Good Things in Small Packages

I received another incredible gift from my friend in California. This time it was a selection of S.O.E. type weapons he found in a tool box. They needed some cleaning he said but I found they simply needed wiped down with an oily rag. He had ingeniously slotted a piece of cardboard to affix them to for shipping. I got a good laugh out of that and asked him if this was the Poor James Bond S.O.E. kit? It is difficult to show in a photograph the details of the tiny triangular blades and the temper colors on some of them.

It is amazing how much work was invested in making these minuscule tools of mayhem. At one time I had no clandestine weapons and now thanks to my friends in the collecting world I have a wonderful assortment. Some were very expensive and others of equal value were simply given to me. I commented on this phenomenon of gifting to a good friend and how I felt a sense of indebtedness. He replied I should not look at it that way because obviously the donors had picked me to be the "curator" of these special goods, knowing I would take proper care of them. I suppose that is true but either way it is a debt I cannot fully repay. Perhaps by placing them in my book and crediting the donors I can in some small way credit them with the gifts. Here is the poorman's S.O.E. kit.