As a kid 70 years ago we lived just outside of Philadelphia and spent a lot of time fishing and hunting in the Chesapeake Bay region. This was blue crab and oyster country and by the age of 10 I knew how to handle both of these difficult creatures. The oysters were opened with a sturdy all steel knife having a slightly rounded thin point, and a sturdy heavy steel handle. You could approach the critter by blunt force, pushing the blade though the chitinous hinge, and they rocking it to spread the valves until you reached the adductor muscle. Slice it at one of its attachment points, and the creature was yours. At ten years old I didn’t have the strength to take this approach, so I preferred to look the edges of the shell over, searching for gaps between the valves shielded only by clear layers of new shell deposition. A likely spot could be wacked with the heavy handle of the knife, breaking off and (hopefully) exposing a decent gap into which the point of the knife could be levered. Either way cuts on the hands were common, and until you got the knack, exsanguination could be serious. The three knives here represent what we called the “Philadelphia” style of oyster knife. All three are forged from steel—one obvious from a large file forerunner. They range in length from 6 ½ to 7” long and vary a bit in point shape. All have substantial handles that can be used to hammer off the shell edges and serve as strong levers. None of these are signed. They are fine examples.
Price - $30.00