Thin cutting boards are used in Germany as a plate, especially for breakfast, or as a small serving dish. This board fits a sandwich perfectly, with just enough room for a bit of mayonnaise, ketchup or mustard on the side. It’s also great if you want to cut your sandwich, fruit or other food into bite-size pieces. Cutting into wood instead of a porcelain is much easier on the knife (and the ears).
I found this whisk broom at a flea market a couple of years ago. It’s made in the 1920s and I’m still using today. For something with no other purpose that to sweep away dirt, I’m amazed at the craftsmanship that went into it — it’s durable, with sturdy bristles that don’t snap or fray, that are bound so neatly and tightly with twine and metal wire.
Whisk Broom Circa 1920, flea market find.
In the eighteenth century, back when this horn cup was made, coughs and sneezes could eventually kill you, and there were few remedies out there besides prayers. The measured notches on this horn cup offered a little certainty in what was surely a not-so-certain cure.
Horn Apothecary Cup from Phisick
I found these great vintage Swiss military bread bags at an Army-Navy surplus store the other day. Amazingly well-made. I was immediately drawn to them aesthetically, and seeing how I’ve been building up a vintage Italian road bike as of late, I thought they’d be perfect candidates for panniers.
Vintage Swiss Army Bread Bag
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
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.
A hammer, closely followed by a screwdriver, is one of the tools you will most likely find at everyone’s house. Most wouldn’t give their hammer a second look. But this can be changed easily.
The Estwing family probably makes the best hammers you can buy. Founded in 1923 by Ernest O. Estwing (a Swedish immigrant), they still manufacture their hammers in Rockford, Illinois. I love that it says on their website that they want to make “attractive striking” tools. What a great company goal. I was happy when I found this Rip Hammer a few month ago at the Long Beach Antique Market.
With this hammer, head and handle are forged out of one piece. This makes it extremely robust, ensuring that you don’t have to fear the head flying off. The grip is made of thin leather discs, which not only makes the hammer particularly ‘attractive’, it’s also a great way to absorb shock. Estwing’s design prevents the discs from coming loose by pushing them into a triple-circle shaped pattern in the steel.
I’m still trying to find out what year my hammer was made, but thankfully they still make them today.
I’ve never seen a hammer with such a narrow neck.
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Arne Jacobsen
Arne Jacobsen was a designer of everything. A trained architect, he designed the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. It was the city’s first skyscraper, a vision in sea-green glass and steel. He also designed dorm rooms, the tables and chairs of a cafeteria, amoeba-shaped doorknobs that nestled into the palm, and flatware that looked like speeding droplets of stainless steel ending in a (somewhat) functional eating tool. Jacobsen designed the past’s vision of the future, but his present hardly agreed with him. His skyscraper was long-considered the ugliest building in Copenhagen, and his flatware was widely hated for offering up too little food with each bite.
Gas Station by Arne Jacobsen, 1937
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