{"id":347,"date":"2011-07-08T17:07:19","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T21:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kb1awv.com\/?p=347"},"modified":"2011-07-08T17:49:37","modified_gmt":"2011-07-08T21:49:37","slug":"347","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idlenot.com\/?p=347","title":{"rendered":"Small Objects"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Treats: soreness, aches, pains, headache, frosted feet and unbroken chiliblains<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0I have always had a fascination for small objects.\u00a0 They never had to be flashy or very valuable; they just had to be interesting and possibly unique.\u00a0 I remember a military cap, the kind with a stiff bill out front, when I was a kid.\u00a0 Was it mine? Did the older kid who lived on the third floor just show it to me one day?\u00a0 I really don\u2019t know.\u00a0 It is just one of those memories that go so far back that it is no longer clear.\u00a0 The only thing that I am sure of is a sense of wanting to own this really neat object.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As you might expect I have picked up many of these quaint items over the years.\u00a0 They rest in draws, shoeboxes, and assorted hiding places that I tend to readily forget about.\u00a0 It has not been all that easy to share this interest with other people, until now.\u00a0 The arrival of digital photography and Internet social networking sites make it simple to display and discuss those things that one has a keen interest in.\u00a0 So, do me the favor of looking at these items.\u00a0 You will recognize some right away.\u00a0 Others may be unfamiliar or even strange.\u00a0 Let me know what you think of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first item was at one time found in the bathroom.\u00a0 Musterole<\/strong> was the brand name for something called mustard plaster.\u00a0 The idea was to rub this cream on affected areas and thereby relieve irritation.\u00a0 It was described as a counter-irritant.\u00a0 You have to read the instructions closely though to find this gem: \u201cDo not bind or cover tightly after application.\u00a0 In rare cases of very sensitive skin MUSTEROLE may produce a more severe irritation than is desired.\u201d\u00a0 I guess that is sort of like the medications that we take nowadays for depression.\u00a0 They often carry the warning \u201cmay encourage suicidal tendencies\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many years ago (almost 40 years) one of my ninth grade science students gave me a peculiar gift.\u00a0 It was something that I had never seen before or since.\u00a0 This item claims to be a minerallac statiscope<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a> You just hold it up to a surface that you suspect would make a good point for the discharge of a static electricity charge you have built up on the scope.\u00a0 A convenient place might be someone\u2019s nose.\u00a0 If there is a significant charge on the scope you will not only get the ordinary spark and scream but will also light up the little discharge tube inside the scope.\u00a0 It\u2019s great to take along when attending a winter party held in a living room that has a nice shag rug.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This next item is quite curious, or maybe not.\u00a0 I need help with this one.\u00a0 I purchased it thinking I was getting a neat desk accessory that sharpened pencils.\u00a0 Insert the pencil in the hole, rotate the mount and you get a sharpened pencil.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I thought would happen.\u00a0 To this date I have not yet sharpened a single pencil with this thing.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span> Can you figure out what it is really for or why it doesn\u2019t work?\u00a0 I have provided an inside view for the mechanical engineers reading this.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Small objects are especially interesting if it appears that\u00a0they are very finely crafted.\u00a0 They use wood and brass rather than plastic and tinned steel.\u00a0 I have slowed down my acquisition of such objects lately but when at a recent yard sale I noticed something that begged me to take it home.\u00a0 It is a small ruler (a machinist might call it a scale).\"\"<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 At least it looked like a ruler at first glance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A little more investigation revealed that it could be used as a caliper also.\u00a0 This Lufkin No. 372<\/strong> folds together so seamlessly that at first I had difficulty determining how to open it.\u00a0 My wife had to show me!\u00a0 And yes, it is made of boxwood and brass.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The final item for today (aren\u2019t you glad I am keeping it short today unlike that time I wrote about all the books I read?) is a lady\u2019s compact<\/strong>.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/a>\u00a0I don\u2019t even know if women use these anymore.\u00a0 Watch a good detective movie from the \u201850\u2019s and you will see them in use (along with the other standby, the cigarette).\u00a0 A compact holds a mirror, powder, and a powder puff.\u00a0 The idea is for the woman to put a little blush on (I think).\u00a0 At any rate, this is no ordinary compact.\u00a0 This one commemorates the 1939 New York World\u2019s Fair.\u00a0 It boasts a dynamic rendering of the fair administration building on its cover.\u00a0 Very cool.\u00a0 One more truly neat small object.<\/span><\/p>\n

What small objects do you keep around the house?\u00a0 Send me some photos so I can put them in a later \u201cSmall Objects\u201d blog post.\u00a0 Otherwise I may have to dig out a few more of my own next time.<\/span><\/p>\n

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