This sort of thing makes me furious...

[Feraud]

I have no interest in the "monetary or historic value" of the items in question -- I just think what this guy is doing is unnecessarily wasteful, especially when there's plenty of actual leather scrap trimmings that he could be using instead.

This guy and others are making a buck off history. Leather watch straps are prevalent but a watch strap Made from a WWII Bomber Jacket! apparently has more sexy selling value.
He belongs to the crowd that destroys watches for their gears to use in jewelry, chops up ties to sew into skirts, rips bookplates out of old texts to decoupage onto shabby chic stools, etc. 'Tis not my cup of tea..

 

[LizzieMaine]

You're free to do as you please with whatever you own -- but I'm sorry, I still don't buy the reasoning. The success of eBay and Craigslist proves, to me, that there is *always* someone out there who would use an item for its intended purpose.

I've brought home quite a few things in my time that I didn't need at the moment because I specifically *didn't* want "crafters" to get hold of them -- and in every case I've either put them to use myself or given them to someone else who wanted to use them. So I do practice what I preach here. I've also seen the gutted remains of typewriters, radios, clocks, and other items tossed on the trash pile after the "crafters" were done "repurposing" their keys or cabinets or gears. The amount of waste there versus the amount that gets repurposed is quite jarring.

I note there's been no comment on the fellow's refusal to sell the jacket he plans to cut up to someone who wanted it as a jacket, and was willing to pay whatever price he named. That fairly screams, to me, that this situation is not a matter of a desperate investor trying to make a buck on otherwise useless stock.

 

[Fletch]

BUY STUFF. USE STUFF. THROW STUFF OUT. FORGET STUFF.
REPEAT UNTIL YOU HAVE PROGRESS, PROSPERITY, AND A BETTER WORLD.
THEN REPEAT AGAIN.

IBM 7090, 1960

 

[Pompidou]

How much does the item's original purpose matter? If it matters a lot, we aught to similarly condemn collectors who buy things that can be used, but just put them on display when someone else would actually use it. If the destruction of history is the problem, than we aught to condemn instead people who buy these items to use them as they were intended, because eBay and Craigslist are also full of people who would just preserve said item on a shelf somewhere, and using an item hastens its demise. There will always be someone who says, "But I would actually wear it!" and another who says, "Don't actually wear that, it's history!" This just happens to be from a third party who doesn't care about the first two and says, "This would make a nice watch strap." The very eBay and Craigslist that prove the market for original use purchasers and collectors also proves the market for repurposes.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Destruction of history" isn't the problem. Wastefulness smugly disguised as "repurposing" is the problem. See above post.

 

[Derek WC]

What I think some of you aren't getting is that there are plenty of people out there, and there always will be, who want to preserve, cherish, and use this stuff, such as I. I had never imagined that there even were WWII holsters still surviving until I saw this, and I tell you what: I would really not mind owning three of 'em just to keep them from ripping them up, instead of being used for their intended purpose. I wouldn't just tack them on the wall, I would use them, and what I couldn't use I would send to a museum, or another party/person so they could be appreciated for what they're worth.

What really gets me is that some of these people are defacing these historical objects just to mock the men that died with these holsters at their side. I would use them to show how I appreciate what those men did.

On a side note, I had taken apart a great davenport from the 1970's the other day, because it was almost completely destroyed. Turns out, the wood is oak and walnut, and still in great condition. I intend to use this wood, partly because it has no intended purpose and partly because I dislike wasting, to make things, not because it's from the 70's, but so that it is not wasteful. If my mother would have let me, I could have easily saved this sofa, but she decided otherwise.

 

[martinsantos]

fftopic:

Fine computer, Fletch! I would like one of these.

Is possible to acess the FL with it?

BUY STUFF. USE STUFF. THROW STUFF OUT. FORGET STUFF.
REPEAT UNTIL YOU HAVE PROGRESS, PROSPERITY, AND A BETTER WORLD.
THEN REPEAT AGAIN.

IBM 7090, 1960

 

[scottyrocks]

BUY STUFF. USE STUFF. THROW STUFF OUT. FORGET STUFF.
REPEAT UNTIL YOU HAVE PROGRESS, PROSPERITY, AND A BETTER WORLD.
THEN REPEAT AGAIN.

IBM 7090, 1960

My dad was a design engineer in the late 50s, and through most of the 60s. Theres a posed picture of him somewhere, assembling one of those huge computers. I have to find it.

 

[Argee]

I treaded this line very carefully during a project of mine. I decided to build a lamp out of a toaster. However my criteria for selecting a toaster to rebuild was that it had to be in bad enough shape that it couldn't be restored to working condition. I was able to find one with the knob that controlled the speed of the clockwork timer sheared off and the knob missing. (Plus you'd have to be crazy to actually use one of these things to make toast due to the fire hazard of the old heating elements.)

That said, I took great pains to not irreversibly change anything on the toaster. After I was done if you wanted you could remove all the lamp stuff and put the timer back in and it would be in the same condition it was when I found it. I saved all the parts I removed, and made no new holes, everything is built through existing openings. And let me tell you, the project would have been much easier if I'd been willing to actually alter the toaster.

I hope that project passes muster for respect of vintage objects. The light turns on and off when you push down on the lever and I put a rheostat in where the broken one was that controls the brightness of the bulb. These sort of projects can be done well it, just takes lots of care and planning.

 

[Pompidou]

I'm not sure why vintage items should be bowed before, anyway. I'm not talking about historically significant items, but rather, the mundane. On one hand, there's respecting the past, which is good, of course, but on the other hand, it is just a toaster, so have a blast being creative with it. Everything is either vintage now or will be vintage later, and at some point, it's okay to find new ways to use things.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Different generation, different values.

 

[rue]

Pardon me just jumping in, but.....

I'm not sure why vintage items should be bowed before, anyway.

Are you sure you know what forum you're on?

 

[Old Rogue]

For what it's worth, in my opinion I think you struck the perfect balance between respecting the vintage heritage of the toaster and creating a really interesting conversation piece. Maybe some of those conversations will awaken an interest in the golden age and result some new Loungers!

I treaded this line very carefully during a project of mine. I decided to build a lamp out of a toaster. However my criteria for selecting a toaster to rebuild was that it had to be in bad enough shape that it couldn't be restored to working condition. I was able to find one with the knob that controlled the speed of the clockwork timer sheared off and the knob missing. (Plus you'd have to be crazy to actually use one of these things to make toast due to the fire hazard of the old heating elements.)

That said, I took great pains to not irreversibly change anything on the toaster. After I was done if you wanted you could remove all the lamp stuff and put the timer back in and it would be in the same condition it was when I found it. I saved all the parts I removed, and made no new holes, everything is built through existing openings. And let me tell you, the project would have been much easier if I'd been willing to actually alter the toaster.

I hope that project passes muster for respect of vintage objects. The light turns on and off when you push down on the lever and I put a rheostat in where the broken one was that controls the brightness of the bulb. These sort of projects can be done well it, just takes lots of care and planning.

 

[Old Rogue]

Oh...and a pic posted in here would be nice, I'd really like to see the finished product.

For what it's worth, in my opinion I think you struck the perfect balance between respecting the vintage heritage of the toaster and creating a really interesting conversation piece. Maybe some of those conversations will awaken an interest in the golden age and result some new Loungers!

 

[rue]

After reading this whole thread I can understand why some people are mad. Doing what that person did, to me, is the same (on a smaller scale) as when someone guts the inside of an old home and takes out all the inside details and removes the outside character, but leaves the skeleton. Some would say that I should be happy that they left it standing instead of tearing it down, but in my opinion they might as well have just torn it down. It's one thing to repurpose something that can't be brought back to it's original purpose, but quite another to take something in great condition and destroy it.

It's things like this that make me inconsolably angry.

 

[Argee]

A picture? I can do better than that, how about a video?

[video]http://s905.photobucket.com/albums/ac251/Argee53/?action=view&current=FinishedToaster.mp4[/video]

 

[Old Rogue]

Argee, that is just too cool!!!!!!

A picture? I can do better than that, how about a video?

[video]http://s905.photobucket.com/albums/ac251/Argee53/?action=view&current=FinishedToaster.mp4[/video]

 

[W4ASZ]

A picture? I can do better than that, how about a video?

[video]http://s905.photobucket.com/albums/ac251/Argee53/?action=view&current=FinishedToaster.mp4[/video]

I think we used to execute people in Georgia using those.

 

[Ed13]

If someone wants to cut up their property to use in another way so be it. If people had more interest in the items and were willing to purchase them the demand would be higher and they would be worth more. If the value rises, at a certain point it will not be worth repurposing items and they will be saved. If the value goes high enough people will actively restore the items.

If you really want to save and preserve everything old then you all need to get your wallets out and start buying all the items you hold dear. You will also need to make the general public aware of their "value" to drive the price up enough for them to be saved. If you aren't willing to save these items why should anyone else?

One poster mentioned that he is now interested in purchasing a few holsters after becoming aware of them. Due to the publicity of cutting up some holsters now a few will be saved. Maybe some of the other posters that have such a strong opinion should do the same.

 

[scotrace]

Pardon me just jumping in, but.....



Are you sure you know what forum you're on?

Thank you - that does seem to be the obvious question. Pompidou? Why are you here, anyway?