I don't have one, but on the subject of knives, does anyone have one of these in their kitchens?
For those who don't know what this is, it's a Victorian-era knife-sharpener. You slot the knives in the top, and then you turn the crank. And that rotates the grindstones inside the sharpener, to sharpen up the blades of your knives.
Somehow I can't help but think, how handy such a thing must be in a kitchen. A pity you can't get them anymore. I am RUBBISH at sharpening anything apart from my razor, so something like that would be invaluable.
I know that people often stored their knives either in a drawer or in a knife block, but during the golden era a common knife block looked different than they do today. They were more likely to be hung on the wall, and usually only had space for a couple of knives, since that was all most people had. Here's what they looked like.
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/il570xn380048758h3v9.jpg/][/URL]
Something else people would sometimes do---which has recently had a resurgence as a 'trendy' kitchen style---was to hang a long, narrow magnet on the wall over a sink or counter, and keep the knives on it. My Grandmother had one which had been made by my Grandfather in the forties. It was hung high on the wall so little hands couldn't reach.
Also, my Grandmother never needed a knife sharpener, she used to sharpen her knives on the bottom of a teacup. I keep an old teacup on a shelf and run my kitchen blades over it every time I use them. It takes about 30 seconds, and keeps them razor sharp.
