Good question Gary. I have always considered the toothpick to be a double edged knife with more of a straight taper to the point. However I have seen some that were definitely more reminiscent of a medieval dagger, as a matter of fact I am working on a toothpick "style" dagger right now. I would think that Jim Batson or Mark Zalesky might be the ones for this question.

I know not much help, but I think there are a number of styles that people call toothpicks. I will look in my bowie books.

Brion

Not that I know much of anything about knives, but I was under the same impression - and I am fairly sure I learned it shooting as a NSSA member. However, I just finished reading large parts of Flayderman's The Bowie Knife and it seems that the terms were used interchangeably. He quotes a early Philly newspaper which treats them as alternatives. Some of the pictures of toothpicks look like Bowies and there are dagger-like Bowies. Maybe the terms were regional? No clue.

I, like Brion, always pictured it as a double edged straight tapered blade. Almost a wedge shape. Of course look at all the different shapes that are called bowies.

Dale

Sometimes a photo will help with a discussion on knife design. This is a photo and description of Master Smith J.R. Cook's Arkansas Toothpick:

Arkansas Toothpick

Description by J.R. Cook, MS:

The Blade is 10-1/2" long and 15-1/4" " overall

The fittings are Iron and silver and the handle is Black Walnut

The sheath is Black Walnut with silver trim

Thanks, Dan. That is the design that I have always though of as being a toothpick. This being said, are long slender bowie type blades also accurately described as Arkansas toothpicks? According to Flayderman, the terms have been interchanged often over the years. Possibly a lot of this was simply marketing hype. I'm still not sure if there should be a distinct difference. Interesting topic though.

Gary

As some have mentioned, Flayderman's opinion is that the terms were used interchangeably, and there's plenty of evidence to support that conclusion. For example, if an Arkansas Toothpick is a double edged dagger, then why is the so-called "Tah Chee" knife (an 1830s Sheffield-made guardless coffin bowie with a fairly wide semi-clip blade) etched "Arkansas Toothpick"? We find the same etch on W. Butcher dogbone bowies, which have rather wide blades with sweeping clip points and spanish notches. There are other examples, and to be honest I can't think of any 19th century dagger blades etched with that phrase.

On the other hand, I've found an 1836 Nashville paper with an ad for "Arkansas and Bouey Knives", and had or have a Mississippi tax receipt from the 1850s listing "Bowie knives" and "Arkansas toothpicks" as separate taxable items -- so obviously at some times, in some places, they were considered different types of knives. Was there a regional aspect to it? Could be.

Attached, a photo of an Arkansaw knife in my collection. There's a nearly identical knife at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock.

Mark

Thanks, Mark. I appreciate the insight.

Gary

I sent an email to BR Hughes and asked him for his opinion on this Topic and this is his reply:

"My own thought is that Arkansas Toothpick is simply another name for the Bowie Knife, and quite a few Bowies made in England during the 1830's and l840's, perhaps later, were marked Arkansas Toothpick."

I get that question pretty often when I am in the knife gallery at the museum. We have several examples of "Arkansas Knives" and 20th century maker's interpretation of the Arkansas Toothpick. I'm pleased to hear Mark's estimation of the definition. On my own, I have concluded that the lines are pretty blurred, at least in modern times. At some point it probably was a little more clear, but it could have been a loose term even then especially by those who were not "knife" people of the time. I'm sure that a lot of written accounts mentioning Arkansas Toothpicks were written by those who were not experts on the subjects, much as today's news might offer it. But just as today, there were those who knew the difference, I think. I envision the same style knife as mentioned above as being the Toothpick. Good subject.

Seeing as how I was born and raised here in Arkansas I just call them toothpicks. Here is one I forged that I was testing to make sure I got the shape just right for it's intended purpose:

Might need to be a bit careful with how vigorous you get with that toothpick Allen <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//laugh.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> . It would go nicely with your two foot brut de forge.

Brion