A Quick Hunt Through The Local Goodwill Saturday Yielded A Nice Collection Of Machine Age Style Goodies. Some Are Authentic, Some Not, But They All Got That "Look". Status: The Smalls.

If you've never kept a shop or antique mall booth, let me tell ya...it's the smalls that can keep you afloat most of the time.  These bits and pieces are what keeps the doors open...so to speak.  Some booths offer nothing but smalls.  Keeping the shelves full isn't always easy...but if you like the hunt like I like the hunt...well, that's half the fun!

::Sigh::  There are weekends where Mr. M can scour a half dozen or more thrift and maybe throw in a

flea market and come home empty handed.  Then there are days when a single random, off the cuff

stop can refill those essential shelves.  Lately my interest has been piqued by the Vintage Industrial,

Machine Age and even Steampunk look and style.  At a single stop at the Goodwill nearest our home,

everything I found fit somewhere in those stylistically similar catagories.

The mechanical pencil lead sharpener above and this 5lb dumbbell are both true vintage, well...I'm

assuming the dumbbell is.  I can't see any reason to doubt it.  At first I thought the lead sharpener was

a pencil sharpener, but a little research found it to be a Boston lead sharpener.  I guess back in the day

the mechanical pencils didn't have the fine leads that you can get today that do not need to be brought

to a fine point.  I did a lot of mechanical drafting in high school and even had a job for about a year

doing so afterward using mechanical pencils, but the pencils we used had a built in lead sharpener. 

Guess that's why these look so ancient, they became obsolete so long ago.  Both the lead sharpener and

the dumbbell both seem like they'd make great paper weights on a (vintage tanker style?) desk.

Also culled at the same thrift: this vintage industrial style pendant light.  All it needs (and I'll be

installing one before offering it up) is an Edison Style bulb to set off the safety cage look.  Edison

bulbs not only give off a pleasant glow but are easy to observe directly and are just plain lovely.  At

first I was going to dismantle this to use the cord and socket for another project but I think I'll leave it

alone.  It's too nice to mess with.