CASE KNIVES: Kenneth Doutt of Smethport passed along an article, “History of Case Knives” by Jason Houser, that mentioned the Bradford-based knife company.
“This was in the January issue of Fur, Fish & Game,” Kenneth explained.
The article describes how “the Case brothers began making knives and selling them along a wagon trail in upstate New York,” and follows how the business’s form changed over the years. It mentioned the brand’s role in both World War and in NASA space flights.
“Case provided NASA a special knife for manned Apollo and Gemini space flights, so the company can literally say their knives have been to the moon and back,” the article stated.
As we know, W.R. Case & Sons is now owned by Bradford’s own Zippo Manufacturing Co., but as Kenneth points out, the article “doesn’t say anything about Bradford.”
The author did share his affectionate thoughts on the knives after finding his late father’s own Case collection.
NUTCRACKER:Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” held its public premier on this day in 1892 — 145 years ago — in St. Petersburg, Russia.
To this day, the ballet remains a Christmastime favorite, but it received negative reviews at its initial release, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Tuesday is the anniversary of the publication of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
On Dec. 19, 1843, the famous story was published in England. Since that time, I’ve seen countless remakes of the story using everything from comedians to cartoon characters to puppets to retell the tale of the miserly businessman.
On Dec. 20, 1946, there was a preview showing of the Frank Capra film “It’s A Wonderful Life” for charity in New York. The preview was held a day before its official world premier.
We hope everyone got a chance to see their favorite holiday performances this year — there’s nothing like a familiar story to get into the spirit. The older we get, it seems the harder it is to remember why Christmas used to seem magical.
Speaking of Christmas, it’s just one week away. Is everyone ready?
