In his first four months of business as a general store proprietor, Nicholas Dupui somehow managed to sell a total of 50 knife and fork sets.  So what was going on?  Why was cutlery, of all things, the hottest item in the market?

As it turns out, the newly-introduced German four tined curved fork was the technological marvel of the day, an invention unlike any other, and just like a brand new
iPhone that has massive crowds thronging to the store, everyone that was anyone in Northampton County absolutely had to have a brand new knife and fork set.  It was a de rigueur consideration, and one could almost hear them humming: "The Tines They Are a Changing". 

With prices at a bargain basement level (1.5, 2, or 2.5 shillings for a knive and fork set -- clearly, different quality levels were offered), this new type of cutlery obviously enjoyed enormous popularity.  If purchased for tabletop settings by the half-dozen unit, they were even cheaper (coming in at 8-9 shillings for the six knive and six fork set).  As to the nature of the knife, all that we know is that Dupui had been selling three types of knives at his establishment:  the basic knife (1 shilling, 3 pence), the clasp knife (1 shilling, 6 pence), and the brass-handled pen knife (2 shillings, 6 pence).  Doubtless the knife that was sold along with the fork must have been styled as part of a matching set.