August 2009
4 posts
4 tags
opinel
A new batch of Opinel knives have just arrived at Brook Farm General Store. These knives, widely considered a design classic, have been made in the Savoie region of France by the Opinel family for over one hundred years.
Joseph Opinel invented the Opinel folding knife in 1890, and had sold over 20 million by World War II. In 1985 the Victoria and Albert museum included the knife in their...
3 tags
screwdrivers
After the hammer, screwdrivers are, perhaps, the most basic of tools. Everyone has one, and most people never really think about them. But cabinet makers and carpenters, who have been using screwdrivers since the late Middle Ages, know that a comfortable, well-made tool can make any job easier and more enjoyable. Traditionally, people made their own tools, and whether hastily crafted, or...
4 tags
great camp sagamore
This weekend we went to a wedding at Great Camp Sagamore in upstate New York. Smack in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains, this former vacation home of the Vanderbilt family is an excellent example of how to camp in style.
After purchasing the camp from its designer, William Durant, in 1901, Vanderbilt promptly ordered flush toilets, a sewer system, and hot and cold running water...
4 tags
vintage water bottles
Ever since the earliest humans realized that they could carry water in gourds and animal skins, transporting fresh, clean water has been a serious enterprise. In 218 BCE, Hannibal and his troops recuperated from battle at Source Perrier in France. A hundred years later the Romans were building huge aqueducts to carry fresh water to their cities. Leonardo Da Vinci was fond of water from San...
