2
Feb
Parker Desk Calendar
These reproductions of Parker fountain pen ads were published in the hardcover 1996 Parker desk calendar. Read the rest of this entry »
8
Feb
February Snow
Snow graced our area on Friday. I can say “graced” because I did not work and had the luxury of watching the snow fall with no need to drive in it. The snow began while I did some shopping on Friday afternoon and was sticking to the roads when I returned home between 3 and 4 p.m. It was a southern system, a low pressure system bearing white tidings from the Gulf of Mexico, and we northern Ohioans, who often see lake effect snow storms that inundate our northeasternmost counties, experienced the opposite, the heaviest snow falling in the mid-state and southerly counties. I measured 12 inches on my picnic table, and the National Weather Service radio had reported up to 20 inches possible in Carroll County, just to the south. On a trip to Cleveland on Sunday, I observed that snow was very light, maybe 2 inches deep, and I could see grass patches through the light snow cover. When we returned from our outing, to see the Baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire, I was struck again by the height of the banks of snow I had shoveled from the driveway. Read the rest of this entry »
2
Feb
John Holland Pen ad
This is an original ad from a magazine.
2
Feb
Some old ink bottles
These are some of my somewhat old ink bottles. Three contain ink, which I use: the tall Sheaffer Royal Blue, the Sheaffer Emerald Green, and the Parker Superchrome Turquoise. Most of these bottles, I suspect, are from the 1950s and 1960s. The two Parker bottles with a tapering design are probably older; if anyone knows, let me know.
Who would think that geology could be dramatic? It is, though, in the episode “Galileo Was Right,” part 10 of the 1998 HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” an inspiring, moving, realistic dramatization of NASA’s quest for the moon.
The problem at the beginning of the episode is that hotshot fighter pilots training for the moon are bored stiff with geology, so they’re sent into the field with professor Lee Silver. Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott takes the field trips to western sites with reluctance, but Silver soon captivates him with his ability to teach the men that rocks tell a story. (In reality, Scott enjoyed geology and wanted to insert more science into Apollo flights, but it’s a good story.) Read the rest of this entry »
31
Jan
Woodgrain Pencils
Natural woodgrain pencils became popular in the 1990s. Here are those I saved and a few other unusual pencils from that time. The Berol Triangles, the red pencil at the bottom of the recycled batch, is just what it says — it has a triangular barrel. The bottom-most pencil in the woodgrain group is a Blackfeet pencil with golden letters as opposed to the black letters on the pencils that came in the cedar box, shown on an earlier post. Read the rest of this entry »
This Autopoint pencil was my father’s when he worked at Goodyear Aerospace at Wingfoot Lake near Hartville and in Akron, Ohio. Trying to open the cap to find the eraser and lead insertion tube in the usual place, I discovered that the pencil is also an extendable pointer. To insert lead, you must unscrew the tip and unscrew the inner barrel. Read the rest of this entry »
26
Jan
Sohio Ohio guide
I don’t know the year of this Sohio Guide to Ohio. It looks like late 1950s or early 1960s. It divides the state into three sections, north central and south, and presents a slice of the state map for each section, made by Rand McNally, with lists and photos of attractions in corresponding sections. At the back is a guide to the Muskingum Lakes, meaning the manmade lakes created on tributaries to the Muskingum River, overseen by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. (One photo will tell you what Ohio’s state bird is, another the state tree.) Read the rest of this entry »
This is a Rand McNally Globe Handbook. I don’ t know the year. Read the rest of this entry »
25
Jan
Faber Pencil Box
This is a metal Faber pencil box. I like the explanation of lead grades on the inside of the lid.
