to reveal really nice bone- and it had no cracks.”
He remembered taking that old knife out off and on to what he called “mess with it.” His wife, unbeknownst to him, sent the knife to her father who sent it to a man who put a backspring it in. Then she “gave” it back to him as a Christmas present! While I failed to ask, but I can assure you he still has that knife in his collection today.
“The hobby of collecting is a very worthwhile experience. It is a great pastime. Knife collectors are a friendly group and always willing to share information,” he said. “Collecting (toenails) is just a joy!” You can tell from talking with him- he is still as every bit as passionate about toenails as we are.
I found my conversation with him to be extremely rewarding. It is so rare to be able to visit with a die hard toenail collector from a different era. (To put in it perspective, he started collecting at the beginning of knife collecting as a recognized hobby by knife manufacturers. Mr. Singer was out there looking for toenails before the first edition of The American Blade, or Knife World was ever published. Before the hallmark legislation, the 1968 Gun Control Act, that is said to be the most significant factor to cause knife collecting to become the “industry” that it is today. Ten years before The National Knife Collectors Association was formed in 1972.) He is sharp as a tack; remembering details clearly.
“I used to get to 24- 25 shows a year and as I was beginning to build my collection,” remembers Mr. Singer, “the biggest amount of my finds occurred early and then as time went on, it became harder to find toenails to add to my collection. I remember stretching myself to buy certain toenails and ‘would have to eat bread’ for a little while after some of my purchases.” But obviously he would sacrifice to add that one rare jewel for his collection. His collection grew to 52 toenails.
When I asked if he had a favorite brand or specific toenail, Mr. Singer said “no, not really- I liked them all. Later I did go after hardware co. brands and odd ball stampings- I really enjoyed that. These knives were a smaller group of knives. Sometimes they would be stamped with a hardware company or company’s name from areas of the country not known for knives, like Barnsley Brothers. I may have to look for while before I would find one- but when I did it was a real high point!”
“I enjoyed the handle materials of the toenail and the blade- it is such a big piece of metal. The toenail is a big knife,” he said. I could tell as we talked, Mr. Singer is the real deal- a true toenail collector. I asked him if he used a computer and he said a little, but that he is slow. He did tell me he has been to the ET.com site. “I have printed off some of the pages of the site.” That made me feel real good.
“I loved how the employees at old knife companies worked with such precision. Selecting comparable handles that matched so well. The variations of the different toenails among the same maker is very interesting too. I found the pattern to be so intriguing. It had a long history and is a great choice of a pattern to collect.”
I asked if he favored any New York maker, like Case Brothers, for example. Not really, but when I asked about who might have made the first toenails, he said “It could have been Case Brothers. A lot of rope was used down in the oil fields and they were there. You know they were in very close proximity to the need. So, I could see them being one of, if not the first to make the knife.”
Mr. Singer loved to mine for nuggets too. On many occasions he talked to Case about certain historic facts about the toenail. One specific fact he had run down was about how Case would send blades over to Camillus when Camillus was making a run of toenails. “In 1915, I think it was, Camillus was making a run of 200 or 250 knives and made some for Case.” He had a friend who worked at Camillus who confirmed this from their records. Mr. Singer added, “it was just about as cheap to run 500 knives as it would have been to run 250.”
While Mr. Singer doesn’t buy toenails today, he fondly said, “Toenail collecting is a total hobby and it is even better when you have a quest!” I hope one day I have a chance to meet Mr. Singer in person. I asked him if he would be making it to the Case Collectors Appreciation Day in Bradford, Pa this coming July. He said he doesn’t travel much anymore.
We are so privileged to have veteran toenail collectors like Mr. Singer and to share in their passion and to hear the excitement in their voices about toenails. Thank you Jerry for arranging my time with him. I will treasure the memory of it.
Mr. Singer summed up his pursuit of toenails for us all when he said, ”It was a great trip!”
We had better be displaying our toenails for everyday viewing! I hate it that 90% of my collection is stashed away from preying eyes (including my own 
). Don’t you hate it when you can’t display them for you to see at a quick glance? To be able to enjoy them anytime you want right there next to your desk? Maybe you can.
I know it is hard to see but Keith has some real jewels. I know he has a pearl WRC Bradford, a CB LVNY ‘51, a jumbo, a Robeson swellcenter and many others of the real oldies.
Hello everyone, my name is Clay Strong. I live on the southwest coast of Florida along the Caloosahatchee river, not far from the Everglades with its swamps, mosquitoes, and alligators.
My name is Barry Stephenson and I live near Morrow, Ohio which is about thirty miles NE of Cincinnati.
My name is Merle Hagen
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