Oyster Knives ... now I know what they are, thanks, Ned.  After looking
around on the 'net I see that I once had a jackknife with one built
in.  Not that I ever would have shucked an oyster with it ...

Here's a cool one:
http://www.antique-central.com/users/uploads/dimwit/dnlongknife.JPG

How are these different than scallop knives that I saw in use during a
tourista vacation along the east coast some 30 years ago?  Deft hands of
gnarled lower class old folks, standing knee deep in slime and shells, was
a wonderous site, but the stench chased us away before too long.  It was a
sight straight from the pen of many southern writers.

         Dan W.






At 08:46 AM 4/1/02, you wrote:
>The Dark Side of Oyster knives -
>
>Oyster knives are indeed more or less an elegant tool, and many people do
>tend to develop personal attachments to them (much like trowels).  At the
>same time there are few that really use them often that haven't driven one
>most of the way through their hand.  Oyster shells are slippery, and you
>have to hold them in your hand with the hinge end of the bivalve against
>the palm.  As the blade is then forced through to cut the hinge it
>sometimes has a tendency to go too far or just plain slips out from between
>the shells.   The end result here being that the force being placed against
>the handle then plunges the blade into the palm of your hand.  Most people
>that open oysters for a living have driven at least a blade or two into
>their hands, and casual gourmets that open their own oysters also sometimes
>suffer the same fate.  Maybe the lesson is to buy an oyster knife to look
>at, but order your oysters on the half shell.   As a number of folks have
>pointed out, libations do seem to go with eating oysters, and that will
>also will ease the pain of the misdirected knife.
>
>J. Dent