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Old 09-15-2004, 04:39 PM
Jerry Oksman's Avatar
Jerry Oksman Jerry Oksman is offline
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1st Annual Chicago Custom Knife Show Review

Well, the show has come and gone and I thought I would put down a few thoughts about it all. First and foremost, and it has been said before, but I will say it again, Ed Wormser (our host) has done an amazing job. I have seen Ed at other shows and I think that he learned the lessons from these events and tried and I believe succeeded in making this show have all the good of those other shows and none of the bad. To just give you an idea of the kind of commitment and dedication Ed had, he was on his cell phone with people organizing taxi ?car pools? to get people from the airport to the hotel. This is truly above and beyond the call of duty.

The show was held at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest and this is a fine venue some 30 minutes north northwest of downtown Chicago. The ballroom was spacious for both table holders and attendees. This is one criticism I have heard at many other events, either the aisles are so crowded that you can?t get by or the space behind the tables is so narrow that your hitting the person next to you. Not a problem here. The lighting was also excellent which is all important for that fine knife viewing.

As this is a new show and as previous shows had not made it big in this location there was a lot of concern. The first day, Friday, had a lot of people worried as it was a slow day. At other shows the first day is traditionally a flurry of people, chaos and mayhem. As all these buyers are out there trying to get first dibs on the knives. It was slower here than at other events. The usual suspects where the people I saw on Friday, the dealers and collectors that I had seen at other shows, the regulars on the knife show circuit. As Friday is a work day and it?s a new experience to the Chicago metro area I think that as the people in the area get to know the show, Friday will become a bigger day. However, all was not lost and Saturday was the big day at the show. The crowd reached a mass that I have seen at the NY shows. Which is pretty big and all to the good. That?s not to write off Sunday which usually is at 3 day shows. On the other hand Wally Hayes, whom I was tending table with, sold 3 pieces on Sunday. Many makers told me that they had a good show each feeling that as this was the 1st show that it should get only bigger and better as time goes on.

As usual the fun of a knife show is the opportunity to meet and greet with all the different knife makers. Many of you I have already met, but some I only know about from the internet so it was great to put a face to a name. I spoke with Bob Terzoula, Neil Ostroff, Les Robertson, RJ Martin, Wally Hayes, Mike Donato, Rich Mattei, Darrel Ralph, Don Cowles, Brian Tighe, Bud Nealy, John W. Smith, Lloyd Hale, AT Barr, Roger Bergh, Anders Hogstrom, Mary Emerson, Charles Kain, Phil deVries, Jeff Harkins, David Broadwell, Ray Cover Jr. and others about how they viewed the show and all agreed with what I have already put down about the show and all had great praise for Ed Wormser.

On to the particulars; I got in Thursday afternoon, after getting my first flight cancelled. Jim Cooper (show photographer) and I were on the same flight and we both had the same look on our faces ?welcome to the wonderful world of commercial aviation?. We were put on a flight 2 hours later and then things were back on track. As soon as I got to the hotel I went to the hotel bar where the festivities had already begun. I wish I could remember who was there, but as I was in the bar after the show all 3 nights, the evenings have blurred and I am not sure who was there on any particular night.

For the first time I got to meet David Broadwell and Ray Cover jr. in person and while we didn?t continue our art knife discussion we did manage to get our gearhead impulses out into the open and talked muscle cars. I met Tim Adlam and his lovely wife and at the dinner Friday night. Tim showed me that my digital camera did have a macro and how to use it. After Ray?s ?Koi? knife won best in show I got to pass it over to Dellana and Van Barnett as they wanted to see it (they both liked it a lot) and there was a crowd at David and Rays table at that point. I got to see some of Lloyd Hale?s work in person and those exposed blade folders in the closed position are pretty neat. I spoke with at least half (if not more) of the knife makers there. In no particular order, Allen Elishewitz had knives and pens. Bailey Bradshaw had katanas, Ernie Emerson sold out with his usual auction, Roger Bergh had an amazing Viking style sword made from multiple pieces of Damascus and some of Sara Mi?s rings, Zaza had his intricate silver worked pieces, Gil and Linda Hibben were there and very approachable, he is one of the biggies in this biz and such a gent. I still get a kick out of his Damascus barbed golf putter. Mardi Meshejain had some remarkable San Mai pieces that had a steel core with a titanium wrap outside, Jeff Harkins had his impeccable folders, and the list goes on and on.

Friday night a group of us went out to dinner, our group consisted of Wally Hayes, Jim Cooper, Mike Donato, Jerry Rados, David Broadwell, Ray Cover Jr., Don Cowles, Tim and Kelly Adlam, Noel Cook, Jeff Harkins, and Karl Anderson (thanks to Don Cowles for the timely info!). It was a great meal most of us had ribeye?s, and of course there was knife talk in plenty. As mentioned Tim also showed me how my camera works!

I think best quote of the weekend goes to Paul Basch. There were a bunch of us at the hotel bar and Julie Hyman and Mike Donato where playing pool, they were also managing to get on each others nerves. Most of us were watching the game, during a lull in the verbal sparing (and the game was dragging) Julie and Mike looked to Paul (as if he were some kind of referee) and his response was ?shoot?. I guess you had to be there, but all of us were rolling on the floor laughing from his deadpan answer. Roger Bergh almost fell off the railing next to the pool table that?s how hilarious it was.

Saturday night a different group, went to ?That Pasta Place? owned by masterchef from the forums, Darrel Ralph, Wally Hayes, Scott Cook where the knife makers in attendance. Paul deVries and Ida from 2 the hilt were the dealers and the rest of us rounded out the collectors in the group. The food was amazing and over plentiful, the tiramisu was exceptional. Take this as gospel from a very critical New Yorker, I try the tiramisu everywhere I go and this could be served with pride in the finest restaurants. After Wally and Masterchef Mike Fishman broke out a guitar and started messing around. Darrel chimed in and explained how to get some noise reduction into the electronics. Did you know Darrel Ralph (as well as Wally Hayes) used to be musicians and Darrel used to work in a studio? I didn?t. Thanks Mike for a very enjoyable meal (the osso buco was primo).

I also got to see Don Cowles acoustic guitar ?Louise? that he made by hand himself. It seems that there are a lot of related items in the knife world, that aren?t directly related. Cars, watches, guitars, pens, guns and motorcycles where the largest topics of discussion outside of knives of course.

Sunday after the show ended, I flew back home exhausted, but momentarily sated for all things knife.

To sum up, the Chicago show without doubt has its own feel to it. It?s close enough to downtown Chicago that it sort of feels like the NY shows (which are in downtown Manhattan) yet this location in Chicago?s suburbs gives the hotel restaurant and bar a secluded feel that lets makers and collectors get together in a fashion similar (if not as large as) the Blade show pit. In all the Chicago Area has been starving to have a show of this caliber in the area and this show fits the bill.

~ Fin ~

NYC 9.15.04


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Last edited by Jerry Oksman; 09-16-2004 at 11:19 AM.
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Old 09-15-2004, 07:32 PM
J.R. Fraps J.R. Fraps is offline
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Jerry,
I can't say you did the "Readers' Digest" version of what the show was like (just teasing ya'), but I agree that it was an awsome show. Good meeting you, and a number of other forum folks.
I already gave Ed my check for next year.

Not only a fine 1st year show, but a fine show!

Friday was one of my best days, connected with a Dealer who I had been wanting to do some business with for a while. Saturday was my good "retail day". Sunday was a good contact and meet folks day.

Got to do dinner with 3 wonderful ladies Saturday night (yes one of them was my Sweetheart of 36 years).

See ya'all next year at a Great Show in Chicago!


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Old 09-15-2004, 07:35 PM
A T Barr A T Barr is offline
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It was good meeting you Jerry, thanks for a great write up.

A.T.


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Old 09-15-2004, 08:23 PM
Ray Cover Jr Ray Cover Jr is offline
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Jerry,

It was good to finally meet you and it was a good write up. I can't say enough about the job Ed did putting this show together.

Like you I felt sorry for Jim Cooper at times. He really did work hard the whole show.

I am tempted to say that this is one of the best shows period but that would be unfair since I have not been to every show. As good as the first show was I can only imagine what future shows will be like.

What I am about to tell you is a true story. This really did happen.

A group of us went to eat at a local restaurant Saturday night. Our waitress found out we were attending a knife show and she got all excited. She ask us if she could bring her dad over to meet us. She said he was a big knife nut. A while went by and she brought him over to meet us and we all talked knife and enjoyed the visit. This man wanted badly to come to the show on Sunday but he had prior commitmets to ref a soccer game (I think it was soccer).

Chicago is a knife town. As word gets out and Ed's show gets established it will be an even better show. If this guy had known about it he would have been there one of the three days. This was a guy we just happened to meet in a restaurant and he was bummin because he had missed it.

I would encourage anyone who can to attend next year.

Ray


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Old 09-15-2004, 09:40 PM
Gary Hamilton Gary Hamilton is offline
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I was only able to come by for about 45min Sat evening right before close. So I only meet a couple of people but I was impressed at the number of people at the show. I have only been to shows in Texas (SOS and Austin) and there was a different flavor of knives at this show. I was blown away. Next time maybe I can pump a few arms.


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Old 09-16-2004, 12:18 AM
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Tim Adlam Tim Adlam is offline
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Great write-up Jerry!

Kelly and I had a fun time during the Friday night dinner. Like many shows, there's little time to spend
meeting all of the people that you'd like to. I'm glad we got our chance to connect!

Now that everyone attending the show had a taste of what to expect, I predict that the quality of work
displayed next year will be nothing short of phenomenal...!

Thanks to Ed and company, this show's on the map!
It's great to see his vision of bringing the custom knife market back to the midwest become a reality.

Tim


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Old 09-16-2004, 07:09 AM
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SharpByCoop SharpByCoop is offline
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Thanks Jerry!

What a great write-up. I enjoyed every word, in fact I wanted MORE!

The entire mood was uplifting and supportive and festive. On top of that it seemed to be prosperous. What more can we ask? Sure, I worked in my room chained to my camera for three and a hlf days, but I did manage a peek inside. Being so close to the entry door allowed me to pass 'hellos' to just about everyone anyway.

Dinners were a relief and highpoint. So was the relaxed conversation in the lobby before and after the shows. I enjoyed meeting so many keyboard friends in person. Excellent!

Count me in!

Coop


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Old 09-16-2004, 08:06 AM
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Darrel Ralph Darrel Ralph is offline
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The show was with out a doubt great. It was good to mingle with the knifenuts, makers and others.
Saturday night at Mike Fishmans "That Pasta Place" was exceptional. Mike is a very good chef that cooks from the heart. Thanks to Phil and Ida for the invite.
Ed wormser deservers an "AT A BOY" for a job well done.
It was good to see Coop at the show making magic with his camera.
I feel Chicago finally got the show it has needed for many years.
See ya next year!
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Old 09-16-2004, 11:27 AM
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Jerry Oksman Jerry Oksman is offline
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Hi all,

Yes it was definetly great, I wish I had spoken to even more people, and I know that a did speak to a lot of people who did not get mentioned in my write up, but that's not to say they didn't influence my thoughts about the show.

All the ladies at the front door deserve mention as they helped get everyone to where they were supposed to be.

I had such a good time that I will be back next year and from what I heard the last day from Ed Wormser all (or almost all) of the tables have been booked for next year. I think that speaks volumes by itself.


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