CELLFISH
Well-Known Angler
oskar butter bautzen
3a 11cm
so i needed a tool to help me scrape out some old caulking in the window sill, as i thought a curved knife such as a carpet knife would be ideal..
in my hardly used now collection of tools, i was fortunate to remember and retrieve a curved knife i thought would be a carpet knife..
but before using this blade, i quickly admired its age, the quality of the steel, its shape, sharpness and the memories of how it was in my possession from my childhood home.
with a fairly detail examination of the manufacture, it turned out to be a German Company from the 1930 circa, by the name of Oskar Butter , Bautzen. 11CM 3A (model #)
lol., at first i thought how could this be a butter knife. lol.
fortunately the internet led me to the site of archived items of “ Oskar Butter “ which had 2 cataloged magazines he made in the early 1900’s..
OB, specialized in garden tools, everything from lawn mowers to pruning knives which this particular blade was.
so with this interesting understanding, the knife allowed me to believe “most likely” , it was from my mothers father Anthony, at least.
my grandfather Anthony Sterlacci was a peasant from the southern boot of Italy, the region of Bari.
from my understanding Anthony and his wife Mary like most peasants, had to grow their own food when possible.
so the pruning knife from Anthony made the most sense rather than my fathers side parents, who i never knew what the hell they did.
this knife may have been from my fathers tool box, but that would add confusion, cancel out the grandpa sterlacci theory and would be less romantic.
Anthony and Mary who had immigrated to Brooklyn mid 1930’s and with a landlord allowing him to grow and tend a good size garden, giving me my first taste of Swiss Chard..
till this day , each and every time i cook Swiss Chard i go back 60 years, his tomatoes were special too.
the thought of this Pruning Knife’s journey, makes this story all the most remarkable and helps me to think of the struggles and sacrifices they have made to give me the good i have, HUMBLE is key…
michael aka cellfish
3a 11cm
so i needed a tool to help me scrape out some old caulking in the window sill, as i thought a curved knife such as a carpet knife would be ideal..
in my hardly used now collection of tools, i was fortunate to remember and retrieve a curved knife i thought would be a carpet knife..
but before using this blade, i quickly admired its age, the quality of the steel, its shape, sharpness and the memories of how it was in my possession from my childhood home.
with a fairly detail examination of the manufacture, it turned out to be a German Company from the 1930 circa, by the name of Oskar Butter , Bautzen. 11CM 3A (model #)
lol., at first i thought how could this be a butter knife. lol.
fortunately the internet led me to the site of archived items of “ Oskar Butter “ which had 2 cataloged magazines he made in the early 1900’s..
OB, specialized in garden tools, everything from lawn mowers to pruning knives which this particular blade was.
so with this interesting understanding, the knife allowed me to believe “most likely” , it was from my mothers father Anthony, at least.
my grandfather Anthony Sterlacci was a peasant from the southern boot of Italy, the region of Bari.
from my understanding Anthony and his wife Mary like most peasants, had to grow their own food when possible.
so the pruning knife from Anthony made the most sense rather than my fathers side parents, who i never knew what the hell they did.
this knife may have been from my fathers tool box, but that would add confusion, cancel out the grandpa sterlacci theory and would be less romantic.
Anthony and Mary who had immigrated to Brooklyn mid 1930’s and with a landlord allowing him to grow and tend a good size garden, giving me my first taste of Swiss Chard..
till this day , each and every time i cook Swiss Chard i go back 60 years, his tomatoes were special too.
the thought of this Pruning Knife’s journey, makes this story all the most remarkable and helps me to think of the struggles and sacrifices they have made to give me the good i have, HUMBLE is key…
michael aka cellfish
NYC
