Post by yoda on May 6, 2007 15:11:22 GMT -5
thanks Barrybloke and MD's for this one!
In the 1800s a certain William Jason Sieze fron Wisconsin is credited with the design of the fish de-scaling and cleaning knife. It was so good that it revolutionised life for the "ladies" employed on the harbours cleaning fish. It was razor sharp on one side and being made of suberb quality steel it kept its edge for a long time. On the opposite side it had a large serrated edge that would scour the scales off very quickly which really made the day of these "ladies" who operated on a peace work scheme, the more fish done the higher the pay.
They became known affectionately as "Willy's".
The downside was that these knives cost the best part of 12 weeks wages, and so in his wisdom William Sieze decided to make them in large and small to make them semi affordable without losing their reputation throughout his market.
They were so highly valued by the fish ladies that if a fisherman wanted the hand of marriage to one of them this knife would often form part of a dowry.
He would work and scrimp and save until proudly one day he would walk into the fish factory, face the woman of his dreams, slap his "Willy" on the table and say "Cop a look at this, do you fancy a night out" or words perhaps similar or more poetic.
The "Willy" was then gazed at and inspected by all present with admiration or derision dependant on the size of the willy.
The lady would take it home, lavish love on it and paint the handle in her own design (much the same way as canal art in this country)so she would always know exactly which was her,s. The fishwives would never share or loan their "Willie,s"
Sometimes of course it was true love on both sides and in their desire to be together quickly the couple would agree and a small Willy was purchased and away they would go. It has to be said though that the bigger "Willie,s" through sheer weight and balance worked better and consequently made more wages at the end of the day.
Because of their size and weight there was a health and safety issue.Should they put one down on the table and brush against it they would often lay theirselves open to the bone and so lose time off the all important work.
The "Prince Albert Royal School of Engineering" came up with a simple idea. They designed a large loop of stainless steel that after drilling would fit through the handle of a large Willy and so allowing the women to hang them up. The problem was that it didnt fit any other size other than large and while that was fine for the ladies that handled large willies it was somewhat unfair on the ladies with small ones.
Every morning they would come in for work and their large willies were hung up waiting for them while the other ladies where piled on the tables and so they complained that when they needed their small willies they had to rummage for them.
This job was dirty and unpleasant work and so horse play was par for the course. The experienced fishwives would put their tongues through the loop in their knives and spin them around something akin to the propellor of a spitfire.
Ladies with talents like these were much in demand and often would have 3 or 4 willies on the go at once.
The obvious moral to this tale is that size very definitely does matter.
In the 1800s a certain William Jason Sieze fron Wisconsin is credited with the design of the fish de-scaling and cleaning knife. It was so good that it revolutionised life for the "ladies" employed on the harbours cleaning fish. It was razor sharp on one side and being made of suberb quality steel it kept its edge for a long time. On the opposite side it had a large serrated edge that would scour the scales off very quickly which really made the day of these "ladies" who operated on a peace work scheme, the more fish done the higher the pay.
They became known affectionately as "Willy's".
The downside was that these knives cost the best part of 12 weeks wages, and so in his wisdom William Sieze decided to make them in large and small to make them semi affordable without losing their reputation throughout his market.
They were so highly valued by the fish ladies that if a fisherman wanted the hand of marriage to one of them this knife would often form part of a dowry.
He would work and scrimp and save until proudly one day he would walk into the fish factory, face the woman of his dreams, slap his "Willy" on the table and say "Cop a look at this, do you fancy a night out" or words perhaps similar or more poetic.
The "Willy" was then gazed at and inspected by all present with admiration or derision dependant on the size of the willy.
The lady would take it home, lavish love on it and paint the handle in her own design (much the same way as canal art in this country)so she would always know exactly which was her,s. The fishwives would never share or loan their "Willie,s"
Sometimes of course it was true love on both sides and in their desire to be together quickly the couple would agree and a small Willy was purchased and away they would go. It has to be said though that the bigger "Willie,s" through sheer weight and balance worked better and consequently made more wages at the end of the day.
Because of their size and weight there was a health and safety issue.Should they put one down on the table and brush against it they would often lay theirselves open to the bone and so lose time off the all important work.
The "Prince Albert Royal School of Engineering" came up with a simple idea. They designed a large loop of stainless steel that after drilling would fit through the handle of a large Willy and so allowing the women to hang them up. The problem was that it didnt fit any other size other than large and while that was fine for the ladies that handled large willies it was somewhat unfair on the ladies with small ones.
Every morning they would come in for work and their large willies were hung up waiting for them while the other ladies where piled on the tables and so they complained that when they needed their small willies they had to rummage for them.
This job was dirty and unpleasant work and so horse play was par for the course. The experienced fishwives would put their tongues through the loop in their knives and spin them around something akin to the propellor of a spitfire.
Ladies with talents like these were much in demand and often would have 3 or 4 willies on the go at once.
The obvious moral to this tale is that size very definitely does matter.