In the early 1970 s when the gourmet cook s tools market in this country was in its infancy JK Adams owner Malcom Cooper Sr. conceived of the first slanted knife block. The goal was to create a cutlery organizer that would hold knives at a low enough angle that they could easily be removed from the block when it was pushed back under a cabinet overhang. The name kangaroo was coined when we added the pouch for steak/paring knives for increased storage capacity. Our slanted blocks were the first and are still the best. Holds 8 large knives 6 paring/steak knives and 1 steel.