Mineur

The MINEUR [mi.nœʁ]) is at home in the mining regions from the Ardennes over the Vosges to Lorraine. It is a pocketknife of exemplary purism and in this simplicity of greatest beauty. To describe the conditions that prevailed in the ore and coal mines in the middle of the 19th century, one must mention the novel GERMINAL by Emile Zola. He wrote it in 1866 after the start of the first big strike by the miners in Anzin and describes underground work as a hell with unbelievable temperatures, humidity and dust. "Gueules-Noires" are popularly called the miners (gueule = face and noir = black). In addition, there is the constant risk of accidents in the shaft and the meager living conditions of the too large families who could not be feeded by the miners adequately with their low wages. The women therefore hired themselves as laundresses and tried to get hold of a piece of garden in order to be able to grow at least what was necessary for survival. The MINEUR is a solid, versatile pocket knife, both a tool and an indispensable companion. It is said of him that the miners kept it open in the bootlegs underground to defend themselves against the aggressive rats in the shaft. At home it was a helper with gardening or in the kitchen. It was often the only cutlery at the table. Pocket knives that have to meet such demands must offer a firm hold in the hand and have a versatile blade. The fact that they should also be affordable for their customers was an additional challenge for the knife makers. But a MINEUR fulfills everything with its ergonomic handle and its blade with an upward-pointing tip. Even if living conditions have fundamentally changed since the last mines in France closed in 2005, the MINEUR remains an icon of the mining regions.

As the tools for the production of the traditional fittings with which the French cutlers made the MINEUR were worn out and needed go be renewed urgently, we seized the opportunity and, together with the forge, made some constructive improvements in order to eliminate problems in the old fourniture, such as spring touching blades etc. The result was a new fourniture with pure lines again, which from now on is not only available to PassionFrance®, but to all knife makers in France.

The vernacular always said that its handle had to be black ... “black as the faces of the miners”. In fact, the MINEUR was mostly made so. By chance a few years ago we received a small batch of old pit oak, which over the course of countless decades has turned its colour in almost black by a chemical transformation process. As long as this limited parts last, we will be able to manufacture MINEURS with handles from that original material and only then have to switch back to ebony.

As a sign of their authenticity, the MINEUR presents on the blade the PassionFrance® heraldic animal, the Coq.

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