Reminiscing

[gregintenn]

Just spent yesterday and today watching an online auction. They sold 700 knives, which was a portion of the old man’s estate. I bought a couple. Wish I’d have bought a few more.

This fella was well known in our community. He’d had a stroke, and either communicated with hand signals or a pen and pad of paper he kept handy in his shirt pocket. No telling what the old man was worth, but you’d never know it. He was as nice a guy as you’ll ever meet, and still a kid at heart.

 

I always fancied myself as a pretty formidable card player, but you simply could not beat this fella and his buddy at Rook. No matter who I partnered with, I can’t remember once ever even getting close to beating them. If they cheated, I never caught them, and I have a pretty good idea what to watch for.

Two reasons I post this.

One, these type fellas are gone, never to return.

Two, collecting pocket knives isn’t nearly as dead a hobby as I thought. His family and the auctioneer will be very happy with the results.

Have a great weekend and thanks for listening!

[Alleycat72]

Always listen to old man stories because 

1: They are reliving a time they'll never get back. 

2: You'll be making their day.

3: You may learn something. 

4: You'll be old one day. 

[bobsguns]

Mark Twain once wrote: "When I was 14, I thought my father was the stupidest man I had ever known. When I was 20, I thought he had turned into the smartest man I had ever known."

I know I messed up his quote, but that's the gist of it. 

One thing I miss from working gun shows for 30+ years is talking to the older fellas, at least the interesting ones. My mother is now 90 and men her age well remember buying a gun from Sears & having it delivered right to their doorstep. They saw WW2, Korean War, Viet Nam, Sputnik, the moon landing, computers, party lines for phones, etc. Just amazing, IMO. 

gregintn, no offense, but knife collecting is in fact a dying thing. It seems no one under the age of 50 even looks at multi-blade knives anymore, IMO. Everyone seems to be into the tactical knife, auto knives, lock blades (save fingers!), etc. But I'm happy for you that you got some you like. 

[gregintenn]

2 minutes ago, bobsguns said:

Mark Twain once wrote: "When I was 14, I thought my father was the stupidest man I had ever known. When I was 20, I thought he had turned into the smartest man I had ever known."

I know I messed up his quote, but that's the gist of it. 

One thing I miss from working gun shows for 30+ years is talking to the older fellas, at least the interesting ones. My mother is now 90 and men her age well remember buying a gun from Sears & having it delivered right to their doorstep. They saw WW2, Korean War, Viet Nam, Sputnik, the moon landing, computers, party lines for phones, etc. Just amazing, IMO. 

gregintn, no offense, but knife collecting is in fact a dying thing. It seems no one under the age of 50 even looks at multi-blade knives anymore, IMO. Everyone seems to be into the tactical knife, auto knives, lock blades (save fingers!), etc. But I'm happy for you that you got some you like. 

That’s what I thought, but the prices were very high on this collection. I think people are just looking for anything to put money in right now.

[bobsguns]

3 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

I think people are just looking for anything to put money in right now.

Have you talked to lately all those folks who bought those blankety blank Beanie Babies back in the 90s? Ask them how that worked out for them?    

[Wdodd]

16 hours ago, bobsguns said:

Have you talked to lately all those folks who bought those blankety blank Beanie Babies back in the 90s? Ask them how that worked out for them?    

That  apparently worked out well for my precious deceased wife as she left me with 3 huge storage tubs of those Babies!   

[bobsguns]

7 hours ago, Wdodd said:

That  apparently worked out well for my precious deceased wife as she left me with 3 huge storage tubs of those Babies!   

Clearly you haven't tried selling any of her "investment"? Good luck with that.

[Wdodd]

That's kinda funny Bob.   

I don't think she ever considered them an "investment" ..... she just received joy from collecting them.  And I am glad she did.   Just as I have enjoyed collecting my stuff especially with my son when he was growing up.   BTW ...... you wanna buy a slew of Bobby Labonte and Darrell Waltrip NASCAR and/or Harley Davidson "collectibles"?   No?  Well maybe a set of Desert Storm "baseball-type" cards?  

To each his own.

[gregintenn]

11 minutes ago, Wdodd said:

That's kinda funny Bob.   

I don't think she ever considered them an "investment" ..... she just received joy from collecting them.  And I am glad she did.   Just as I have enjoyed collecting my stuff especially with my son when he was growing up.   BTW ...... you wanna buy a slew of Bobby Labonte and Darrell Waltrip NASCAR and/or Harley Davidson "collectibles"?   No?  Well maybe a set of Desert Storm "baseball-type" cards?  

To each his own.

I dunno. What kind of Harley stuff do you have?

[bobsguns]

15 minutes ago, Wdodd said:

That's kinda funny Bob.   

I don't think she ever considered them an "investment" ..... she just received joy from collecting them. 

Huge difference in collecting for the joy of it & doing so as an "investment", yes? My ex-wife thought she'd be able to retire off of what she made selling them 15-20 years down the road. Like all the other women whom were hoodwinked with this scam, she got stuck with them. Can't give them away.

[Wdodd]

5 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

I dunno. What kind of Harley stuff do you have?

Well, off the top of my head ..... maybe a few dozen do-rags,  a few more dozen t-shirts from various dealerships/cities, one HD telephone (land-line only), a few years commemorative Mini-Gas Tank sets, and a huge Lego HD motorcycle.  One day my son will have a lotta "fun" pondering "What was my old man thinking?"