Old Japanese Folder

[Tom Militano]

I was fishing behind one of the rifle ranges at Fort Meade, MD in the late 1970's and snagged this out of the pond. It was hooked to and old rubber boot sole with a piece of copper wire. It was all encased in a solid ball of mud and I think that may be what kind of preserved in the condition it's in. I was told these were made for sale prior to WW2, but when Japan declared war they were issued to Japanese pilots. There were Japanese pilots held as POW's at Fort Meade from what I was told. There's writing on on side that makes absolutely no sense and a Japanese Zeke on the other side.

 

[NJStricker]

Interesting that the bottle opener has been ground to a small blade. My first guess was that it was originally made for an advertisement knife, but the Zero puts that in doubt. This might be one to ask Bernard Levine about.

 

[Tom Militano]

He's the one that told me what it was at the Blade Show a good while back. I thought it was a Zero on the handle too, but I was told it was a Zeke because it didn't have retractable landing gear. He said they were made to sell prior to the war. He offered me one of his autographed books for it, which I politely turned down. I thanked him for the information.

 

[Pieter]

Interesting that the bottle opener has been ground to a small blade. My first guess was that it was originally made for an advertisement knife, but the Zero puts that in doubt. This might be one to ask Bernard Levine about.

I think that the bottle opener is infact a can opener as well therefor the sharpened edge.