Hi all.
I was perusing the thrift store and looking for any gems when I came across this bad boy. Can anyone tell me what it is used for? The knife below had a built in ruler so I used it for scale. The steak knife is about 7 inches long.
I want to say this is some kind of a tool.
Even for the larger tool, I think I see some very faint marking for length scale as well. The hook on the top edge looks like some kind of bottle opener.
I’m going to take a “stab” at it and say that knife is designed for lobsters, in lieu of a crude cracker. The whole in the center looks perfect to slip over the narrow end of a claw, shimmy it down and crack it open. The raised edges on the top (as pictured) would be good for using it as a hammer to crack the shell, and the can opener portion for running up the shell cutting it open. Lobster Knife that is my final answer!
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Is the knife side (or does it seem like it once was) sharp? In what part of the world did you find it?
It looks much more like a tool than a knife per se - like a leather working tool or something like that.
If you do an image search for Vernco do all knife you get a few hit that look similar.
I think it was a kitchen gadget from yesteryear.
Edited to delete the answer:
OK…so I solved the mystery and even posted the answer. Then I realized it might be fun to leave it up and let others “take a stab at it” (Thanks NotJr!)
It was sold in the U.S.
I’m wondering if it has something to do with abalone.
It’s a Klever Kleever, an all around kitchen and outdoor utility tool. Bottle opener, nail and tack remover, jar opener, steak tenderizer, for cutting up fish and poultry… My dad had one in his tackle box back when I was a kid. Totally useless for almost anything except popping cold ones while fishin’ and bopping fish on the head to killem.
The company also made another similar tool called a Multi-Kleever.
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I like NotJr’s guess, but I think this may be a one-off custom Jack-o-All-Trades thing. That certainly is a bottle opener on top, and the thickness and handle asymmetry would indicate a cleaver function. The large, dull teeth are a mystery, as is the sharpened nose and the weird hole.
Take it from me, who’s made crazy stuff like this.
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Thanks. What is the hole supposed to be for?
(cracking lobster claws when you are lost in the wilderness and all you brought to eat were lobsters…duh)
The hole in the middle might also suit it for popping off beer-bottle caps.
I was thinking that… but it already seems to have a bottle cap opener on the top edge… so that would make it redundant
True, but the hole part would also be, imho, more effective for beer caps than the little hook part.
And: hi Chemicalkinetics. Glad to find you and others from CH on this site, which is new to me still.
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My guess is that for the time this was made, the one on the side was a can opener and the center hole would have been for bottle caps.
Well, looking at this:
http://www.bonanza.com/listings/1960-s-Klever-Kleever-Vintage-Knife-in-Box-Multipurpose-in-Great-Shape-Vintage/342918452
if you mouse over the box it tells you what the different parts of the knifey thing are for. The hook thing on the side is a bottle opener for beer type bottles, the key-shaped hole in the middle is for small (one inch it says) screw tops at the top diamond-shaped end and and the narrow end is for pulling out nails.
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I found it somewhat amusing that somebody finds the need to pull out nails with the same tool that they are cooking with.
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