It was Paul's idea that we stop at this museum in a little Texas village (with dirt streets) alongside the highway. I went into the museum of barbed wire with some skepticism, but our visit was very enjoyable. The building used to hold a brassiere factory which had been the major employer in the village. When competition forced them out of brassieres (so to speak), the building was empty for quite a while until it was converted into this museum of the history of barbed wire in the West.
By happenstance, there was a collectors convention going on at the time of our visit. As I walked down the line of tables, this gentleman said to me, "You've had that Leatherman for a lot of years, haven't you?" He had spotted the well-worn leather case on my belt. I told him of the history of the Leatherman tool that I've carried for, yes, many years (and for which I find a use nearly every day). He was a collector of such multi-use tools, including some very old ones. It was an interesting conversation; as he was very knowledgeable about their history.
P.S. This trip was before Sept 11, 2001. I had carried my Leatherman tool as usual on the prior flight to Las Vegas. Today, I suppose that it would cause a panic at security checkpoints; so I don't carry it when I travel by air. I miss it. Also, I believe that it is highly unlikely that any airliner full of American passengers would permit a 9-11 type of hijacking nowadays, regardless of boxcutters, knives, hatpins, corkscrews, or probably even guns for that matter.
