Broom making or?? |
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Posted 8 years ago
shielc
(1 item)
Donated to our museum along with some broom making equipment. We've decided it's not a broom making knife but we're not sure what it was used for. Blade is about five inches. Definitely hand made. Our guess is early 1900s.
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i was thinking 'a perfect tool for cutting broomcorn', when i saw Thomas's message here...
Another 1 pic poste that leaves questions. Called a knife, but what edges are sharp ?Ho2, what is "broomcorn" ?
This is a beautifully made cutter; I think it's older than Shielc believes it to be. But: why is it 'a perfect tool for cutting broomcorn'? Any knife can slice off the top of the broomcorn plant. Modern folding corn-topping knives, called "maize" knives, have a 2 1/2" (apx.) straight, wide blade with a round end and they are used for the same job (but for a very different purpose). Broomcorn tops are also sliced lengthwise to get smaller strips which are braided onto the handle of a traditional round broom but this blade would be very difficult to use for that purpose. This knife is more reminiscent of a food chopper which is held with the handle horizontal and the blade is worked straight down on a board or, in the curved blade varieties, in a bowl. I could not find any references to or pictures of a tool of this shape related to broom-making or any other use, for that matter. Some citations please.
Iwonder who J*M was! I bet that knife has a lot of tales to tell!
Undoubtedly John Malkovich.