I remember knives of this style, made in the GDR. As a child, I did not have money for such luxuries, but I was lucky to find such a lost knife, in the summer, among the grass. In a place where in winter, cross-country skiing was massive. Part of the hilt was broken, and I made the missing part from some kind of dog bone. Just find an old big dog skeleton and use the spare parts.
I think back in our childhood, for those of us that are past our sell by date, we had very little in regards to what kids have today, and we coveted what we did have; we also didn't live in a throw away world as it is now.
At the top of my garden is a rather large pile of spare parts , often referred to as rubbish. that has taken decades to accumulate and one of my secret delights is to rummage through it in search of something that can be used to make a toy or tool or ornament that the grandkids have suggested , with their help of course.I think back in our childhood, for those of us that are past our sell by date, we had very little in regards to what kids have today, and we coveted what we did have; we also didn't live in a throw away world as it is now.
Oh aye we'd go down the shops and everywhere with our knives on. No one turned a hair back then.
I think every town had a shop like that. The smell of those shops now takes me back. Invariably there was a memorable owner too. As George Orwell put it " Where are the men with chests like barrels and moustaches like the wings of Eagles that strode across my childhood view". In those surplus shops thats where.Anyone who lived in the Harrow area would probably know the army surplus shop run by Jack Shaw up near the civic centre. He was a proper old army type with a handle bar tash! He'd sell us all sorts of stuff like Rambo knives, Black Widow sling shots etc. We had some good times and although we were little shxxs never managed to stab anyone!
I still have an old German army ruck sack I bought off him over 35 years ago!
The place is a vegetarian restaurant now
www.mirror.co.uk
Do all outlets have to be violent?
When has it not been the case? We have always acted like that to a greater or lesser degree. I get the feeling it is made a whole lot worse by the media in all its forms. What we didn't know we couldn't be influenced by. Take an off piste example : last night I saw a MacDonald's advert showing "people" eating hamburgers like load of pigs, no disrespect to pigs, I genuinely felt ill at the sight but is it possible that eating like that is now acceptable? With no other examples it is only natural people will follow , subconsciously, because they wish to emulate their perceived peers.
No but the outlet to inherent violence probably does...
I grew up watching tom and Jerry bashing the **** out of each other, Wile E. Coyote having anvils dropped on him, cars crashing into tunnels painted on walls and many others, yet I've never bashed anyone with a frying pan or thrown an anvil at anyone. I actually hunted down the original tom and Jerry cartoons to show my kids, who eventually moved onto shooting anything that moved on call of duty. They've never stabbed anyone either, though my youngest once chased a mobile phone thief in a park, knocked him off his moped and recovered not only his own phone but half a dozen others! In short, I don't think it's video games and cartoons...
