Not your Father’s Multitool
One never really knows what will happen jumping down the research rabbit hole. Sometimes you expect to end up in one era and you end up very far away!
So, I was minding my own business, writing along and I needed an object to act as a clue in the current book. I did what I usually do in the heat of the writing moment and just put in ‘clue object’ as a place holder and continued to hammer out the scene since the characters were speaking loud and clear and wouldn’t wait for me to take a side trip down the rabbit hole.
Once the scene was finished, I had a good long thing about what sort of object would work in this case. Since it was left by a man, I considered what sorts of things that character might use based on the guys in my own family. Since they all carry multitools in their pockets nearly everywhere they go (not the airports, though, I’m sure you can guess the story behind that…) that seems like an appropriate ‘clue object’.
Important issue though, were they around during the Regency Era? Hence, the jump down the rabbit hole.
Surprising Results
The answer I found was ‘sort of’ which, interestingly enough, was the best possible answer in this case.
The multitool as we know it did not become widely available until the late 1880s when Victorinox and Wenger began to produce folding knives for the Swiss Army which eventually developed into the Swiss Army Knife/multitool that we recognize today.
BUT … and here’s the part that totally works out for my story, the 1880s is not when the tools originated. The first known multitool dates from … get ready for it … the 2nd or 3rd century Roman Empire!
How perfect is that? The technology existed for hundreds of year, but was not widely know! What more perfect qualifications for a ‘clue object’ can you get?
So, I jumped back a millennium and a half more than I expected to, but I have to say it was an entirely satisfying jump down the Research Rabbit Hole!
References
https://www.wired.com/2010/11/2000-year-old-roman-multi-tool/
https://gallantry.com/blogs/journal/the-history-of-multi-tools
Interesting.
Now that is what I would call a serendipitous moment. So glad you found just what you needed.
Thomas Jefferson had a Regency era pocket knife with multiple tools on it. https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/pocketknife