Another Rescue

This is a tiny tale. Once upon a time there was a butter knife with a plastic handle. Here is a picture of some of its siblings. Meriden Cutlery Company of Connecticut. Theirs was one of the first commercially successful plastic handles.

Comes a time for everything though. The blade design and execution are nearly perfect, in my opinion, for how a spreading knife should handle. When the handle on one of the ones in my kitchen disintegrated I set the blade aside. Of course, as they are wont to do, though I do not know who authorized it and I am not convinced of their much vaunted regularity, years passed.

Behold a small victory

The new handle has very poor ergonomic characteristics. The wood is sapwood of a California live oak. I’ve never re-handled a knife before, that much was fun. It saddens me that so many things that people once did will almost never be done again, that the skills and knowledge of how to take care of things are fading, as a percent of the population, that things being cheap and disposable has pretty much come to rule the world. Nonetheless, poor ergonomics or not, this is, as I said, a small victory. Butter, peanut butter, preserves, all these now call forth this excellent tool. Wood was used, metal and craftsmanship conserved, yet no Jabberwocks were slain in the rehabilitation of this artifact.

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