In a time when everyone is trying to sell you on something (and not always telling the whole truth) the packaging on these goods struck me as refreshing and striking in their default to simplicity. The Emergency Drinking Water is from WWII, I believe, so not exactly available.

I am a complete sucker for things that appear in multiples. And it turns out that many of my photographs chronicle this little obsession. Stay tuned for more.

Manhattan’s Chinatown is chock full of food and vivid street life. But it’s also a bastion of oddities and small treasures. These instructional rubber acupuncture models are part of that trove. Rounding out the selection of teaching aids is a cow, a horse, a dog, a miniature foot, human figures (both male and female), as well as a smaller ear and more. You can purchase any of these online here. Or, better yet, get yourself downtown and have a person-to-person transaction at my favorite Chinatown pharmacy, the Lin Sister Herb Shop at #4 Bowery.

The flatware pictured here is marketed as “disposable” but I choose to ignore that moniker. Over the years I have accumulated a few too many forks, knives and spoons, always telling myself that I should keep them in the interest of work. Here is a small sampling of my trove.