INTERNET SPURS SWITCHBLADE SALES: www.macktheknife.com
Move over, software and books: Online sales of switchblade knives is a growth industry.
One manufacturer, Italian firm SKM, told The Wall Street Journal that sales of switchblades via the Web have doubled every year since its site started up in 1996. Sales now stand at 10,000 annually.
The American Knife and Tool Institute cautions against marketing and selling illegal knives – switchblades are banned in 37 states – lest the entire knife industry come under the same fire mail-order gun firms have recently experienced.
Because a switchblade’s sharp edge can be quickly sheathed, it is easier to conceal and produce in heated moments. This may contribute to the increasing use of knives in homicides: As cited in the WSJ article, Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics show that while knives were involved in 12.7% of killings in 1994, this figure rose to 13.3% in 1998. The total number of murders dropped by 35% during the same period.
Since the appeal of such knives is in the speed with which the blade springs out and not in the overall craftsmanship, online retailers are often able to sell poorly constructed knives at extravagant prices. Profits on such switchblades are nearly twice those of comparably priced folding knives.
The current direct marketing knife phenomenon is not without historical precedent.
In his 1954 book “Seduction of the Innocent,” psychiatrist Frederic Wertham cited comic books for carrying direct response ads that sold culinary cutlery sets. According to Wertham, members of juvenile gangs were ordering them and then distributing the components.
Wertham did not, however, speculate on how each gang determined who got the potato peeler.
