Do you like/use Letter Openers?

[pathobby]

Look no farther! Feast your eyes on the Prince of Envelope Openers!

 

http://www.colani.ch/opener.htm

 

I've got one to go with my Luigi Colani Pelikan / Messmer collection.

 

PH

[RonH]

Sometimes I use a letter opener and sometimes just my left thumb. On my wish list is a letter opener from Seldom Seen Knives of Montana. I bought one for my dad for Father's Day and one for a friend as a retirement gift. I ordered both from, I believe, from PenCity.com. I have no affiliation with either company other than being a satisfied customer. Here are a couple of links:

 

http://www.seldomseenknives.com/ourknives/letteropeners.html

 

http://www.pencity.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/SeldomSeenLetterOpeners/SeldomSeenLetterOpeners.htm?L+scstore+fqro6109+1269606769

 

http://www.pencity.com/SeldomSeenLetterOpeners/images/Letteropeners.jpg

 

Image taken from PenCity.com website.

 

I really liked the looks of the lettrer openers from Seldom Seen Knives. I called them, in Montana from Michigan, and had a new letter openers in my hands in two days! It's great. The owners are very friendly to talk to. I recommend their letter openers!

 

Has always no affliation, etc. Just a happy customer!

[mschaffer]

Is it me, or am I the only one who uses scissors to open most letters? I use a nice pair of Fiskars to do this.

 

I tap the short edge of the envelope onto the desk, and cut the other short edge off (as close to the edge as possible).

Sometimes, I use my baby Gerber knife on an envelope, but I usually use the knife on packages.

[kudzu]

It's really nice seeing the range of tools used, plus the array of nice letter openers. Years ago, a dear friend made me a wooden letter opener that works nicely and fits just so into my small hand. This was long before I discovered fountain pens. I've since inherited my late in-laws' letter opener (not very sharp after being used for years and years), another friend brought a little silver one back from England for me, and then my mother recently gave me another nice 2-toned wooden opener from Africa. I have them in different places, and much prefer using them. Like using pens, they just feel so civilized to me for some reason.

[Viggen]

I switch between a couple of letter openers hand forged from railroad spikes.

Tools used to make them were a forge, anvil, hammer, files.

Artistic blacksmithing is something that runs in the family and a son made them for me.

These letter openers are distinctly uncivilized.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Viggen

[chalcedony]

I have a couple of super-cheap Staples openers which I consistently forget to use and always end up ripping envelopes open with my fingers instead I've thought about getting a nice one, but I know I wouldn't want to use it if it were too pretty, either, so I'm still stuck with fingernails for now!

[Atheris]

I use whatever is convenient. I have letter openers, but they're often not on me when I get the mail, which tends to get opened on the way to the house. So, keys, fingers, pocket knife...

 

However, there are some nice ones here! I especially like Shaughn's. Where was the antique store you got that from and what are the little emblems pressed into the blade? Is it silver?

 

By the way, I am one of those who puts bills back into the envelope. Then I fold them and put them in my pocket and pay them online when I get a chance. They're good reminders!]

 

edit: I will take care and use a knife to open something in a nice envelope, though.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Atheris

[Shaughn]

These emblems are the silver marks, Atheris,

 

At the pic you see far left a year letter P indicating its year of proofing, 1925 (not necessarily the year of manufacture), second left a Minerva head bearing an F in the helmet which is the duty mark of the marking office in Leeuwarden, the lion indicating a silver purity of .833 and at the right and very faint there is a silversmiths mark that I cannot identify.

 

At the side there is also a sword, indicating the piece was too small for full hallmarking, which presence is, so to say, a bit strange the full marking being present. Maybe the maker or the first owner did not want to 'damage' the artwork by marking?

 

I bought it in Middelburg in the province of Zeeland, a long, long time ago...

http://maps.google.nl/maps?hl=nl&q=middelburg%20plattegrond&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl The shop in de Vlissingsestraat isn't there anymore.

[happyhaley]

I love my letter opener and have never seen another like it. As you can probably tell, I'm a poodle fan. My letter opener has a poodle sitting on the top as the decoration.

 

~Haley

[tonybelding]

Here's a real collector's item. . .

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/executive_letter_opener.jpg

 

It's the original Executive Letter Opener from Choate Machine & Tool. This was introduced back in the 1980s, made from a very tough glass-filled plastic. The theory was, it was tough enough to use as a weapon, but you could carry it right through a metal detector. Because it was merely a plastic letter opener, you could carry them on planes and other sensitive places. (Obviously those days are now over.) You could sharpen it with an emory board, too.

 

The Executive Letter Opener was a hit product for Choate, but they soon came up with an improved model. The CIA Letter Opener was made from black plastic and styled like a popular boot knife of the time. Vast numbers of CIA Letter Openers were made and sold at places like gun shows. As a result, the original blue Executive Letter Opener that preceded it became a rarity.

 

And yes, it works quite well for opening letters.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Heres mine;

 

http://www.ronniesunshines.com/images/Opinel%20Knife.jpg

 

Next to my pens and my guitar one of my prized possessions, the one I use was given to me by my uncle when I was an early teen and holds great sentimental value as well as functionality (much like a pen, I suppose)

 

 

After decades of dithering, of kicking my self...and not quite having the need. I ran into some at a 1806 reenactment, in the sword tent. 1/3 cheaper than any where else I'd seen...odd how the price of something you don't "need" can stay in one's mind.

 

I bought it....still don't need it....it joins the other knives I have that I don't need.

Hell if I bought just what I needed, I'd still be using give away ball points.

 

I think I'll have my shoemaker make a leather pouch for it. I have an old oak leaf worked leather belt......dam so much for plan A....the belt stretched when I wasn't looking.

[Aeltar]

I have a pocketknife which comes in handy for all sorts of things, including opening letters. A mild case of OCD means I have to open letters perfectly cleanly, with no tearing - and I keep my knife sharp enough that it does the job.

[Parse Error]

Well, here comes yet another use for the BIC in my pencil case...

[Doug C]

Here's mine. Levenger only made them for a short period of time. You press the button, and the opener slowly comes out.

 

It was supposed to come with a leather case the same size as the opener. When I got it, there was no case. I called them, and they said they had problems with that case so they would send me another one. It is the leather case for the Ibis magnifier, which is about five times the size of the opener.

 

Its the thought that counts I guess....

 

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh130/DougDorann/DSCN0060.jpg

[SnowLeopard]

I use my father's WW2 bayonet....acquired when I was in H.S. It really is quite sharp & lends itself to just about any methodology for opening...well...just about anything.The action I use on envelopes is the same as you might use to open a champagne bottle.You don't even have to chill the paper.

Edited June 11, 2010 by SnowLeopard

[Aeltar]

You don't even have to chill the paper.

 

No, but it helps.

[waterman1924]

Mine

 

http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac65/officer_dread/lo1.jpg

 

http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac65/officer_dread/lo2.jpg

[happyhaley]

I love my letter opener and have never seen another like it. As you can probably tell, I'm a poodle fan. My letter opener has a poodle sitting on the top as the decoration.

 

~Haley

 

Hmmmm, never posted a photo of my poodle opener, silly me. Here it is. ~H

[Ruminator]

i use the small blade on my queen steel # 39, works great!

 

That blade looks like it's been around for awhile. Very cool!

 

I use my pocketknife, usually a Kershaw (KAI) folder I keep clipped to my front pocket.

[Flounder]

I don't use them, though I do have a look on eBay from time to time. I can't get them to work! I must be doing something wrong. Either the letter gets torn, or I give up trying to get the envelope open and use my hands.