Have you ever taken the time to just stop and wonder about how certain tools came to be? Such as a butter knife? Have you ever wondered when it was decided to blunt a blade to spread butter? Or were butter knives developed for some other purpose? I doubt many people have given it much thought, I know I never did until brainstorming ideas for this blog. But today I did some research on the dinner knife and, to be honest, I was shocked with what I discovered!

In this blog post we will delve into the history and origins of using a knife as an eating utensil.

Knives have been used as weapons, tools, and eating utensils since prehistoric times. However, it is only in fairly recent times that knives have been designed specifically for table use. In Europe during the Middle Ages, hosts did not provide cutlery for their guests. Most people carried their own knives in sheaths attached to their belts similar to the one you see below. These knives were narrow with sharply pointed ends used to spear food and raise it to one’s mouth.

The adoption of knives as utensils for the dinner table initially had little effect on their design. Long after their adoption for table use, knives continued to be used as weapons and most retained a sharp point on the end. Thus, the multi-purpose nature of the knife always posed the threat of danger at the dinner table. However, once forks began to gain popular acceptance, (forks being more efficient for spearing food), there was no longer any need for a pointed tip at the end of a dinner knife. In 1669, King Louis XIV of France decreed all pointed knives on the street or the dinner table illegal, and he had all knife points ground down to reduce violence. (see below)

The grinding down of knife points led to other design changes. Cutlers began to make the blunt ends of knives wider and rounder so that any food which fell between the two prongs of their forks could be piled on the knife. In fact, many knives were designed with a handle like a pistol grip and a blade which curved backward so the wrist would not have to be contorted to get food to the mouth. (see below)

The birth of blunt-tipped knives in Europe had a lasting effect on American dining as well. At the beginning of the 18th century, very few forks were being imported to America. However, blunted knives found a large market America and over time their tips became progressively blunter. With Americans having very few forks and no sharp-tipped knives, they used spoons instead of forks. They would use the spoon to steady food as they cut and then switch the spoon to the opposite hand in order to scoop up food to eat. This distinctly American style of eating continued even after forks became commonplace in the United States. This is why people often hold a fork in their left hand while they cut with their right, and then swap when they eat.

As the fork became more common and the dinner table more civil, the uses and design of the knife underwent further modifications. The blunted blades were used to spread butter or cheese and later knives with serrated edges were developed for improved cutting.

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed learning about the history of knives. Next week we will look at the development of the fork!

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Source for this article.