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A Labor Day of Love
We love all items in our collection equally. Really, we do.
They all get shelf space in our retail store, but, for one reason or another, not all of them are on our website. Some we’re not sure will become permanent fixtures in our shop. Others are too difficult to ship safely and efficiently. Others don't translate well to an electronic medium—they need to be touched and examined in-person to appreciate and understand.
Luckily, some items are simply waiting their turn for online exhibition. Four items that made the leap from shelf-space to web-space in the past week deserve a little extra attention for being so patient.
Thumb Thing
If you’ve ever felt strain from holding a book open with one hand, wanted to free a hand for taking notes, or felt that not being able to comfortably hold a Shirley Temple in one hand and a book in the other is downright uncivilized, then the Thumb Thing is probably what you’ve been missing. Slip your thumb in the ring and place it in the gutter of the book; the wings effortlessly hold the book open. Great for students, vacationers, and readers of all ages.
Espresso Cup
Espresso is equal parts art and science, and this cup is well-versed in both subjects. Its elegant form and construction are museum-worthy, and its double-walled stainless-steel body respects the thermodynamics that are crucial to excellent espresso. It’s lightweight and durable, too, making it an ideal and sophisticated companion to our stovetop espresso pot and stainless-steel bowl when camping.
Botts’ Dot
"What’s a Botts’ Dot?" is a question we often get in our Cambridge, Massachusetts, store. If you’re from less-snowy parts of the USA, you may already know the answer. In short, they’re ceramic tiles, used to demarcate lane divisions on highways. They were developed in the 1950’s by a California Department of Transportation engineering team, led by Dr. Elbert Botts, who now has the privilege of having over 25 million of namesakes dotting highways throughout California. Ours may be used as paperweights, conversation starters, or imposing order on an unruly driveway. Epoxy not included.
Manhole Covers
No, we don't stock and ship honest-to-goodness manhole covers; Botts’ Dots are as far as we will infringe on the Department of Transporation’s turf. This is a book full of beautiful photographs of all sorts of covers— unidentified, undated covers, vents, grates, and contemporary covers—from all over the USA. Photographs in the book are by Robert A. Melnick, who devoted the last decade of his life to documenting these least-noticed urban objets d’art.
A technical note to conclude: we now have syndicated (aka XML, RSS, and ATOM) feeds for our exhibits and products. You can follow them using Safari, Firefox, Google Reader, or your preferred RSS application.
That’s what we've been up to in the online division of the Museum of Useful Things. We do hope you are well, and please come back soon.
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