Obsolescence Project

Day 102 – The Guide Handbook

The Guide Handbook

The Guide Handbook. First Edition 1965 – Printed in Canada. Purchased at a garage sale primarily for illustrations and the elusive pull of it being a first edition.

The owner of this handbook signed it, in bold marker, in 1966. She presumably did not care about the value of first editions. I decided not to photograph her signature as a quick google (the signature is bright and clear in that pushy handwriting that comes with being 12) came up with only 3 results (! – she has a somewhat unique name) but is evidence that she is probably alive, even though this precious item from her childhood turned up in a garage sale on the West Coast and she (if the company info is correct) is from the East Coast. Stalking is a little too easy in this day and age.

Clove Hitch

I was never a girl guide and missed out on so many treasures of wisdom it seems. The gal who owned this book runs a fairly big company. I wonder if the Guides experience gave her some insight into running a business.

Status: Get that macro lens (dammit) and figure out a better way to hold this book up and photograph the pages closely.

Kill ratio: 59: 4 ~ 15:1

p.s.”1965: Age groups revised: Brownies 7 to 10; Guides 10 to 14; Rangers 14 to 18″  – Notable Dates

p.p.s A shout out to  Richard of The Future is Papier Mache’s 100th post!

Posted on by Deanne in Books

Day 101 – Wood Plane

Wooden plane. ~200 years old.

A garage sale / flea market find by my mother. She is the queen of finding treasures at flea markets.
This is on “display” in our house, so not being neglected like some other items here were. It’s state of obsolescence ? — there’s no doubt it’s old and outdated. I suppose it could function if the blade was sharpened. There is a little part missing. I don’t know what part, but I found out about that at the Canadian Antiques Road Show. It’s also worth $200, about one dollar for every year of its existence (~2008 appraisal) – how about that?

I love it for its simplicity and strong form, but also for  the paint drops on the side. They are not associated with woodworking per se, but they add that layer of age that tells its own story.

Plane from Back

Plane

Status: Dust.

Kill ratio: 38:3 or ~13:1

Posted on by Deanne in Objects

Day 100 – Rogers 1881 Teapot Set

Teapot

Rogers Tea Set – Teapot, Creamer and Sugar.  Stamped 1881 Rogers Canada E.P.B. 560  on the bottom. 1881 is the pattern, not the date, but nonetheless it’s old. Procured at a garage sale.

This teapot has a very fat belly. It’s also quite wonky as you can see, billowing out and slightly off-balance. It almost looks like it belongs in a fairy tale. The inside is also badly tarnished, and I would say it shouldn’t be used. But that’s the germophobe within speaking.

Seeing as 1881 is the pattern, not tantalizingly the date (which would make it a true antique), thought I’d check out what was happening on May 12 in 1881.

The Treaty of Bardo was signed, giving France ” responsibility for the defence and foreign policy decisions of Tunisia” 1.
Did they drink tea while signing I wonder? Any visible tea stains?

Traite du Bardo

1st page of Treaty (from Wikipedia)

My knowledge of Tunisia is restricted to that song. See below. I did find a blog post on Kitchen Talks  bestowing the merits (and a recipe) of Tunisian Mint Tea . The pot looks rather like my Turkish coffee pot from Day 25..

Rogers Creamer

Rogers Teapot

Teapot

Status: Technically not mine to make, but either sell or use in a set for a 5 minute short film re-imagining Alice in Wonderland.

Kill-ratio:      48:3 or 16:1

I realized the sugar jar got cut. Alas, it’s too late to re-shoot.

 

 

p.s. 100 Days! Feels like a celebration.

Posted on by Deanne in Dishes

Day 99 – Letter Opener

Letter Opener

Letter Opener. Made in Germany. Missing scissors.

Okay, I do occasionally use this beauty. So, although the process of opening mail (getting mail?) in such a fashion is no doubt obsolete, this object itself is not entirely useless.

Letter Opener

It’s very sharp and makes a satisfying sound when opening letters (provided I remember to unsheathe the knife).

I get less and less mail through the post. Bills mainly. Even that’s tapering off. I pay most of my bills online, still get a few of them through the postbox. Those few envelopes I do mail out tend to be birthday, sympathy and Christmas cards. Birthdays and Xmas tend to be emails mostly now too – an event requiring a sympathy card merits more than an email. I  did just send a letter to Las Vegas, but that’s another story. Plus it was not handwritten. I can’t remember the last time I got a letter from a friend. Or wrote one.

What will happen to all those researchers of the future who want to search through a famous author’s personal archives and all they have to do is press a button (assuming that author backed up their stuff and its not in an unreadable format) and find out all the juicy bits. How much more exciting to peruse correspondence with handwriting that you have to decipher.
Letter Opener

Status: Keep. It’s a beautiful object, even if hopelessly out of sync with the times.

Kill ratio: 63:3 or 21:1

Posted on by Deanne in Objects

Day 98 – Thermos

Thermos Inside

1 Quart Alladin Hy-Lo Thermos. Made in Nashville, Tennesee.

This thermos was built to last. I don’t know how old it is – it was a gift to my partner and 2nd-hand when received, so I’d guess somewhere in the 1950s-60s? From the colours. Love the maroon and green combo. Makes me think of a baseball team’s uniform, although I can’t verify at the baseball hall of fame website if such a colour combination was ever used. Seeing as I think this is circa 1954, I searched and found that Edie Files, a baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Atlantics, died on this day (May 10th) is 1954.
Thermos Top

Thermos Top

Thermos Alladin Bottom

Thermos

Rust

Made to last but still got rusty.

Status: Not mine to decide. I would advise seeing if a new liner will do the trick, otherwise seek out a duplicate.

Kill-ratio: Using the most images I’ve used so far in a post, but then I took more too:)
I’ve left the studio now, so this is a guestimate, but I’ll say 14:1

RIP Edie Files – May 19, 1883 – May 10, 1954

Posted on by Deanne in Objects