I'm gonna start straight out and say that this post is one big, nasty cheat. I don't own any of these (sadly), they're not a part of my collection (breaks my heart to admit that), and while I do want them all fairly bad, I don't have any place for them nor am I able to justify purchasing them (being responsible is no fun). I took these pictures today while I was out running errands and I decided to stop at an antique shop to poke around a bit. I had shot my wife a text that said “I'm at an antique shop. Full of want. Set a budget for me.” I got no response, which means my budget was $0. It's heart breaking. But I cheated anyhow and got myself a little something. Shh. Don't tell.
I spent the majority of my time wandering around, poking at this and poking at that. I made sure to always stick in plain sight though and had the shutter noise on my phone on so the shop keeper knew what I was up to. I'm an honest guy, but I'm sure she felt a bit better knowing why I kept on lifting up random bits to look at them.
That said, you're probably wondering what I'm freaking out about by my title. One of the things you'll see all the time when you go antiquing is empty containers. Empty glass bottles, empty tins, empty oil cans, empty boxes. Very rarely do you see something that isn't empty. Even more rare is something that's not only not empty, but something that's never been opened.
Despite the similarities in package design, I am about 99% sure they have nothing to do with the Cigarette brand of the same name. Still, check out that box. What a beauty. The artwork is as colorful and as bright as the day it was printed. The lid is crushed in a bit but other than that, there's barely any wear or tear on the thing. I'm not going to lie. If I had a place to put this, I would have snatched this up in a heartbeat.
Here's an image of the pullstring completely intact. I figured I had to get a shot of it so you guys knew I wasn't pulling your string. ;)
Here's a picture of the back, with directions on how to patch your tire. You can actually see a few videos of the process in action on Youtube if you're curious enough.
This here is an assembly line counter that's still in working condition. This particular one, as evident by the label, is a “Productometer Model 5DT” by Durant Manufacturing. It's still in working condition, with every pull of the lever on the right advancing the number by one. The thing is very well built and deceptively hefty for its size. I don't know much about past manufacturing methods and systems, but I just can't help but think with a manual counter such as this, it'd be so easy to cheat the system. All a dishonest person would have to do is give it an extra “click” every now and again to fluff their numbers. Still, it's a cool little thing.
This here is a glass insulator cap. I actually have a few of these on display on one of my bookshelves. My wife absolutely loves antique glass so she couldn't pass the opportunity to snatch ours up when she first saw them. These could be found on power and telegraph lines lines from the late 1800s to about the mid 1900s. They come in all sizes and colors and are very popular among glass collectors. Every now and again if you head out to some place that's very rural, you can still run across these in the wild, though I doubt the lines they're attached to are active. This particular one happens to be really interesting. Not only is it larger than the majority that I see, but for some reason, it's attached to a handle. Weird.
This here is a pretty awesome flashlight. I was half tempted to get it since the tag says that the light still works. It's amazing how a lot of electronics, even those that are almost 100 years old, still work just fine if you take good care of them. Sure, you have to replace a few vacume tubes here and there, but the number of antique radios, pinball machines, and fridges I see in working order absolutely amazes me. As a quick PSA for you guys, if you have anything that uses batteries that you want to hold onto, take the batteries out before you put your electronics in storage. Doing so will prevent the batteries from leaking and ruining whatever you have.
CHECK OUT THE FISH EYE LENS! SERIOUSLY GUYS THIS IS SO COOL AND I'M AN IDIOT FOR PASSING IT UP!
Yale Electric Corporation was a company that was once partially owned by Conrad Hubert, who was the man who started the company known as Ever Ready. I'm not going to lie. I cheated. I didn't know this until after a buttload of Googling. God, how antiquers ever got anywhere before Google is beyond me.
But I digress. The more I think about this flashlight, the more I think the wife would appreciate it. I think it would go great alongside some of her antique cameras. I could get it now and wait until Christmas . . .
All in all, I had a really fun time at this particular antique shop. There were all sorts of cool things there that I would have loved to pick up. The majority of them were actually farming, manufacturing, and auto repair tools, which are great for wall and table decorations. I actually ended up getting a really great piece from there that I'm excited to add to my collection. Sadly, it's a piece of regional origin so I'm not too keen on sharing it on here. I'll probably swing by there from time to time though to see if there's something else I just have to get. I'll be sure to take pictures for you again.
As a fun thing about the Camel logo: cigarettes have a camel with a head turned to the left. I was unable to locate anything on trademark/copyright information (and website was most uncooperative) , but that's a very consistent design choice since the very beginning of the brand. That vulcanizing rubber you show there was probably aiming for similarity / brand recognition, but I can't find anything to either disprove or confirm that claim.
Heh. I have grown up with an actual t-handled detonator as a curio piece next to the fireplace. My dad got it out of an abandoned mine out in the Mojave desert somewhere in the 1950's. Here's a picture of one: I have used it throughout my life to ignite many things. Many, many things.
My grandma has a shitload of those insulators. They're neat but they're not really rare. She gives me stuff every time I go see her. I have some old steel toys in my trunk, she gave me an old milk bottle, a cologne bottle in the shape of a VW Beetle and me and my grandpa won a Clue game from like 1963 at an estate auction. I actually call and like antiques so I'm probably one of the favorite grandchildren. I can take pictures of the toys if you like but they're not in the best condition.
Yeah. Those insulator caps are great to collect because they are so common. There's a ton of variety and you can often get them for really cheap. If you want to share, I'd love to see some of your collection. I don't collect classic toys myself but it'd be cool to see what you have and what you think of them.
I don't really collect old toys. I collect new ones on occasion if I find one I know I can flip later. I swear I had a cement mixer that I liked more. Maybe it made its way into my back seat. They're kinda neat but it's not really my thing. I just can't visit my grandma without her loading me up with stuff she wants to get rid of.
My right channel power amp is from about 1953. It works brilliantly. The capacitors are more likely to fail, and if they have any solid state diodes, replacements cost like a nickel. Replace them. The tubes themselves can last a super long time. Most of the tubes in my hifi are old. The left channel is newer. Maybe ~1960. McIntosh made the MC30 from 1953-62. Also works brilliantly. The MC30 upside down on my desk with no power transformer: not so brilliant.It's amazing how a lot of electronics, even those that are almost 100 years old, still work just fine if you take good care of them.