National Museum of Civil War Medicine Accession #:2023.009.001Amputee knife/fork owned by Dennis Sidney Murphy, who lost his right arm in the Second Battle of Manassas. Donated by his great-granddaughter Julie Carter.
By the end of the Civil War, it is estimated that surgeons in the two armies had performed 60,000 amputations. Facing such numbers of disabled veterans, the prosthetics industry produced great advances. Many of the injured chose not to wear artificial limbs for various reasons, including not wishing to take “charity” from the government (which gave a stipend to veterans for the purchase of a prosthesis) and making their contribution to their cause more visible to the public, by pinning up an empty sleeve or trouser leg instead of disguising the injury with an artificial limb. In addition, depending on the type of injury or how it healed, some prostheses were uncomfortable or painful to wear.
Another industry sprang up that made implements for those disabled who did not have a prosthesis. Veterans who had lost an arm learned to use specially designed devices with their remaining limb in order to perform everyday tasks.
One such tool was the “One Armed Man Fork.” This knife-and-fork combination was also given the name “knork.” While the basic utensil had been in existence since the 1700s, it was refined and made popular just after the Civil War. One of the companies manufacturing the knork was the Artificial Limbs & Specialties Co. of New York, which partnered with The Press Button Knife Co. to produce a switchblade version. The blade was enclosed and could be released by pressing a button. The blade was steel and the handle aluminum. An advertisement states that “a piece of meat can be cut on the plate by a rolling motion given to the knife, and the knife can then be inverted by twisting the hand and food conveyed to the mouth by means of the fork. Butter can be spread upon bread, potatoes mashed, and other services performed. Pressure applied to the press button will release the lock and the knife can be closed and carried in the pocket. Price: $2.00.” Less elaborate knorks (as shown in the photo above) were less expensive.
Tracey McIntire is lead educator at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland.
