Blade Magazine‘s Editor-in-Chief reflects on why receiving the Posner Award proves so meaningful.

I was talking to knifemaker Edmund Davidson at his table during the BLADE Show when he and Gary Langley handed me a white cardboard box and told me to open it. When I did so, I found it contained a most beautiful plaque. It was the Nate Posner Award, and on it in big letters was my name as the latest recipient.

I must admit, I was equal parts astonished and delighted. Presented by The Knifemakers’ Guild, the Posner Award is one I’ve always wanted. The list of those who have won it is long and among others includes Mrs. Betty Dowell, Admiral Steel’s Terry Summers, photographer David Darom, KNIFE editor Mark Zalesky, knifemaker Bill Herndon, French knife writer Francis Anglade, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame® member Dan and Mrs. Pam Delavan, and Cutlery Hall-of-Famers Bruce Voyles and Edda and Aldo Lorenzi.

As the words on the plaque read, the award recognizes “outstanding service in the promotion of handcrafted cutlery.” And those words pretty much say it all in terms of why I’ve always wanted the Posner, because promoting handcrafted cutlery has been a monumental part of what I’ve been doing for BLADE® for almost four decades now.

Who exactly was Nate Posner and why did the Guild name an award after him? If you reference the December 1981 American Blade, the original name of BLADE, you will find a most informative story by Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Bernard Levine about the San Francisco Gun Exchange and its proprietor, Nate Posner.

Mr. Posner started his business in 1948. Through the years he built it into what he called the “Firearms Center of the West.” It had most everything firearm-related, including inexpensive rifles and shotguns, collector’s cartridges, reloading equipment, rare and unusual guns, a whole wall of de-activated submachine guns, posters, cartridge boards and more. He even had an authentic Gatling gun in the back of the store.

As all-encompassing as his array of firearms and equipment was, it was his displays of knives, both factory and custom, that pertain here. At one time he had over 350 custom knives on display, with at least that many others in stock. (In subsequent years those numbers no doubt grew even more.) At first, in 1975 or ’76, he ordered knives from dozens of makers, most either active or past Guild members. Eventually he culled his list to about 25 or 30 makers, including one of his favorites, D. E. Henry, whom Posner reportedly called “the Van Gogh of knifemakers.” Others included Tommy Lee, Jess Horn, Herman Schneider, Corbet Sigman, the-then-team of Scott Sawby and Steve Mullin, and Cutlery Hall-of-Famers Frank Centofante, Jimmy Lile, Bob Loveless, George Herron, Bo Randall and more.

Along with Dan Delavan at Plaza Cutlery, Bob Gaddis and Dave Harvey of Nordic Knives, and Cutlery Hall-of-Famer A.G. Russell, Posner was among the first custom knife purveyors. His approach was a most honest and forthright one. He was known for telling his customers that to get the best price, instead of buying custom knives from middlemen such as him, they should buy directly from the maker. Of course, if the customers wanted the custom knife in question immediately, they often had to buy it from Nate to avoid spending what might be months or even years on a maker’s waiting list.

However, it was being up front that put Nate in good stead not only with his knife customers but the Guild, too—for both buying/selling the makers’ knives and treating what often were the makers’ customers/prospective customers in a professional manner. Add the high store profile he gave custom knives and knifemakers to knife buyers and gun buyers alike, and Nate became one of the most important custom knife promoters of his or any time—and thus the Guild award in his name.

To be mentioned in the same breath as those who have won the award before me and, of course, Nate Posner himself, is a privilege and an honor. To any and all who were involved in my selection, I cannot thank you enough.

And thanks to Nate Posner for setting a standard for all in the knife community to emulate.

Read More On Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame Members:

• HENDRICKSON, IMELS JOIN CUTLERY HALL OF FAME®
• LORENZIS, RUPLE JOIN CUTLERY HALL OF FAME
• CUTLERY HALL OF FAME USHERS IN THOMAS, TERZUOLA AND SCHWARZER
• KEESLAR AND SORNBERGER JOIN CUTLERY HALL OF FAME®