Do you know what would be cool to have? Vintage mini binoculars! (I haven’t been to the opera lately, so I’ll call them mini binoculars instead of opera glasses.) Think of the possibilities: spying on neighbors, reading distant street signs, deciphering newspapers at the other end of the subway car, and more. When I was a kid I was somewhat obsessed with learning everything I could about being a spy—I mastered hide and seek, invented codes, and studied clues.  Mini binoculars would help me live up to my childhood aspirations. Have I mentioned I have excellent eyesight? With this fine optical instrument, my vision would be practically superhuman.

I love that these are tiny (about the size of an iPhone!), they fold up, and they have an awesome logo. Plus they have excellent mid-century style.

You may have noticed this is the first vintage thing I’ve drawn. There are loads of vintage things I want, but they’re a bit tricky to incorporate into this project, since they can be one of a kind (one of my favorite acronyms: OOAK), vary in price, or just generally be hard to find. So within the category I had in mind (mini binoculars) I picked an example that seems to be about the going rate. I may not end up able to find this exact pair of mini binoculars, but when someone buys the drawing, I’ll find the closest thing for a similar price (and I checked—there are a lot of similar ones). I’m OK with that if you are!

These binoculars cost $22, and so does this drawing!