Those "Negrito bolos" are actually Ilocano knives

[Battara]

Thank you Ian for this essay and info.

I have always wondered where these came from. There seems to her a plethora of them.

[carlos]

Great post !!! Thank you very much, the information is very apreciated .
Thanks again
Carlos

[Sajen]

Hello Ian,
interesting thread. This "Negrito Bolos" seems to be made only for selling to US servicemen and tourists like you said before so the inscription is done maybe to make them more interesting. Just a guess!

Regards,
Detlef

[blue lander]

I have a knife very similar to a few of these. The blade just says "Philipines"

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Ian,
interesting thread. This "Negrito Bolos" seems to be made only for selling to US servicemen and tourists like you said before so the inscription is done maybe to make them more interesting. Just a guess!

Regards,
Detlef

Hi Detlef:

Yes, I think the "Negrito bolo" designation is for marketing purposes, targeting a particular audience, but why would the Negritos be considered a positive marketing "brand?" That's the interesting question here.

Ian.

[Ian]

To suggest an answer to the question I posed—What is so special about the Negritos when marketing to US servicemen?—the attached obituary that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on March 8, 1970 offers clues.

This article talks about the death of a Negrito chief who was a WWII war hero, helping the US in its fight against the Japanese occupying forces. It also speaks of special treatment for the Negritos, ordered by General Douglas Macarthur, in recognition of their guerilla services to the US during WWII. I have not been able to find a copy of Macarthur's directive on this subject, but it seems to have been a substantial recognition of the Negritos because there was unhappiness among other Filipino groups about it.

My conclusion is that the designation "Negrito bolo" on these Ilocano knives was meant to capitalize on the esteem in which the Negritos were held during WWII, and the friendship that existed between the US troops on Clark AFB and the local Pinatubo Negrito population, many of whom lived within the boundaries of the base. This would explain why these "Negrito bolos" first appeared right after WWII.

It may also explain why Robert Fox chose the Pinatubo Negritos for his anthropological studies in 1946-1947.

Ian

[F. de Luzon]

Very informative!

[Ian]

Some recently sold Ilocano/Negrito knives.

The three on the left, with steel guards and ferrules, are all of recent manufacture--late 20th C. to the present. The largest one in the middle has a fist pommel, indicating that this style of hilt is still being made.

The two on the right have traditional brass fittings and are post-WWII but older than the others. The one on the farthest right has an atypical stacked hilt and no ferrule--perhaps a modified or custom made piece.

Ian.

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