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A bodkin is one of those things you never knew you needed, but
after you use one you'll never be without it again. A bodkin is the
tool you need for running cords, elastic, ribbon, rattail (shown above)
through casings and tubes. The alligator teeth clamp down on whatever
it is your pulling through the case and successfully carry it through
to the other side. If your working with a fragilie cord you may not
want to clamp it in; simply slide the ring down closing the teeth
and side the cord in the opening that is created. The bent bodkin,
the upper image, has been in my service for about 10 years. It has
strung countless numbers of hand bag cords, not to mention the too-many-to-count
hooded sweatshirt cords that inevitably come out in the laundry.
This amazing little tool is well worth the price, a bargain for sure.
Bodkin $2.00
But there is more about a bodkin than meets the
eye. They, like so many other ordinary items, have a
gruesome story from our past. I warn those weak of stomach,
do not read on!
Food was scarce in the Jamestown, VA settlement.
To ensure everyone had enough to eat, food was stored by the
community and rationed to each person. One day, a man was
caught stealing a loaf of bread. His sentence was death. The
good citizens of the settlement tied the criminal to a
nearby tree and peirced his tongue with, you guessed it, a
bodkin. The smallest hardship for the man was his inability
to eat. Worst of all, he could not swallow even his own
saliva. So there it was, the criminal died of thirst while
tied to a tree all because of a bodkin.
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