Odd Camp Hatchet Old

[rudeawakening55]

 This I believe is a very old odd camp hatchet,  Pressed steel blade with opener, Blade angles out instead of in,  Handle is riveted to U shaped double serrated pressed steel piece.  There are no maker marks on this old tool. Wondering if someone knows anything about this old tool or ever seen one of these? Over all length is 11" & blade length is 2 3/4"

[Branson]

 The thin blade, riveted to the handle tells me this is a tobacco knife (see picture).  These were made by local manufacturers, so there are quite a few variations.  Tobacco used to come in twists or ropes, and had to be chopped and sometimes shredded to smoke.  (It can still be purchased in this form.)    The general form of yours is identifiable, though I haven't seen the small serrated blades on the back before, and it looks like somebody found the job to be thirsty work.

[Branson]

Here's how tobacco used to come.

[keykeeper]

I think they used the knives like that to harvest the tobacco in the field.

[Stoney]

Yes Branson it is a tobacco knife and KeyKeeper is right about cutting tobacco in the field.  We also used ours to strip sugarcane.  Most of the knives I've seen used around here in North Alabama, when I was growing up, were home made or blacksmith made.

[Fins/413]

Around here the harvesting is called priming and you just broke the leaves off.

[bigdaddie47]

Amazing, the wealth of knowledge that magically appears when a question is asked but remains hidden if not asked, as though all knowledge is common to all men. I now can be a (S)mart
(F)ella in Tn.

[Neals]

Amazing, the wealth of knowledge that magically appears when a question is asked but remains hidden if not asked, as though all knowledge is common to all men. I now can be a (S)mart
(F)ella in Tn.

Thats what makes this site so addictive.

[Wrenchmensch]

Tobacco is wonderful weed, isn't it?  I gave up smoking cigarettes 58 years ago.  I will admit, however, to smoking 2 or 3 Havanas a year, out in the Man Cave, these days.

[Stoney]

My Dad said that giving up tobacco was the easiest thing he ever did.  He quit sometimes as much as 7 or 8 times a year.

[Branson]

Good one, Stoney.  Mark Twain wrote something very similar:

"It's easy to quit smoking.  Experienced smokers can tell you they've done it hundreds of times."

[Stoney]

I had forgotten that Mark Twain saying.  My favorite was "Little girls never sass your elders unless they sass you first".  Dad would quit cigarettes, go to a pipe ,go to cigars, go to chewing tobacco, go to snuff and then back to cigarettes.  Time about 2 months then laughingly claim he had quit 5 times.