Knife Notes – Chris Hyde

The knife is a tool. It is our oldest tool and more closely connected to human development and survival than any other implement. The knife more than any other tool has proliferated the world culturally and geographically and can be found in every ethnographic, economic and political strata without discrimination.

The utility of the knife exceeds that of any other tool both in longevity and application. As culture and technology have progressed, the ways in which we use the knife have changed in many ways. At the same time many of the uses are no different now than they were thousands of years ago. Part of what is so fascinating about the knife is this dynamic juxtuposition of the ancient and modern coming together in the same basic tool.

Because the knife has had so many vital applications for so long and has been so closely connected to our evolution and survival, more than than any other implement it is the most important example we have of organic design.

I define “organic design” as: the long term development of a utilitarian object towards effective real life utility. For example, a bucket is a vital object with a long history and many uses. It has developed and had modifications based on utility, available materials, specific uses and so on. This would be an example of organic design.

There are many examples of design that although culturally significant are more decorative than utilitarian – like paintings, sculpture and other mediums of “art for arts sake”. This is not to say that decorative design does not play a significant role in human development and culture; It is just a way to define a specific type design.

As I continue with my blog I will explore this idea in more detail and bring in visual examples to illustrate this idea.

Thanks for looking,

Chris Hyde

Comments(0)

Visitors to Solingen would be well advised to take a couple of hours and visit the Rheinisches Industrie Museum. It is easy to get to via public transportation. Visiting this museum is like traveling trip back to the Turn of The Century. You can see and experience what a knife and scissor manufacturing company would have looked like at that time.

The Rheinisches Industriemuseum is an example of historic preservation at it’s best. The main museum is an interactive working forge. Founded in 1886, the Hendrichs drop forge was a vital part of the Solingen cutlery industry. In the 1980s Dr. Jochem Putsch organized a group to purchase the declining business in order to preserve it as a “living” museum.

In addition to the Hendrichs drop forge facility there are several satellite sites in and around Solingen. The Wipper Kotten for example is on the Wipper river and is a renovated water powered grinding mill from the 17th century.

After posting the “stubby” knife in yesterdays offering I remembered a photograph that was in a short book about the Rheinisches Industrie Museum in Solingen, Germany. Here it is:

This knife tells us so much about the owner and the state of the German economy at this time (probably the 1920s or early 1930s). The economy in Germany began to get progressively worse in the mid to late 1920s until in 1930 there was a significant economic collapse. When it is hard to afford basic commodities a new pocket knife was an expense many people could not suffer.

More soon. Thanks for looking!

Chris Hyde

Comments(0)

This is the very first entry of Knife Notes. As an introduction let me introduce myself and let you know what I plan to do with this blog.

My name is Chris Hyde. As you can see from my brief bio I have a thing for knives. My sister teases me because I do professionally at 44 years old what I did for fun when I was 8! I guess things don’t change much. But, they do develop and in contrast to my childhood hobby when I collected and cleaned and sharpened and just messed around with knives I now buy, sell, research, design and study the history of knives (Ok, I occasionally just “mess around” with my knives as well).

My current interest is focused on the history of Solingen, Germany and its major role in the development of the cutlery industry. I will be giving updates about the progress of my documentary THE SOLINGEN PROJECT and post vignettes as the editing continues. I also encourage people who are interested in this project to contact me with questions or suggestions. You can see a description by clicking here:

THE SOLINGEN PROJECT

In my research, experience and travels I have accumulated a lot of material that will appeal to collectors, students and knife makers. I have a load of photographs, catalogs, video footage and, of course, knives. Although much of the material I have relates specifically to the town of Solingen, I will be throwing a rather wide net when it comes to the material in this blog.

I plan to contribute to the blog five days a week and sometimes more if I am inspired on the weekend. I will write about whatever I think is interesting as it relates to knives including information about historical photos, interviews with those in the knife industry, knife tips for the collector and some my personal experiences in the “knife world”.

I hope that this blog will also be interactive. If done right I believe that I can learn as much as I am able to teach. No matter how much I learn and how much time goes by I am always impressed by the amount of knowledge that is out there.

So, there you have it. I look forward to starting a blog that will be entertaining, educational and interactive!

Chris Hyde

Labels: german knives, knife, knife colecting, knives, solingen knives, world knives

Comments(1)