There is no cooler feeling as a writer than to know that something you have written connected with someone new. A while back a wrote a piece on a post-WWII Philippine Negrito Bolo, with interesting etching on the blade.
A reader sent me a note the other night:
Hello Mr. Aalders, I am writing you today after reading the article you wrote about a Philippines Bolo knife with the markings “PM” on the blade and some low skill engravings. I just wanted to chime in and say I am a proud owner of one of these knives. My grandfather, William V. Sands was a Merchant Marine from 1945-1947 and purchased said knife while on tour in the Philippines shortly after the war. I enjoyed reading your article and wanted to thank you for writing it and take the opportunity to share.
You can see that this knife and ours are peas in a pod. Where I could only speculate on the stories that ours told, our reader know the story of the one he owns, and I am certain that the connection to his grandfather is priceless.
If you missed my original post:
If you have a knife with a cool family story, drop me a line: clay(at)knifemagazine.com. Send me a picture or two and you might see your story in a future post.
