Always a good idea to have some emergency first aid knowledge in one’s back pocket. From, of course, the NYPL archive.

Before I touched anything in the rusty package that arrived the other day from the Devil’s Rope Museum, I called my Doctor to make sure that I was up to date on my tetanus shot. After getting the A-Okay, I proceeded, delicately, to open up my bundle of 55 different kinds of barbed wire. If I had more cash I might have sprung for the “Super Bundle” containing a whopping 215 different varieties of barbed wire. As it is, 55 is just fine.  In fact, more than enough. Knowing that there are over 450 patents and over 2000 varieties of barbed wire found by collectors is enough to make one dizzy. To read more on the history of barbed wire go here, here or here. Original kernel of barbed wire visuals Via Partners & Spade. I think a trip to the Devil’s Rope Museum might be in order someday real soon.

Oh, just frittering away some time on Sheaff Ephemera. Not hard to do. And certainly not unpleasant.

Some folks save postcards. Many keep a diary. And yet others save hotel soap. Found at Tin Can Trading Post, one of my favorite thrift/antique shops in Callicoon. The proprietor, Sal Siggia, kindly let me borrow these. I find it so charming that whoever saved these, decided to write on the back of several of the soaps so that they would remember where they were from.

If you have a few hours to spare, I might suggest a little trip over to Sheaff Ephemera. The site is the brainchild of one Richard D. Sheaff. Collector extraordinaire. These figural cameos don’t need much explaining. If you’d like to see more, and there are MORE, go here.