{"id":622,"date":"2012-11-30T15:15:38","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T20:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/?page_id=622"},"modified":"2025-05-28T13:21:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T17:21:56","slug":"woodsman","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/crooked-knives\/woodsman\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodsman"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 2fr) minmax(0, 1fr);}.kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 2fr) minmax(0, 1fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}<\/style><div class=\"kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id622_83d966-17 alignnone wp-block-kadence-rowlayout\"><div class=\"kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-2-columns kt-row-layout-left-golden kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top\">\n<style>.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column622_c031ff-94{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column622_c031ff-94 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column622_c031ff-94\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p>Crooked knives were readily adopted and used by Franco-American, Franco and Anglo Canadian, and Scandinavian woodsmen, who recognized the utility of this knife form, which required no vice to hold the object being worked. In the Maine woods, lumbermen used crooked knives to make ax handles and wooden \u201cfolk art\u201d carvings. Crooked knives were also used to make waterfowl decoys and were readily found in the tool boxes of Maine farmers, carpenters and canoe company employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like their Native American counterparts, these crooked knives often had carved hardwood handles. Mirrors and even photos of \u201csweethearts\u201d were often inlaid in the handle. Others were decorated with playing card motifs (hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs) or have the owner\u2019s initials or dates as part of their designs.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column622_2a33cd-11 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column622_2a33cd-11\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"184\" height=\"255\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2012\/12\/l.boivin.jpeg\" alt=\"Lionel Bolvin shaping ax handle\" class=\"wp-image-642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2012\/12\/l.boivin.jpeg 184w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/275\/2012\/12\/l.boivin-101x140.jpeg 101w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,184px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lionel Boivin of Skowhegan, Maine using a crooked knife to shape an ax handle.<br>Image courtesy of the Maine Folklife Center, the University of Maine. Catalog Number S-793<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crooked knives were readily adopted and used by Franco-American, Franco and Anglo Canadian, and Scandinavian woodsmen, who recognized the utility of this knife form, which required no vice to hold the object being worked. In the Maine woods, lumbermen used crooked knives to make ax handles and wooden \u201cfolk art\u201d carvings. Crooked knives were also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":908,"featured_media":0,"parent":86,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-622","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Woodsman - Hudson Museum - University of Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/hudsonmuseum\/crooked-knives\/woodsman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Woodsman - Hudson Museum - University of Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crooked knives were readily adopted and used by Franco-American, Franco and Anglo Canadian, and Scandinavian woodsmen, who recognized the utility of this knife form, which required no vice to hold the object being worked. 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