Introduction
The knife is the one tabletop utensil that has a history as both a weapon and a dining tool. Not only could you kill your food with it, but also cut it up for consumption with the same handy implement. This concise article will take you through the development of knives through it’s history all the way to today.
From the beginning
Like the fork and spoon, the design of the knife is modest – a sharp blade connected to a handle. Just as the blade materials vary, stone or bronze in the early days, then later various steels, so do the handle materials. Wood, bone, plastic, and steel-handled knives are a just a few of the variations of the modern knife.
While the knife is one of the earliest tools known to mankind, the history of the knife technically goes back millions of years. A tool was needed to create, survive, harvest, build, and eat. Sharp-edged tools date back nearly 2.5 million years ago. What originally began as sharpened stones, knives evolved over time.
During the Bronze Age, knives were fashioned out of – you guessed it – bronze, which carried with it both benefits and drawbacks. Bronze was easily moldable and allowed for sharper and slimmer knives. However, bronze knives were susceptible to corrosion and dulled easily.
Used mostly as a weapon or tool, knives didn’t reach the dinner table until the Middle Ages. While knives were evolving into swords and axes, it was also when knives began to transform from the sharp, weapon-like shape to the wide, blunt knives we are more familiar with today, i.e. the butter knife. The sharp knives would often cause injuries at the dinner table. These knives were narrow and their sharply pointed ends were used to spear food to raise it to their mouth to eat.
Knives were first used as Cutlery 500 years ago. Before that people would carry their own Knife in a Sheath attached to their belt. These Knives were narrow and their sharply pointed ends were used to spear the food rather than using a fork, as we do today.
In 1669, King Louis XIV of France made the sharply pointed, double bladed knives illegal at the table and eventually throughout France due to their harmful design. Blunt tipped knives soon became the tabletop standard in Europe, and ultimately, America.
In the 15th century, those who dined out brought their eating utensils with them. You were in the minority if you didn’t carry a knife on your person during this time. A knife that could serve both eating and self-defense proved quite useful. Over time, people went from carrying several knives of various sizes, to one knife, to a knife and spoon, and eventually adding a fork to the utensil set.
Long after knives were adopted for table use, however, they continued to be used as weapons. Thus, the multi-purpose nature of the knife continued to pose the threat of danger at the dinner table. However, once forks started to gain acceptance as a more efficient way to pick up food, there was no longer any need for the dangerous pointed tip of the ‘dinner knife’.
In the early 20th century, the introduction of stainless steel blades followed by the inclusion of silver handles paved the way for the knives we are most accustomed to today.
Presently, you’ll find a variety of knives in food service operations and restaurants. From pairing knives, chef’s knives, and butcher’s knives in the kitchen to butter knives and steak knives on the table, this handy utensil is used in nearly all aspects of food service preparation and dining.
The versatility of knives
There are endless type of knives that have been designed by man over the years…with many different purposes. It is important to remember that any ‘knife’…is capable of inflicting serious or fatal injuries! The most wonderful use of a knife invented to actively save life, is the ‘Surgical Knife’…a marvelous invention used by skilled hands for good by Surgeons as well as Veterinary Surgeons! From stone blades, to the use at the table to the surgeon’s hand. What’s next for knives?
The “pocket” or “folding knife” throughout the ages
The ‘jackknife’ – an alternative term for a very basic folding knife – is said to originate somewhere in the Germanic regions of Europe, north of Italy, and dates back to between 600 and 500 BCE, though the evidence is hard to substantiate. What can be said is that these knives were fairly primitive in their construction. They consisted of a very plain handle and a somewhat unwieldy blade attached via a simple hinge – with no lock nor spring to keep it closed and/or open of which to speak.
With the rise of the Roman Empire came a multitude of technological advances throughout the known world. While folding knives remained much the same in regard to form, the quality of materials and designs improved. Archaeological digs have elicited examples of ornate ‘friction folders’ – a folding knife whose blade is held in place by the grip of the wielder due to an extended tang (a projection from the base of the blade) – made from metals such as copper, iron, and steel. Such examples can be traced back as far as 43 CE.
In other parts of the world – even before the complete collapse of the Roman empire – several cultures had developed their own versions of compact folding knives. For example, the Vikings created their own swiveling friction folders with iron blades and carved bone handles around the 8th to the 11th centuries. In fact, it is said that these kinds of folding knives – also known as penny, peasant, or farmer knives – were a popular tool throughout both the Viking and Medieval periods, especially amongst craftsmen and in agrarian communities.
The development of knives today
The development of knives today vary so much from low price to very expensive. From simple to complex designs. There are very distinct differences in quality. However even the cheapest price knives can do a decent job with cutting depending on your needs.