Case President's Event at Smoky Mountain Knife Works

SMKW in Sevierville was host to the third stop on the Case XX Treasure Hunt 2007 Tour.  The event hosted this past Saturday on July 7th featured a large contingent of Case staff including the Case President, Chairman of the Board and VP of Sales and Marketing, as well as the Case Historian and Club Administrator.

Whittlers Martin Henry, Jim Ferguson and Bill Henry were on hand to show their whittling skills.  As they day rolled on, they skillfully added puppies, swords and other fanciful creations to their collection of handcrafted poplar carvings.  Martin had a  wonderful Santa on hand that he had carved out of a knife and rotary tool.  According to Martin, all you need is good hand eye coordination to be a whittler.  "If you can reach in your back pocket and pull our your handkerchief and put it to your mouth, you qualify.  From there, everything is learned.  At least that is what I use to say, and still do"  Well, I qualify, but am rather certain their skills go beyond the basic handkerchief test.

From there, I went on to talk with George Manuel and Sherl Folger of the Tar Heel Cutlery Club.  I was told that they have been around for 32 years and claim to be the oldest knife club in America.  (any other claimants to this title can email me)  They also claim to be the greatest knife club.  (Please don't email me if you think you are greater ;)  George not only brought a wonderful collection of Case Muskrat knives to the show, he also brought a stuffed muskrat, which he jokingly named Clyde and then later Stanley.

George has managed to collect all the Mini Muskrats except one: the 2005 Historian Tour pearl handle knife of which only 4 were made.  If you can manage to find one of these for George, he would be much obliged.  George also has all 5 tiny Case Muskrats.  For all you new to pocket knives, he recommends Jim Sargent's knife book as a great start to learning the trade. 

Sheryl had a real dandy of a Case Knife with him.  It was a mint condition knife with 25 cents stamped on the tang.  This knife was most likely made in the early thirties and you will undoubtedly not find one like this with a metal detector. 

Here is George Manuel and Sheryl Folger with the President Tom Arrowsmith and Ed Jessup the VP of Case.  As Case was getting photos for their forum, Ed jokingly wanted the pictures to go a little faster "I can't hold it in any longer"  to which Tom with a subtle glance at Ed said "It ain't in".   

Next to George and Sherl, Don Smartt of Tennessee was on hand and had a nice set of curly maple Case knives, most of which were 1989 vintage.  He also has a beautiful model with a Damascus blade also from 1989.  The new Teakwood knives by Case carry a similar look, but the curly maple seems to have a bit more character.

Dave Hamilton had his stunning display of knives set up on this same corner next to Don.  Dave has an almost unrivaled collection of Case Peanuts, which including 50 prototypes.  He also has the good fortune to have six prototype knives by Tommy Hart under the direction of Jim Parker when Jim owned case.

Tony Clemmons brought a display of Case fixed blade knives made in the 1910 to 1920 timeframe.  The names Scout, Cody and Carson were featured on the blades.  (If you have more info on these knives, then let us know)  These knives were in such great shape they looked almost straight from the factory.

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