There is something beautiful about well-built camping gear- it holds up incredibly well after years of use and abuse. Take the old steel kerosene lantern for example; it is so much sturdier than today’s plastic variety, which is toy-like in comparison.
Coleman Catalog 1955
When buying electric products, a compromise is likely unavoidable. I feel this way with electronics more than with most other products. This is partly because you never really know what’s inside the shell, and often the shell doesn’t look or feel good to begin with. It usually doesn’t help that they are made out of one of my least favorite materials – plastic.
Braun Micron (5410), 1976
Car visors are hardly known as the most trend-setting of objects. Usually made of plastic covered with sort of synthetic fabric, their main purpose is to hold CDs. I saw this leather made visor at last week’s Santa Monica Flea Market. It doesn’t help much with CDs. But it sure looks stylish.
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Chemex Coffeemaker
Spawned from the unlikely mind of an expat German scientist — the Chemex coffeemaker is a brilliant melding of design and convenience, a thermal carafe drip-system consisting of lab grade borosilicate beaker glass and a filtration system using laboratory filter paper.
Peter J. Schlumbohm, Ph.D, moved to New York City in the mid-1930s and was desperately searching for a great cup of coffee amid the city’s stale automats and late night diners.
Peter Schlumbohm (Check Out his Cigarette Holder) / LIFE Magazine 1949
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