What exactly was the Arkansas Toothpick? We look at some period newspaper accounts. Replica by Windlass: www.museumreplicas.com/battlecry-arkansas-toothpick-knife?affiliate=scholagladiatoria

@andrewom679

4 ай бұрын

You accidentally pronounced "legislature" almost like a true Southerner!

@seriousmaran9414

4 ай бұрын

Bowie owned and designed a number of knives that were different. In all cases these were identical to or based on earlier designs. The term Bowie knife is just an additional name for a knife when they did not know one.

@Gterr1971

4 ай бұрын

Oh yeah ! Bad assery !!!!

@dredlord47

4 ай бұрын

The American Territories weren't a part of the U.S., their sheriff was the absolute authority of the town since they didn't need to abide by the Federal Constitution, being not a PART of America. This also was not common and was usually used to discriminate against specific people. (Usually ranch hands/cowboys.) This being the case: your statement of "In many American and Canadian towns, and places, you weren't allowed to walk around with firearms without a good reason" is incorrect for the U.S. side. The Territories weren't American land *yet*. No town in a State of this Republic had such rule regarding firearms until 1877 with Jim Crow, aimed exclusively at blacks in the south, and then the NFA in 1936.

@MrMegrim

4 ай бұрын

Yisss the 'murican biodag 🤠

As an actual Arkansas swamp person, I approve this video.

@blackfin2389

4 ай бұрын

Greetings from Fort Smith!

@Bayou987

4 ай бұрын

As your Louisianian swamp neighbor I endorse your approval

@slowbra94

4 ай бұрын

Arkansas has swamps? Im from louisiana i just tend to avoid anything above I10 as the farther you get from it the faster people lose the ability to cook 😂😂😂

@Bayou987

4 ай бұрын

@@slowbra94 my brother, Arkansas people is our kind of people. Is their roux strong? Probably not but can they fry fish and back strap and cook a ribeye Hell yes.

@atomicbeaver5

4 ай бұрын

As an Arkansas mountain man, we like big ahh knifes

Hey, I work for the Historic Arkansas Museum, where we have the original Bowie No. 1. Our specialty is 1830's-1840's Arkansas (around the time Bowie got his knife from James Black), specifically Little Rock, but we have done plenty of research into this for our Knife Gallery. Bowie wanted this knife made because he was a duellist, and a lot of the knives he was seeing on the market didn't really have the handle he was looking for. He wanted a fixed blade, and a handle that he could more easily hold in a handshake grip-- better for thrusts. The double-edged design is actually not what Bowie got from Black originally; Bowie No. 1 was single-edged, about the size of a long seax. It had the kind of broken back or drop point that you see on a lot of seaxes, and that broken back was sharpened for the exact reason you stated: better for thrusting. It functioned essentially as the "false edge," so to speak. After the famous (or infamous) Sandbar Fight, a lot of people came forth saying they wanted "a knife like Bowie's." As not every blacksmith knew exactly what Bowie's knife from James Black looked like, the design fluctuated a lot, and the name basically came to mean "a big knife." From our research, an "Arkansas Toothpick" can honestly refer to any number of blades in the time period. Arkansas was well-known for its knives, tbh. Our resident blacksmith regards the term as kind of an umbrella referring to big knives made in Arkansas in general. If it doesn't already have another name, it's likely to be referred to as an Arkansas Toothpick. Often in our sources, the term "Bowie Knife" and "Arkansas Toothpick" are interchangeable, but sometimes they're not. Naming conventions are weird and mostly arbitrary in a lot of these sources. TL;DR: "a knife like Bowie's" and "an Arkansas Toothpick" are sometimes interchangeable terms in Arkansas in the 1830's-40's, but not always. It's weird and arbitrary and more than a little dependent on the person doing the writing.

@edmundcharles5278

4 ай бұрын

I have always read that the actual Bowie knife that James Bowie carried and died with at the Alamo has been ‘lost to history’ and that there is no certainty as to its precise appearance and dimensions .

@kyleburrow3351

4 ай бұрын

@@edmundcharles5278 Bowie had several knives made over the course of his life. He may well have died with one of them at the Alamo. While that one may be lost, the one made by James Black is not

@bbtfan7957

Ай бұрын

Personally, I think the term 'Bowie Knife's was nothing more than a marketing ploy.

@kyleburrow3351

Ай бұрын

@@bbtfan7957 sure, maybe, but that's the story, anyhow.

@reverendronsrevelationroom1405

12 күн бұрын

As an Arkansan I’ve always understood the “Bowie knife” was made in Arkansas for Bowie and the name Arkansas toothpick was pretty much a Bowie knife. In references I’ve always seen the Arkansas toothpick as a knife Matt has here. Naming conventions, in time, are always muddled up and we like to try and clarify where there never was any clarity

You kill a guy on a sandbar once and suddenly the history of American fighting knives just poofs out of existence. Thanks for bringing up a classic blade.

@kampar82

4 ай бұрын

I mentioned dueling in early American history in the wrong place and got immediately banned. I too am happy that this history is remembered, good or bad.

@lunacorvus3585

4 ай бұрын

To be fair the knife design that got the popularity(though probably doesn’t look like the original) looks really nice

@Technoanima

2 ай бұрын

Yep. Gun and dagger was a combo literally pre-dating the colonial era. Mostly popular in South America where Columbus actually began expedition there..

As an Arkansasian, I can confirm that this is exactly what we pick our tooth with

@user-wd4ge2zh2c

4 ай бұрын

Also

@kittytrail

4 ай бұрын

aren't Arkansas men having a single collective tooth much like them ginger cats having one quantically time-shared neuron for all of 'em worldwide? 🤭 although they may also have a collective neuron if you mostly sample their elected politicians... 😏👌

@andrewom679

4 ай бұрын

So that's why all the white people are missing from the gas stations! Man, I was thinking you guys just did a raffle for quick stops in Mumbai!

@arcturionblade1077

4 ай бұрын

Tooth, as in singular?

@gorbalsboy

4 ай бұрын

Hey hup swamp thing ,hull from sun drenched Scotland

My Shawnee Grandmother, referred to any long-bladed knife other than a butcher's knife as a Bowie, except the very long double-edged Arkansas Toothpick, one of which she carried in a sheath under her skirt until her death in the 1970's. Her mother had traveled to Shawnee Kansas on the Trail of Tears with the Cherokee's that went on to Oklahoma, at the end of that winter she was sent to White Oak Oklahoma with many other Shawnees. (circa 1840) My Grandmother was born in 1883 near White Oak.

@jbman413

4 ай бұрын

Respect

@NathanForrest-yc5kv

4 ай бұрын

Disgusting! We should have kill those savages clean off the map.

@nicholasholloway8743

4 ай бұрын

Part Cherokee and another tribe who's name escapes me. Chyanne I believe. Really just a mutt as I also have Anglo Saxon, Scottish and Irish in me as well. Pretty awesome to know where you hail from

@BillyJ244

4 ай бұрын

@@bbaker7467 you were obviously there to see the rescues?

@therealfearsome

4 ай бұрын

@@bbaker7467 There are several different "trails" that Indians took across the country. Not all tribes took the same paths and fewer went as a single group

For whatever it's worth, my father grew up in North Carolina, and he insisted that "Bowie Knife" and "Arkansas Toothpick" meant the same thing. He also said the REAL definition was just "big-ass knife', which might be broad, but seems functionally accurate to me.

@genghiskhan6809

4 ай бұрын

As a southerner myself, lots of my friends do use the term like that.

@wendyandwalter40

4 ай бұрын

In my NC Appalachian childhood, Arkansas toothpick was a slang, somewhat discriminatory synonym for a Bowie, specifically used to call out a knife that was so big as to be useless. Like most of linguistics, the problem is that a word means what the speaker intends it to mean at the time. In a similar linguistic vein, when an item/place/etc is named after a person, the correct pronunciation is always that used by the person in question. Arguing that Bowie is pronounced differently thousands of miles away is at best ignorant, at worst, disrespectful.

@batsquatch1987

4 ай бұрын

I like your Dad already.

@alvinhelms2170

4 ай бұрын

@@wendyandwalter40 - My father used the 'toothpick' term the way you mention, as a humorous, semi-derisive term for a knife that was obviously much bigger than necessary.

@wendyandwalter40

4 ай бұрын

@@alvinhelms2170 Derisive. That was the term I was looking for. Much better description than discriminatory. Arkansas toothpick was often used in my scout troop when I was growing up to refer to that 3lb sword an eleven year old would bring on his first backpacking trip. I still use it the same way today with the scouts in my troop. 🤣

Arkansan here. I live about thirty minutes from Washington AR where the original Bowie was forged and I can tell you the Bowie they have on display that was forged to the dimensions of the original is a beast!

As an Alabamian, it's illegal to carry a blade longer than three or four inches, *concealed*. You can, technically, wear a sword if you wanted as long as it carried openly. Edit: proud lizard here.

@Zbigniew_Nowak

4 ай бұрын

How about firearms?

@Liquidsback

4 ай бұрын

@@Zbigniew_Nowak It's Alabama, you ain't taking their guns down there. But they do have concealed permits, not sure about open carry like Texas.

@issintf925

4 ай бұрын

​@@Zbigniew_NowakYou can carry a firearm in every state, but the specific rules around it changes from state to state. Alabama is a "Constitutional Carry" state, meaning any lawful adult can carry without a permit. Knives have different laws

@jimmykilgore9360

4 ай бұрын

@@Zbigniew_Nowak On Jan. 1 2023, permitless concealed carry, also known as constitutional carry, became Alabama law, ending the requirement that eligible gun owners have a permit to carry a concealed weapon on their person or in their vehicles. Permits are still sold by county, which is handy for out-of-state carry as permits are still required in some states.

@LuminaryCursorem

4 ай бұрын

Nice to see a fellow lizard 🦎 Kay signed HB 272 repealing all concealed weapon laws, including knives. This law went into effect January 1, 2023. It allows you to carry basically anything now, firearms and any length of knife.

Being from the American South myself (mother is from Arkansas) i have observed that much like our axes here in the US, our knife designs tend to be regional in nature & largely dependent on the original region of the old country the people of each state came from. For example the people of Arkansas are mostly German & Celtic so the designs tend to follow that. Where as in places like Minnesota where people are Norwegian etc they had more axes & knives of that design.

@crow4936

4 ай бұрын

Come to think of it it dose remind me of a ww2 ss dagger

@andymetternich3428

4 ай бұрын

​@@crow4936or an oversized Sykes Fairbairn?

@crow4936

4 ай бұрын

@@andymetternich3428 I can see that valid point.

@PhilipLautinJackson

4 ай бұрын

Reminds me a lot of the irish skean/ sgian dubh / dirk. Or a sword for hobbits.

@Locksley108

4 ай бұрын

"For example the people of Arkansas are mostly German & Celtic " No they aren't? The largest white ethnic group in Arkansas are English-Americans.

I love these "in period" account videos. Also, reporters didn't always know what they were talking about. Same as today. I mean, I feel sorry for researchers in 2124 reading today's newspaper accounts trying to figure out what was going on.

Jim Bowie defined a Bowie knife as one 'Heavy enough to split kindling, sharp enough to shave with and wide enough to paddle a canoe'

@gusplaer

4 ай бұрын

Yes, they are big.

@edmundcharles5278

4 ай бұрын

Sounds like a 10-12 inch blade!

@Deusmecumest

4 ай бұрын

Is that true? Or just hearsay.

@chuckmikey001

Ай бұрын

I have and use a few different "bowie" type knives and its not really an exaggeration, the bowie splits and chops about as good as a hatchet or tomahawk, with the added advantage of having a longer cutting edge so you don't have to be quite as accurate as you would with the shorter cutting edges axes have, if you have a lighter bowie it also comes in handy as a short machete, the wider bowies can in a pinch be used as a paddle long enough to retrieve your canoe paddle you dropped in a lake lol and even with very long bowies there are ways to hold it for very delicate carving and game processing, they are pretty versatile.

"That's a knife? THIS is a knife!" - Jim Bowie

@Liquidsback

4 ай бұрын

This is a knife!!!-Some German guy pulling out a Messer.

@asahearts1

4 ай бұрын

"take your protein pills and put your helmet on" -Bowie

@vedymin1

4 ай бұрын

"Lift heavy, eat your multies and stay alfa".🗿🐸

@Ohnyet

4 ай бұрын

Aussie said that,not jim

@undead9999

4 ай бұрын

@@Ohnyet you ain't the sharpest tool in the shed, huh?

My family has had an Arkansas toothpick passed down as an heirloom for three generations. As an aside, here in Arkansas you see all sorts of long bladed knives called Arkansas Toothpicks. Ours is double edged but I've seen a few shaped like Bowie blades.

@Grunttamer

4 ай бұрын

Also an Arkansan. I have never seen one that was single edged.

@JayTheRed602

4 ай бұрын

@@Grunttamer I've seen a few. Off the top of my head there was a single edged Bowie shaped coffin handled blade in a civil war museum in Little Rock.

@BrianRRenfro

4 ай бұрын

Also also an Arkansasan and as Grunt says I have never seen anything but standard Arkansas Toothpicks called such BUT I know plenty of people that call anything over about 5-6 inches a "pigsticker"

@lavenderlilacproductions

4 ай бұрын

In Little Rock there's a museum of Arkansas Bowies

@ronalddunne3413

3 ай бұрын

@@Grunttamer Dixie Gun Works MANY years (five decades) ago sold me an "Arkansas toothpick" that was single-edged with very little clip..

"Jocktileg," from old Scots language, is a small folding pen knife with a handle usually carved in the shape of the lower human leg. Some references spell it as joctileg, jocteleg, etc.

Jockteleg: a large clasp knife. Collins dictionary says it's Scottish in origin, which makes sense because many Gaelic words end in -lig, or -laig, including the word in Gaelic for Gaelic itself: Gaidhlig. Regarding laws in the different states; I was a police officer in Mississippi about 18 years ago and at that time at least, it was illegal to carry double edged knives all together, while single edged knives under 3 inches of blade length could be carried concealed, and single edged blades of any length could be carried openly unless any particular municipality had additional laws against it. This was supposedly because a single edged knife was for outdoor work while double edged knives were considered to be weapons as a primary function, and especially a weapon favored by thieves and "assasins".

@phillipmargrave

4 ай бұрын

The right of the people to keep, and bear arms shall not be infringed. That means knives too.

@MasterPoucksBestMan

4 ай бұрын

I wholeheartedly agree. Also, explaining is not condoning.

@chrisball3778

4 ай бұрын

Likely origin of the modern term 'jackknife'.

@kaoskronostyche9939

4 ай бұрын

@@chrisball3778 Maybe. According to the Etymological Dictionary of the English Language a "jack" is a Maille coat. Perhaps the original meaning was a knife to penetrate Maille. According to Concise Oxford Dictionary jack can simply refer to the "common man." Moreover a Jack is a tradesman like a Steeple Jack or Scaffold Jack. Perhaps they had a specialized knife. Perhaps it means simply a common knife. But then, what do I know?

@davidtuttle7556

4 ай бұрын

@@kaoskronostyche9939and then there is applejack.

Thank you for another well researched video. Since I was young, well before the Internet, the old-timers in Alabama I knew had referred to Bowie-sized daggers as an "Arkansas Toothpick" and a "Tennesee Toothpick" was a narrow Bowie knife. My guess is the nicknames were varied between regions as well as reporters and authors wanting a more dramatic name in many cases.

@wingatebarraclough3553

4 ай бұрын

True. I've also heard Louisiana toothpick

I’ve always found it interesting that Bram Stoker had Dracula killed with a Bowie knife in his story rather than a wooden stake. Could’ve used a toothpick as easily. There is a cool scene in “The Sacketts” TV series where Tell Sackett (Sam Elliott) uses an Arkansas Tooth pick to shave off the mustache of someone who offended him.

@scribblerjohn1

4 ай бұрын

In the final scene in the book Quincy Morris, mortally wounded himself, nails Dracula through the heart with his Bowie just as Jonathan Harker swipes off his head with a Kukri. I always thought it was cool that Dracula was killed with my two favorite knives.

@SamlSchulze1104

4 ай бұрын

Who wouldn't be killed by a wooden spike.

As an American and having spent my near 50 years in Appalachia, and with a keen interest in such things, up and down the mountains from the deep south to the foothills of Ohio, an "Arkansas Toothpick" refers always to a symmetric double edged dagger with quilons, provided it is at least 7 inches of blade. The same design but shorter we would call a "Boot Knife" and the Bowie is most certainly a completely separate thing. That is, for at least 100 years it's well understood up and down the country what a toothpick is, and isn't. Generally here a Bowie knife is considered a good camp companion while the toothpick is seen as a weapon with little other use. I'm not saying such definitions are historical, but at least for the entirety of the 20th century there isn't a doubt across 7 states and 900 miles of mountains regarding what an Arkansas Toothpick is.

GOT IT!!! The Windlass Arkansas toothpick from Battle cry blades and I am VERY PLEASED!!! I have several Windlass knives that includes the Cold Steel toothpick, Chieftain seax AND the 1917 Frontier Bowie and now my new one from Battle cry blades, does NOT disappoint!!! Thank you Mr. Easton for showcasing this knife. It is very well built, light and nimble and the 1075 steel makes it a "very" tough blade... LOVE IT!!!❤

Bowies were often simply referred to as butcher knives. Bowies, Arkansas Toothpicks, etc. tended to be names that could refer to any big fighting knife. Terms seemed to be very fluid and depended on the location and personality of the owner.

@lalli8152

4 ай бұрын

Makes sense. Maybe also the toothpick with thick back, but double edges was what we now consider more of bowie, and the double edge meant that it had shorter back edge towards the tip like many bowies have. In the account of the knife salesman wares. I have also heard some bowie collectors say english made bowie knives might have etched or engraved text saying for example "arkansas toothpick", but it was apparently really more what area the knives were marketed what kinda texts they used

Northwestern arkansas Ozark area, my grandfather always laughed about the toothpicks. "Everyone was missing every other tooth..." Meaning, the gap was large enough between teeth to fit and or need a larger knife to clean between their teeth.

The writing in the encounter with the wolf is 1) amazing, and 2) demonstrates that folk were clearly and actively seeking out creative colloquialisms to use in their descriptive writing. When people are writing like that, they might describe a letter-opener as "An Arkansas Toothpick" if it added color to the story.

Someone may have already said it: Connecticut is the ‘Nutmeg State’ due to in it’s early days ‘Chapman’ ( traveling traders) would commonly be outfitted in this state and one item they where noted for selling was spices such as nutmeg. Wooden Nutmegs were sometimes mixed in with the Chapman’s real nutmegs where it would pick up the smell and be pretty much indistinguishable from the actual nutmegs - allowing the Chapman to augment his supplies by selling ‘Wooden Nutmegs’ ( cheating the buyer) - People from Connecticut are known is 'Nutmegers'

@MichaelCorryFilms

4 ай бұрын

People from Connecticut are also called "psychopaths".

@ronalddunne3413

3 ай бұрын

Selling wooden nutmegs for real nutmegs would be bad for repeat business...

@markhensel1843

3 ай бұрын

@ronalddunne3413 The Chapman crossed large areas by wagon and didn't depend on return customers nor did the client base have much choice back then as there was no stores in the areas the Chapman went - this was early colonial days - but 'Nutmeger' became the same as 'Buyer Beware' and still sticks.

The sheer level of research that you incorporate into each video is always impressive. The impression I get is that an "Arkansas Toothpick" is a large knife wielded by a someone from Arkansas. In similar vagueness as "Samurai Sword"

@Grunttamer

4 ай бұрын

no it's a type of knife not just a knife held by an Arkansan

@kyuken893

4 ай бұрын

@@Grunttamer so which specific type of knife is the one that is variously described as a folding Bowie knife, fixed blade Bowie knife, and long double edged knife? There seems be one consistent definition across history that has more to do with use than form. If you want to say that the specific type changed across time that's a fair argument. But you would need to substantiate that claim.

@Grunttamer

4 ай бұрын

@@kyuken893 as an Arkansan that has seen many Arkansas toothpicks none of which would be folding, or resemble a Bowie knife. They are always large, two edged, symmetrical, pointed, knives with some sort of hand protection. The most important aspect is it must come to a point and nearly comical in scale

@zednotzee7

4 ай бұрын

I tried looking into this a couple of years ago. The Bowie was definitely known as an Arkansas Toothpick. But as far as could tell, so was the stabbey double edged knife. I came to the conclusion this was because they were both " invented " in Arkansas ( and James Black was involved with both perhaps ). Either way, I wouldn't want to try picking my teeth with either of the things lol.

@CrimeVid

4 ай бұрын

The knife that I saw that I thought made most sense as an Arkensaw toothpick was like a long narrow Bowie knife eg a parallel bladed single edge with a slightly swept back clip point . A knife on the way to a full bore Bowie. I did have a look at these in a semi diligent way a few years ago. and all I can say, is nobody is prepared to nail their flag to the mast on the original form of the Arkensaw Toothpick !

I am so glad you mention that the Bowie design goes back as far as medieval times. My wifes family is Scottish and we have photos of deadset bowies in the family collection stemming back to the battles between the English and Scots at Hadrians wall. Jim might have made them popular in the US - but the inventor of the design he was not.

This would match my Cold Steel Frontier Bowie really nicely. Beautiful knife.

When I was younger, much, I was given to understand the Arkansas Toothpick specifically had a symmetrical blade, in the form of a long, narrow isosceles triangle. The blade triangle was very accute, and straight edged. The example I was shown was diamond cross sectioned, and quite stiff. That last might actually be the "thick back," double-edged form described in one of your entries.

Awesome video as per usual. I fell in love with the Arkansas Toothpick when it was depicted in the 1979 made for TV movie "The Sacketts" staring Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott. It's about a family of Welsh immigrants and their trials and travails. A young, but already grizzled Sam Elliot plays Orrin Sackette; a mountain man and gold prospector. In a Wild West bar, Orrin pulls his trusty Arkansas Toothpick to settle a fight with a miscreant trying to steal his gold. He shaves off the man's mustache with that Arkansas Toothpick, much to the amazement and awe of the bar patrons. It was a great scene, with a real hero's knife. It sounds like the Director may have done his homework and depicted the knife correctly in-period. If you haven't scene it, I highly recommend it. On the shifting application of the name, one theory is that the name shifted from a specific type of Western Fighting Knife, to a more general long, slim-bladed Western Fighting Knife. Western Towns had robust gun control laws, contrary to what some Americans will tell you. You seem to have also found knife laws that were passed later in time. If you can no longer legally carry an Arkansas Toothpick, then a folding, long, slim-bladed knife would be a good way to legally carry a good fighting knife. The name naturally shifted over, as language does.

I really love the prose of those old newspaper accounts, and the rather lurid description of wounds given and received as well. Current news outlets refrain from such language!

@thekaxmax

4 ай бұрын

They didn't have TV, so they had to get you to visualise the violence yourself.

I love that knife. I’ve had a difficult time finding one in a good steel that I can afford. Have plenty of hunting type blades. Thanks great Video!

@henrybenson1348

2 ай бұрын

Amazon has the Windlass Arkansas Toothpick for $119. Beautiful and functional, very well made. Received it 3/21/2024. Wooden handle, brass guard, polished blade.

Oddly if find myself BACK home in Arkansas . Arkansas is well known for its knife makers . Most of the smiths that make knives study the old smiths from Arkansas

It could be said we like our knives more than our teeth here. In a history book on our state I read that the Arkansas Toothpick is just another name for the Bowie Knife. It pictured a single bladed traditional Bowie. I am an Arkansas Native. I like yours.

My great uncle was the curator of the Vicksburg Civil War Museum in Vicksburg, Mississippi. There were many examples of the bayonets and blades carried by Confederate soldiers, and there are many examples of various types of Bowie knives. The Arkansas Toothpick is one of them, while they also had the more traditional Sheffield designs, as well as Corsican style with that chef's knife profile. So all examples of large knives of that particular time period are all Bowie knives, no matter which way you cut it 😆

I love when you read the accounts from journals and newspapers! It's immersive to hear original accounts, but also the slight differences in language they use is so interesting.

An an Arkansan, I love this

I always thought it was a regular bowie knife but one which is more elongated and which comes to a more acute clip point.

An important point to consider is the references and comparisons to "spanish knives". Around that time period and earlier the Navaja was popular amongst gypsies and the spanish lower classes and was a folding knife of various styles and blade lengths. Some were thin bladed and very long which I could see getting called a "pocket dirk" whereas others had wide clip point blades indistinguishable from many types of bowie knife. Another important point is that in the US we are VERY prone to using generalist terms for anything of like kind. For example both in contemporary sources and even old western movies you'd often find any revolver called a colt or any lever action called a winchester, regardless of their actual manufacturer. I believe it was much the same for the knives in that any particularly large knife came to be referred to as a bowie knife and/or one of its associative slang terms. Calling a large knife a "pig sticker" is still common to this day in many parts of the south were I lived regardless of the design or purpose of the knife or even the fact that not many people in my area hunted or even raised pigs. TLDR I think calling large knives bowie knives or arkansas toothpick is the equivalent of calling sparkling wine "champagne" even if it didnt come from that region of frog land.

I was born and live in Texas. I have always said "Bowie", like you do, and not "Boo-ie". The way brits pronounce David BOW-ie is an even better pronunciation i think.

@ajjohnson3497

5 күн бұрын

It’s been pronounced “Boo-ie” until a talented Brit changed his last name to Bowie. Why did he choose to name himself after a knife? Because his buddy Mick changed his own last name after one, a German hunters knife which was also mispronounced. It’s supposed to Jaeger but he preferred the phonetic pronunciation of “Jagger” (I have no clue if I’m remember this story correctly)

In my youth (speaking as a 49-year-old American), I was (mis)informed that the Arkansas Toothpick was simply a nickname for the Bowie. Not until this century did I hear the name being used to refer to a dagger, and THIS video is the very first I've heard of either the peculiar folding Bowies OR the name being applied to them.

Hi! Robert from Texas here. I’m not a historian, but I am a knife collector and lover of all things bladed, and (at least here) we tend to think of Arkansas Toothpicks as being Bowie-type knives that have a longer and narrower blade. Single edged and having the same clip point as a regular Bowie knife, just differently dimensions. I do like the folding knife version a lot, though. It would make sense that the blade would have to be narrower if they were going to make it so you can still use the tip of the blade while it’s folded up. Very cool stuff!

Mr. Easton, I "had to" order that very toothpick! I have several Windlass blades that are all very well built and worth every penny! Thank you for bringing that black toothpick to my attention. As soon as I saw it and who makes it, it became a MUST HAVE!!! Great video here too if I may add...

As an Arkansan blacksmith and knife maker. I'm happy to see someone get this thing right finally. As this type of knife pre dates the other two Bowie knife types. Also did you know there is a second style of Bowie knife

Montanan here, I've always called them BOW-EEE like David Bowie. Alot of americans do.

@ArmouredProductions

4 ай бұрын

Bow like taking a Bow on stage, or Bow like a Bow and Arrow? Gotta specify when its just text lol. Because people pronounce David Bowie's name differently too.

@gusplaer

4 ай бұрын

​Didn't know that. Bow as in Long Bow. Long Bow-eee

@Rutherford_Inchworm_III

4 ай бұрын

"Alot" of Americans also die without any of their own teeth and then vote Democrat for another 100 years. Bowie's family name was Scottish and was quite old. Imagine a Scottish person pronouncing the word Bowie: BOO-ee.

@gusplaer

4 ай бұрын

​@@Rutherford_Inchworm_III okay? Not sure what you are getting at with the first part, but the bowie knife is american and I've always heard it pronounced the afore mentioned way. Also, how did David Bowie himself pronounce his name? Honest question.

@BuckHelton

4 ай бұрын

@@gusplaer David (pronounced Bow-ie) did not have a knife named after him. Jim (pronounced Boo-ie) did. Since the knife was named after Jim, and he himself pronounced his name as Boo-ie the knife is also pronounced as such.

The Bowie/Toothpick crossover with the Spanish/Latin American folding Navaja with a clip point blade which could be over 12" long and the fixed blade Facón (that's the knife used by Gauchos) is fascinating.

I think you're right about terminology changes as time passes. From what I understand, bowie knife at the start was simply a large frontier knife. Larger then a regular knife but smaller than a machete. Then, over time, they got different names as they started to fall into their own category. So I mean, I think it both. First, as a long slender dirk, then as a foldable long knife, likely of the same dirk style. As I imagine, folding the traditional bowie shape the handle would be vary thick.

Excellent video as always, Matt! Thanks!

Whenever you make videos talking about the mountain man era and old west I get so excited, and now I want to get a Cold Steel Espada because of the folding bowies!

Windlass also makes the 1917 frontier Bowie from Cold Steel. And is very good quality knives.

I have an Arkansas Toothpick order in at Randall. Just 3 more years to go!

Hey Arkansan here, my family has one of these that has been passed down for generations. Not sure how far back. But yeah, Arkansas Toothpick, Bowie knife, big ass knife are all used interchangeably here.

You've hit upon another subject that I hold dear to my heart. Very fun.

Thanks for the Video. I saw the Arkansas toothpick in a catalog in the 1990's always wanted to buy it, as I was a teenager My mom did not let me. This is the second time I have seen it., I forgot about it until your video:)

The nutmeg reference for New Hampshire is due to the popularity of the spice which came in a form somewhat similar to an acorn which you'd grind to make the powder for your food. It's somewhat derogatory as it wasn't uncommon for certain "Yankee traders" to carve a regular piece of wood into the shape of the nutmeg to make a counterfeit.

@jbloun911

4 ай бұрын

🌰🐿️

Glad to happen upon your channel... cheers mate!

Fascinating video! Thanks for doing the research!

I grew up in Georgia and I’ve had both and still collect. Love them

Kudos to Matt for pronouncing Arkansas correctly. Not all Americans managed that. I'm not a native, but the USAF stationed me at Little Rock AFB for almost 20 years.

@timhousley6845

4 ай бұрын

thank you for your service i live Arkansas and yes it's funny a British guy pronounced it right

I have a few bowie knives. My favorite one is the bowie knife in the expendables movie in which I own one. I like the Arkansas toothpick that Stallone used in the expendables movie as well. That I plan to own some day as well. Thank you for sharing your experience and your insight on another American classic knife. 😏👍

Thank you for making this video!! I am currently working on thesis about the origins and geological usages.

In downtown Little Rock, Arkansas is the Historic Arkansas museum. They have a exhibit on the Bowie Knife.The curator of the exhibit and formerly of the museum is Bill Worthen while who also happens to be the foremost expert on the Bowie knife.

Great video. Thank you.

You make alot of sense in this video...great job

Excellent video. I live a few miles from Old Washington, Arkansas. Pretty interesting town with some excellent knife history.

my two favorites are the USMC Kabar and Fairbarin Sykes fighting knife.

Love this series, but I've been hyper fixated on Kit, particularly blades, from this period since, at the latest, I was 3... which was almost 64 years ago. Thank you for doing the background work. I've run into some of the things you've mentioned, including the background fro the Middle Ages, before. I have found it quite difficult to get the internet to return answers to the questions I've asked. You have helped me with research techniques herein! Primary Source Documents are almost always better!

in "Bowie knife fights and fighters" by Paul Kricher it is mentioned that in the 1830s and 40s the term Arkansas Toothpick and Bowie knife seems to have been used interchangeably possably compounded by the fact that the Bowie knife did not seam to take on its modern aspect untill about the 1850s as the knife used in the Sand Bar Fight was only described in the press as a large butcher knife

Surprisingly interesting topic. The knife looks really good.

Frederick J Stephens wrote a book called Fighting Knives. It lists knives used by John Wilkes Booth spear point knives as Bowie knives. Also Mr Louis L'Amour, a writer of Western stories had an excellent reference collection. If that still exists there may be a research option there. I seem to remember a comment in one of his stories [Historically correct as he can write] to the effect that the term Arkansas Toothpick covered a wide variety of blade profiles.

Fascinating video, thanks for posting. I'd imagine a lot may be down to period marketing? Most folding bowies I've owned have been Victorian but examples exist from the 1830's. I wonder if the term generally refers to a thin slender blade predominantly made for thrusting.

As an Arkie descendant, and a toothpick myself (hey, I'm skinny. What?) I appreciate you taking the time to set this record straight. Well, as straight as it could be... I'm a believer that the Arkansas Toothpick is a folding lintel lock blade, that is hilted and has a bossel and pommel where the blade is a third longer than the handle.

Looking forward to the review

Just to add: in the 1990 movie Young Guns II, the outlaw Dave Rudabaugh is know as Arkansas Dave - though the historical character never used that name. In the movie, he had a knife fight with another outlaw. It's his big scene. I wonder if that his name pertains to that? What he uses in the fight is large Bowie knife. Which may have contemporaneously been a toothpick. But all this really tells us is about 90s movie-makers understanding on the nomenclature.

Jim Bowie was known as a knife fighter and preferred a longer, thick blade that he generally used edge up.The blacksmith referred to in Old Washington, Arkansas is rumored to have made several knives for the Bowie brothers. I prefer the Arkansas toothpick type blade. It allows more options when being wielded as necessary. Nice presentation of these very effective blades.

Nice piece.

The Alabama meat cleaver is now known as the Smithsonian Bowie if you really care. It is very thick and does look like a cleaver with a point and a central handle.

@izzygarcialionibabaloipici6293

4 ай бұрын

is there a source where we could see all of the shapes?

I've just received mine and I cut my hand while taking off the wrapping, totally my fault. I've seen your video of the Windlass factory visit and since then I've bought a few pieces to add to my armoury, and the quality is excellent.

I own several of interpretations and I LOVE THEM!!!!

Very interesting. Thanks.

If you visit the Netherlands there is a chain of grocery stores called "Dirk". A must-have souvenir is a big red shopping bag with DIRK printed on the sides. Yes, my all-time favorite souvenir from my time in Amsterdam is me big red DIRK bag. 😊

I'm an Arkansas bladesmith. Not saying that means i know anything 😁 but i have gotten to talk to many other bladesmiths and blade historians. Acording to most that ive talked to the Arkansas toothpick is actually a Bowie #1 made by James Black with his iconic coffin shaped handle.

Very nice. Told me more than I ever thought to ask my friends who make knives for sale.

I wouldn’t feel bad carrying that in dark scary places

@jamesbridges7750

4 ай бұрын

Arkansas is definitely one of those.

in NY pistol and rifle v Bruen the US supreme court ruled that any weapons law has to have a equivalent law from the time of the Founding to the Reformation; in which all of the laws from the 19th century mentioned and prior laws that fostered this knife-fighting culture are and were Constitutional infringements. Cool video! I love bowies and this form is especially magnificent.

It's a shame Bill Bagwell is no longer with us. His bowies were a sight to behold,. He utilized the Spanish notch a nd the guards trapped in conmming thrust. Jim Keating has picked up torch, his skill is spectacular .

Thank you very much for letting me know where I can purchase one

Regarding the use of terms a good reference point might the word "coke" as applied to a soft drink. In some places it exclusively refers to Coca-Cola classic. In other places it may be used as a generic term for any kind of carbonated soft drink. Even within the same time period different groups may disagree over the meaning of a word.

I happen to know that in the first half of the 1800's Bowie Knives made in Arkansas were generally thinner than Bowie Knives made in other parts of the U.S. giving them a long thin look. It could be that over time this style co-evolved into the dirk style two edge knife and the other folding traditional clip point Bowie Knife, both getting the Arkansas Toothpick name.

Thanks, Matt.

I am picturing one of those folding bowies with the clip point sharpened. Now if only the clip point was sticking out it would look a lot like a double-edged toothpick style knife. Just a theory. Love the content and keep up the great work! 😀👍

this looks like a very effective knife in a knife fight. only thing that worries me that it might be slightly to heavy. but with the reach and the strong thrust it would be force to reckon with in a knife fight.

@josephasbury4492

4 ай бұрын

Diamond profile blades a wickedly light. This would definitely handle faster than a bowie knife.

@ozfifer7392

2 ай бұрын

A standard bowie knife is a bit front heavy, kind of like a cleaver or axe, which makes sense as bowie knives usually serve as both tools and weapons but are better as a tool, namely chopping small wood for a fire or skinning game. The arkansas toothpick, as it appears in this video, would be deathly nimble as it can be made thinner due to it being double-edged. While the arkansas tooth pick can also fill the roles given to standard bowie knives such as being both a tool and weapon. It is unlike the bowie knife, which is designed as a weapon first and tool second. TLDR: Bowie Knife is a better tool than weapon. Arkansas toothpick is a better weapon than tool.

Do you have a video of your WHOLE collection?? I'd definitely watch!!!

My favorite knife I'm stoked.

You're holding the type of knife called an arkansas toothpick. The term was also used to describe any large fighting knife. The bowie knives were built to counter these toothpicks which had been around as kind of a modification of bayonets from the war of 1812. It was a design developed by Col. Bowie for dueling purposes.

Correct, these were (both the Bowie and Arkansas Toothpick) were simply brought back into fashion by the two examples now associated with the styles. Most of the famous WWI and II combat knives were also NOT NEW, yet their "creators" get hero worship and accolades for their development. That said, for daily carry and personal defense the Dirk is, in my view, the better of the two. For wilderness or woodcraft (along with for personal defense), the Bowie would be my choice. As for the way the terms seem to change over time or use.... keep in mind, that back then, as is often the case now, those writing about things didn't know what the heck they were talking about. LOL So it is much like "It was on the internet, so it must be true". ;) Cheers!

Seems like the term evolved the following ways: A. A pocket knife used to pick your teeth. B. A massive folding knife as a joke/understatement. C. A double edged dirk design named after the joke. D. Circling back to "B" the Bowie knife as a huge knife became an "Arkansas Toothpick". Basically all knives can be an Arkansas Toothpick, and a Bowie knife especially so for humerous purposes.

Some of those other knife styles you mentioned would be fun to see (quick image search didn't turn much up) "Alabama meat ax knife", "Missouri Measure knife" etc

Another great video. Can you do a video on the paddle knife? I think the paddle knife is interesting because photos of them show that they were double edged with a flat cross section.

Mat, who made the Bowie you show at the beginning? And are somewhere detailed pictures of that guard, maybe with the front side? Looks really interesting. I got a 9" Bowie blade with coffin shaped fulltang from John Nowill & Sons and Im planning to make a similar shaped Bowie but with white Moose horn scales. Everything is only at planning stage yet. Im not sure about the size, shape and decoration (if any) of the handguard and this piece is quite an inspiration.

@marshallferron

4 ай бұрын

He talks more about that knife in one of his videos on bowie knives

as someone who knows the difference between a toothpick and a short sword, I can confirm that this is a short sword.