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The NABU Personal Computer is so obscure it doesn't have an entry at old-computers.com. 2,200 of them have been recovered from an old barn in Massachussets, in deadstock condition in their original boxes. To save the barn from collapse, they were all dumped on eBay for $60 each, where they were eventually noticed. — Read the rest
This doll-sized hot-water bottle from 1939 was made to sit on one's face. If you had a toothache, you could rest it on your outer cheek as you lay in bed.
This actually looks super useful, as it can be filled with hot water or crushed ice. — Read the rest
This vintage looking cassette player and bluetooth speaker combo by NINM made me gasp. What a beauty!
In this series, I want to give you a peek inside my collection of vintage fountain-pen-related items. Today we’re going to look at some of the vintage non-metal pencils that I’ve collected. These include plastic, celluloid, and hard rubber pencils. I have never gone out of my way to collect vintage pencils, but am always happy to pick one up ...
Up front, I will admit that I’m neither a vintage collector nor even a vintage pen enthusiast, and my knowledge of most brands and specific models pale in comparison to others in this community. So take whatever I say regarding vintage pens and the vintage market with a (very) large grain of salt. That said, I attended both the Baltimore and Arkansas pen shows - and particularly Arkansas - looking to pick up a few vintage pens for my collection, mainly to replace certain models I wish I hadn’t let go during “catch and release” phases over the years.
Smaller shows like the Arkansas Pen Show make excellent opportunities to shop for vintage pens. Larger shows like D.C. can feel overwhelming, and because the shows are both crowded and geared towards higher-end collectors and sales between dealers, they can be difficult for the newbie or the casual buyer to navigate. Pens also tend to be more expensive because they are either more pristine collectors pieces, or outright overpriced. (I also advise people to adopt a “buyer beware” attitude at these larger shows. In my early days of collecting, I had more than one experience at D.C. where I purchased a vintage pen that later turned out to be “not as advertised,” to put it politely. More on this later, as I plan to update my vintage pen resources.)
My two vintage Parker 51 fountain pens, one of which includes a stub nib.
I enjoy interesting vintage pens that I can still use on a daily basis, including both the Parker 51 and the Aurora 88.
Smaller shows - particularly shows run by a local pen club - are friendlier, with many of the “dealers” being club participants and collectors selling for “show money”, to rotate pens out of their own collection, and/or to help grow the hobby. Many are happy to talk with new enthusiasts, and will give you honest appraisals of pens, flaws and all. If you have to deal with the same show attendees and club members year after year, reputation matters. At the Arkansas Pen Show, I purchased two Parker 51s from Danny Fudge (aka “The Write Pen”), both of which are excellent “user grade” pens, expertly restored, with character. One had a broader nib that I had Matthew Chen shape to a semi-Naginata, and the other sports a hammered gold fill finish (“possibly by Ariel Kulloch”) with an excellent stub nib. The first pen cost me $100, and the second $175, which I consider to be very fair pricing for functional vintage pens restored by a reputable dealer.
The Tibaldi Bononia Vintage in Pomegranate (top) and Honeycomb (bottom). These are piston fillers with 18k gold nibs. The top is an oblique medium and the bottom a 1.1mm stub. Not sure if these two are going back to Vanness….
While vintage pens like the Parker 51 are fairly durable, easy to repair, and timeless, other models don’t translate as well to the experience sought by many modern users. For example, I’ve always admired the oversized Sheaffer Balance fountain pens, and have even owned a few over the years, but found the material prone to cracking and I’m not a huge fan of lever-fillers. Fortunately, these days you have a wide range of modern options in a similar “vintage” style, and I spent many hours next to the Vanness Pens table eyeing (1) the Tibaldi Bononia Limited Editions; (2) the modern Conway Stewart lineup in their classic materials; and (3) both the modern Onoto Magna and Scholar fountain pens, which have garnered rave reviews and which I’m in the process of reviewing. If you appreciate vintage design, but perhaps not the “adventurous” nature of writing with an actual vintage pen, you have plenty of options!
From left, the Tibaldi Bononia in Pomegranate, the Onoto Scholar in Mandarin, and the Tibaldi Bononia in Honeycomb
Lately, this trend has even started to extend beyond fountain pens. I wrote the entire first draft of this review on a series of airplane flights and in the back row at a work conference using an Anterique “Mach Ball” click pen. I love the aesthetics of vintage Bic Clic-style ballpoints, but generally can’t stand the refill. Anterique uses a .5mm low-viscosity hybrid gel-ballpoint ink refill that even fits some actual vintage ballpoints.
Stay tuned, because Anterique is doing some really fun stuff, and I just received a big box in the mail….
If you’re not a purist, you can sometimes find the best of both worlds: vintage-style design without the unpredictability of finicky filling systems or refills. As a user of fountain pens and other writing instruments, as opposed to a collector, I’m equally drawn to both vintage writing instruments and quality modern alternatives. It certainly offers a wider range of options to enjoy everyday writing!
This post does not contain paid third-party affiliate links or advertising. Vanness Pens did loan me certain of the pens pictured in this review. I am not being compensated for content, and The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.
Enlarge / I mostly recognize this early laptop from its resemblance to a similar-looking computer in the film 2010. It's up for auction along with hundreds of other old Apple computers. (credit: Julien's Auctions)
If you've been thinking your home or workspace is perhaps deficient when it comes to old Apple hardware, then I have some good news for you. Next week, a massive trove of classic Apple computing history goes under the hammer when the auction house Julien's Auctions auctions off the Hanspeter Luzi collection of more than 500 Apple computers, parts, software, and the occasional bit of ephemera.
Ars reported on the auction in February, but Julien's Auctions has posted the full catalog ahead of the March 30 event, and for Apple nerds of a certain age, there will surely be much to catch your eye.
The earliest computers in the collection are a pair of Commodore PET 2001s; anyone looking for a bargain on an Apple 1 will have to keep waiting, unfortunately.
If you want to swim or shower in style, you might consider this bathing cap that is made to look like hair. You'll surely be able to fool everyone into thinking that your not wearing a rubber bathing cap (as long as they don't notice the strap underneath your chin). — Read the rest
Enlarge / A view of Brian Green's home computer lab, full of vintage treasures. (credit: Brian Green)
In a world where millions of people carry a 1990s-grade supercomputer in their pockets, it's fun to revisit tech from a time when a 1 megahertz machine on a desktop represented a significant leap forward. Recently, a collector named Brian Green showed off his vintage computer collection on Twitter, and we thought it would be fun to ask him about why and how he set up his at-home computer lab.
By day, Green works as a senior systems engineer based in Arkansas. But in his off hours, "Ice Breaker" (as he's often known online) focuses his passion on a vintage computer collection that he has been building for decades—and a bulletin board system (BBS) called "Particles" he has been running since 1992.
Green's interest in computers dates back to 1980, when he first used an Apple II+ at elementary school. "My older sister brought home a printout from a BASIC program she was working on, and I was fascinated that you could tell a computer what to do using something that resembled English," recalls Green. "Once I realized you could code games, I was hooked."
Enlarge / Photo taken in Florence, Italy (credit: Daniele Ciabatti/EyeEm via Getty)
When Mark Necaise got down to his last four floppy disks at a rodeo in Mississippi in February, he started to worry.
Necaise travels to horse shows around the state, offering custom embroidery on jackets and vests: “All of the winners would get a jacket and we’d put the name of the farm or the name of the horse or whatever on it,” he says.
Five years ago, he paid $18,000 for a second-hand machine, manufactured in 2004 by the Japanese embroidery equipment specialist Tajima. The only way to transfer the designs from his computer to the machine was via floppy disk.
Back in the day when helicopter parents weren't hovering over the youth, kids were doing crazy bike jumps like the ones pictured here. Photo #2 is the best, where a teen is riding his bike mid-air above a row of 10 other kids. — Read the rest
Our April 2023 Rumpus Book Club selection is Allegra Hyde‘s, The Last Catastrophe, a revelatory collection that reminds us our world is precious, and protecting it has the potential to bring us all together. We asked this month’s Book Club author a few questions to help readers get a sense of their work. Read our Q&A with Allegra Hyde below and subscribe by March 15 to the Book Club to receive this title and an invitation to an exclusive conversation with the author via Crowdcast.
Tell us about your book The Last Catastrophe? How do you hope it resonates with readers?
The Last Catastrophe is a collection of stories that speak to the idea of global weirding—meaning the ways in which our environments, social systems, technologies, politics, and more are being “weirded” by our changing climate. The stories use magic, metaphor, and absurdity to unpack what it means to live through late-stage capitalism and the grim realities of the Anthropocene. There are vegan zombies, unicorn girls, endangered artists, and parents wearing moose costumes. I hope readers find joy and possibility in the
stories, even as the collection wrestles with many forms of crisis.
Have you ever been in a Book Club as a reader? What’s been one of your favorite or least favorite picks and/or experiences?
There’s a gaping hole in my life where a Book Club should be.
What’s currently on your TBR list?
The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams
I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat by Christopher Gonzalez
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
Tell us about your favorite writing accompaniment (music, snacks, etc.).
Music is key. I try to set a vibe that relates to what I’m writing. The other day, I was writing a scene set in a cave, so I played subterranean sounds. For a beach scene, I played spa music that incorporated ocean noises—crashing waves, seagulls, etc.—so music was thematic with the bonus quality of being calming. I’m also a big believer in hydration. I usually have at several vessels on my desk at
once—coffee, water, tea, Gatorade. Our brains are 75% water; I like to stay liquid.
What does your writing routine look like?
I preserve as much of my morning as I can for writing. Sometimes that means I’ll get in a half hour of work, sometimes a couple of hours. I like to read a little as a warm up, then free-write in my journal. From there, my process depends on what I’m working on. Often,
I’ll hand-write pages, then type them up, print them out, and handwrite them again. In this way, I really get to know the contours of my sentences; I try to spend time with every word.
What advice would you give to beginning writers?
Be loving and expansive in your early drafts and ruthless in your revisions. Take no prisoners. Take your time, but hold fast to your own sense of urgency. Listen carefully to the world around you and the one inside you as well. Be brave. Tell the truth.
***
Allegra Hyde is the author of the novel Eleutheria and the story collection Of This New World, which won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Her stories and essays have appeared in The Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, The Best Small Fictions, The Best American Travel Writing, and elsewhere. She lives in Ohio and teaches at Oberlin College.
This instagram page archives amazing awkward family photos for your entertainment. The page features everything from baking mishaps to vintage hair situations, to strange costumes galore. This particular post made my laugh extra hard. The caption reads "My daughter fixed her cousin's Barbie after the head popped off and would not reattach." — Read the rest
Peek inside a rare collection of 17th century ivory medical dolls. These anatomical "manikins" are kept at the New York Academy of Medicine, yet there is a lot of mystery surrounding their existence. Their exact use is still unknown to the people who study them. — Read the rest
Color Tv was introduced to Australia in 1975 in with this fun skit featuring television character Aunty Jack . Skip to 2:15 in the video to see color slowly enter the black and white world that the characters live in. The color "leaks" into the windows, frightening the people in the room. — Read the rest
Here are some great photos of conversation Pits, a popular feature of interior design from the midcentury period to the 1970s. A conversation pit is typically a lower-than-ground-level seating area with a small staircase to walk into. They come in various shapes, and are designed so that a group of people can face each other in style while hanging out and talking. — Read the rest
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