peterw Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I am almost certain that in 1937 Sheffield City Council celebrated the Coronation of George 6th by presenting every schoolboy in Sheffield with a stainless steel, suitably engraved knife in his pocket; a knife that given the right time and two longer blades I could and would have used it against my father. Does anyone remember this presentation? A few years ago on the Forum I discussed the reasons why I could well have used that knife for a purpose for which it was not intended, but may we today focus on that Coronation? I think that we were also given a celebratory mug (now better known as beaker) showing the faces of our new King and Queen. Like most old timers my memories are slowly fading, but just for the sake of knowing can anyone among the Forum’s more elderly ladies tell me what all the schoolgirls were given? And I wonder, how much did this gesture of allegiance to the Crown cost the city’s ratepayers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOGI Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I clearly remember receiving the stainless pen-knife . I think the girls got a sewing kit. additionally we all got a replica of a coin,made of chocolate, maybe 3" diameter. This was May 12th. 1937, when I was 9 yrs. old Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantom309 Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 The boys also received a penknife when Queen Elizabeth's coronation took place and the girls got a sugar spoon and the number of times I received a penknife off people for doing little jobs for them in the 50s I still have one or two somewhere you could even use them in class at school to sharpen your pencils with no questions asked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillsbro Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Was this the sort of knife that was presented to Sheffield schoolboys for the 1937 coronation? I still carry a small penknife and it's surprising how often it comes in useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOGI Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Hi Hillsbro Thanks for your photos, but sorry my knife was just plain stainless steel, with an engraving on it. E-Mail me at your convenience re S.A. etc. Regards. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 In the late 60s to the mid 70s we alll used to have Bowie knives in leather scabbards hanging from our snake belts. Some of the blades were about 6 inches long too, we went through a phase of carrying these things everywhere we went with us and one summers day in the late 60s a copper stopped us and told us off because we were cutting branches off bushes with them and sharpening them into spears. Cutting the branches off made the bushes die, he said. Not a single murmur about the bloody big knives we were all holding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterw Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 Oh dear! Please, dear Lord, let three of my fellow Forumers not be Sheffield-born, but first, No, Hillsboro. Nothing so elaborate; just stainless steel with two blades plus the engraving on one side only. Nevertheless, to give those to every boy, plus something equally suitable to the girls, must have cost the Council a bob or two, even in those days. Alas, I have most of the information that I had forgotten and would have loved leaving it at that … but! PEN-knife? Heaven forbid! I thought all real Sheffielders knew that for more than a century every ‘pen-knife’ that the City’s ‘little mesters’ helped to produced was really a pocket-knife. Pen-knives were made for a specific purpose during the centuries of parchment (later paper) and quills. They had a specially designed blade that cut the end of the quill into a suitable nib for dipping into the ink. After that came the manual typewriter (I had to buy my own when I joined the Sheffield Star) followed by the electric typewriter, the word processor and the laptop! It’s a wonderful world and I am glad I joined because i am almost certain that the achievements of this century will remain outstanding in the minds of all those fortunate people who follow us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Sheffield born and bred (well ok, dragged up) here. Sorry I can honestly say that I`ve never heared the term `Pocket knife` though! I thought that every small knife that had its own... casing with a hinge was a pen knife, the name just a hang over frm the days of quills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malagablade Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 i always carried a knife as a young lad in the 60´s..always playing stretch.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillsbro Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 ... I thought that every small knife that had its own... casing with a hinge was a pen knife, the name just a hang over frm the days of quills. Wikipedia seems to agree - at least, it refers to "modern penknives" here.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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