The Romans
Long known for their contributions to modern development, the Romans produced the first known pocketknife. Skilled metal workers, the Romans made a knife that was three inches long and closed without a nail nick, or spring. The handles were elaborately carved, with one on display in a British museum having a gladiator carved into the handle.
Middle Ages
Because table cutlery was not available in pubs and taverns, affluent travelers would travel with their own cutlery. Those of means would carry a folding, or pocketknife. Like the Romans' knife, the pocketknife of the Middle Ages lacked a spring when folding.
The 18th Century
Until the 18th century, the only pocketknife choice was the jackknife, a heavy and awkward tool with a single blade that closed into a grooved handle. As the century progressed, knife makers began using springs for the folds and began making multi-bladed pocketknives.
Penknives and the 19th Century
In the 19th century, anyone who wrote had to have a penknife. A design of master cutlerers, penknives were smaller and much more efficient than the early jackknives. As the craft improved, the towns of Sheffield, England, and Solingen, Germany, became renowned for their master knife craftsmen.
Sporting Knives
The mutli-tooled sporting knives, such as the Victorianox "Swiss Army Knife," has become the best-selling knife of all time and is the go-to pocketknife of choice for most outdoor people. Created by Carl Elsener, the Swiss Army Knife has a quality other knife makers strive to meet. A product of the modern era, sporting knives continue to evolve with high-tech metals and space-age designed housing mechanisms.
