A few days ago I was thinking about the things I am going to miss at my job, and the things I am not going to miss. I am not going to miss my crap stapler. It is as hulking as such a small object can manage to be, it jams frequently, and it is no where near pleasing to use. A great stapler is a joy: ca-CHUNK! ca-CHUNK! And yes, I know I’m weird. But don’t you agree  just a little? And while there are some good staplers still in production, for the most part it’s vintage staplers that embody that elusive, elegant combination of form and function I’m looking for.

Among the many pleasing aspects of staplers are the weight (all or mostly metal goes a long way, though a bit of Bakelite is cool), the curves (so fun to draw!), and the staple-loading instructions engraved right into the staplers, usually with some excellent arrows.

And so here is a small collection that would make me happy: vintage staplers. As before, these all seem to be widely available objects. And as with the tall sock drawing, I’m happy to pull out an individual stapler if you’d like a drawing of just the one (individual prices range from $15 to $30).

From the top we have a Presto Desktop, an Ace Cadet Lift (very similar to the Ace Liner), a Swingline Cub Plier, and a Swingline Speed. 

These staplers cost $84, and so does this drawing!

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!

One of the inspirations for starting this project was a recent visit (at last!) to the Kiosk store in SoHo. I’ve perused the Kiosk website on and off for years, but somehow never got around to setting foot in the store. Kiosk is a great project (both the website and store) that evidences a love of design and of objects that resonates. The store (online and the shop in SoHo) stocks a carefully curated selection of beautiful and useful objects. A country of origin is chosen and a handful of objects are stocked. Some objects are stocked in perpetuity, but most only for that round. Shop as art project! On my recent visit the good old U.S. of A. was featured, and I snagged some delicious coffee milk from Rhode Island. But there were other things I wanted…

I am way into coffee. Good coffee, like my favorite objects, is both aesthetically pleasing (delicious!) and useful (awakeness!), and this coffee pot covers both bases as well.  It’s from Japan (it’s an ongoing selection), and it’s enamel (I love enamel). The color is just a bit to the orange side of red, deeply saturated, and perfectly pleasing, as are the graceful lines. 

This coffee pot costs $74 and so does this drawing!