Well, my mother and father have done it again. I have managed to go through life thinking that a knife is a knife is a knife. I am going to have to revise my opinion now that we received a steak knife set from Mom and Dad for Christmas. A steak knife set for crying out loud. The knives slice through meat like it is butter. I am now going to have to save my money so that I can slowly replace all my knives. Wusthof……from Solingen, Germany. My husband used to drive by Solingen when he was stationed in Germany. 
The book, by the way, Fifty Miles from Tomorrow, by Willie Hensley, actually was a gift from them last year. It is an excellent read and I am on my second time through. That’s why it was laying about!
Unalaska From My Point of View 
Just a small bit of info . . . as I used to work at a library many years back, and a senior librarian and many years the wiser had told me this . . . When receiving knives as a gift you should always “pay” the sender. And, I said, What? She had told me that it is considered a jinx to receive knives as a gift. I don’t know at what level it becomes a jinx and if we are to grade our level of closeness to our friends and relatives. I guess if something were to go wrong with the knives and one was to accidentally cut themselves . . . I reckon it is some old wives tale. LOL!
She told me that if you receive knives as a gift it is always important to send back a thank-you note and attach or enclose a penny to the card. This way you are actually purchasing the knives rather receiving them as a gift.
As luck would have it I received an entire set of great knives the next Christmas, and reminded of her tale I promptly sent a card with a penny attached prior to using the knives…..LOL! They lasted many years, and with no major mishaps.
Well that’s interesting. I have heard that the giver is supposed to give a penny or coin with the knife, so that the friendship is not severed. And then ask for the coin back. Wonder which bit of folklore is true?