Rybička (knife)

Rybička produced by the Slovak company Sandrik

Rybička (English: Little Fish[1]) is a small Czech pocket knife with the handle shaped as a fish.[2] It has been produced since the first decades of the 20th century.[3] The knife was particularly popular during the period of socialism in Czechoslovakia.[4] It was valued as a simple and small tool used for mushroom picking, a traditional Czech hobby.[1] It was very popular and sold in large numbers on the Czechoslovak market. As of 2014, it is produced by the company Mikov in Mikulášovice, Czech Republic.

History

The design of the Rybička knife apparently originates from the production of the cutlery workshop of Jan Maixner, however, it gained popularity only after Ignaz Rösler took over the company.[4] The oldest catalogue with the knife shaped as a fish is approximately 80 years old (as of 2014), however, some sources suggest that the design is only about 60 years old (produced since 1947 - 1955).[5] During the second half of the 20th century, a part of the production moved to Slovakia, under the sister company Sandrik. The knives were identical, only the sign on the blade was different.[4]

During an exhibition of knives in Prague in 2005, Rybička received honorable mention as "the most famous knife of Czechoslovakia".[5]

The company also produces various collector's series and luxury variants of the knife.[4][6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 Horáková, Pavla (12 January 2007). ""Four seconds of fame" for Czech knife in Bond movie". Czech Radio. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Legendární rybička i za 168 tisíc, zlatá a s granátovým okem" (in Czech). Czech Television. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Konečný, Vratislav (10 November 2011). "Nůž rybička se vyrábí už sto let" (in Czech). Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Sovová, Eva (25 July 2014). "Legendární rybička se má čile k světu. Dříve za babku, dnes investicí". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). iDNES. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 Kuchyňová, Zdeňka (18 August 2007). "Rybička - nejznámější nůž Československa" (in Czech). Czech Radio. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Dlouhý, Martin (May 2013). "Nabroušená rybička" (in Czech). Koktejl. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Němcová, Veronika (4 November 2009). "Tradiční rybička má novou podobu. A stojí tisíce". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). iDNES. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
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